Patients from remote markets should revive Swiss health tourism. Switzerland Tourism presented its strategy for doing business with patients from abroad on Wednesday. A new health festival is also being built in Graubünden. It is intended to strengthen Engadin's positioning in the areas of health and enjoyment.
Switzerland Tourism is involved in medical tourism. At the 5th “Health & Tourism” conference in Pontresina, the marketing organization presented its new initiative for Swiss health tourism for the first time. The focus would be on patients from Russia, the Gulf region and China who are to undergo medical treatment in Switzerland.
Marketing activity will start in January with medical partner companies in all parts of the country, said Letizia Elia, responsible for business development at Switzerland Tourism.
A novelty was also presented for Grisons: Initiators from the hotel, tourism, health and business sectors want to launch a new health festival in the Upper Engadin next year. “Vival — the Alpine Health Festival” is intended to bring together the topics of health and enjoyment and promote new offerings.
The Upper Engadin already has a large number of offers that combine health and pleasure. It is now time to make the offer more accessible to guests in the form of a festival and to launch new products.
The supraregional specialist conference on health tourism in the Alps took place for the fifth time. The medical director of the Bürgenstock Resort, Professor Verena Briner, drew a positive initial balance two years after the opening. Medicine in a luxury hotel works, she told the approximately 120 visitors to the conference.
The expectations of private patients and self-payers are very high, underlined the director of the Nidwalden Cantonal Hospital, Urs Baumberger. Top services in the hospital hotel industry and modern infrastructure are very important here. “However, good medicine and care remain the core business and foundation of everything we do.”
Health insurers aren't moving along
Health tourism is an attractive niche market for the canton of Grisons, but it alone cannot make up for the loss of overnight stays in recent years, said Graubünden Councillor Marcus Caduff. Nevertheless, he sees an opportunity for development in health tourism. There is a change in values in society. People with higher incomes in particular would exercise more and eat healthier. This is an opportunity for Grisons.
This change in values and also ageing speak for health tourism, confirmed Max Nadig, President of the Swiss Association of Spas and Kurhäuser. However, the increase in healthcare and health insurance costs is dampening. Prevention shows that consumers are not prepared to sacrifice their vacation days for their health and pay for them themselves. In addition, health insurers do not feel obliged to pay for prevention.
Tourism researcher Prof. Martin Lohmann from Leuphana University in Lüneburg, Germany, also reported weakening demand for health-oriented offers. “People are too fit — interest in health holidays is declining. Only around a quarter of German tourists say they want to do something for their health during their holidays.”
Credible offers
The alpine region offers a large number of typical alpine products and services, said Manuela Irsara from IDM South Tyrol. South Tyrol relies on these offers because they are more credible for guests than Far Eastern massages, for example. Regional products — such as alpine food or regionally developed cosmetic products — such as alpine food or regionally developed cosmetic products, could also benefit from the strengthened positioning in tourism.
The Austrian, globally active VAMED Group sees health tourism as a market with a future, underlined Markus Fisch, head of the Seewis rehabilitation clinic, which is part of VAMED. It is crucial that companies and their offerings consistently focus on the needs of patients and guests.
A clear positioning of the offering is also decisive for success, concluded Georg Schäppi, CEO of the Davos High Mountain Clinic. The clinic went bankrupt a few years ago and is now back in the black after major investments and the redefinition of the offer.
A good 120 experts from tourism, hotels, healthcare, medicine and politics met on Wednesday for the “Health & Tourism” conference in Pontresina. They come from four Alpine countries and ten Swiss cantons. The conference covers health tourism in the Alpine region and has been held since 2015.
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contact
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