Medical tourism, also called health tourism, generates a huge added value in cities like Barcelona. The arrival of wealthy patients has an impact that is 6 times greater than the rest of the tourists.
Within the tourism event B-Travel, one of the congresses was the ‘Healthcare and Tourism Summit‘, an event on medical tourism.
Such event has been organized by SpainCares, a cluster encompassing different participants within the same business (private hospitals, health resorts, travel agencies and hotels) that has unveiled figures of an industry that is constantly growing in Spain.
Its impact currently reaches a turnover of above 500 million Euros this 2015 and it’s estimated that there will be a 20% annual growth in number of patients and in sales. This figure is thought to double in the following 5 years, reaching 1000 million Euros in 2020. (Source: SpainCares).
As a ‘healthy’ destination per excellence, Spain has more than 160,000 people above 65 years old who come from different parts of Europe. This particular public enjoys good weather and our high-quality services.
For this type of audience, Barcelona is one of the preferred destinations because of both its location by the Mediterranean Sea and its excellent health centres.
Let’s get to know some of its secrets!
Tourism with different needs
Almost 20,000 foreign citizens come to Barcelona year after year to receive treatment in a hospital or health centre.
The tourist profile changes according to his or her origin and reason for coming to Spain. However, there exists a trend considering each of the nationalities that are coming.
People with high purchasing power generally ask for complex treatments. Here are included countries like Russia and Arab countries, generally interested in treatments including oncology, gynecology, heart surgery and even orthopedics.
Those specialities make Barcelona’s health centres stand out, apart from other services related to wellbeing, such as the number of health resorts surrounded the city.
Meanwhile, patients coming from central Europe are more interested in plastic surgery, dental prosthesis or fertility treatments.
Germans are great lovers of thermal waters, as well as Nordic people. That’s why they can usually be seen in health resorts receiving relaxation treatments. Quicker aging of its population make them look for long stays in places with warm weather.
That makes them become an interesting public during seasons with sun and beaches, especially considering that a medical ‘tourist’ spends between 6 and 7 times more than a conventional tourist.
High-quality health centres
Among the European health centres and hospitals, Barcelona has referent private and public ones. Some stand out for a particular specialization, but all of them undoubtedly do it for their medical excellence.
Let’s see some examples:
Centro Médico Teknon (C/ Vilana, 12), specialized in orthopedic surgery and traumatology
Clínica Aparicio (Ronda General Mitre, 72), specialized in dental treatments
Clínica Barraquer (C/ Muntaner, 314), specialized in ophthalmology
Clínica Diagonal (C/ Sant Mateu, 26, Esplugues de Llobregat), specialized in biosurgery and regenerative medicine
Clínica Planas (C/ Pere II de Montcada, 16), specialized in plastic and cosmetic surgery
Clínica Sagrada Familia (C/ Torras i Pujalt, 1), specialized in traumatology and orthopedics
CRC Corporació Sanitària (C/ Plató, 20), specialized in X-ray diagnosis
Fundación FIATC (Avda Diagonal 648), specialized in sports medicine
Fundación Imor (C/ Escoles Pies, 81), specialized in radiotherapy and brachytherapy
Fundació Puigvert (C/ Cartagena, 340-350), specialized in urology
Instituto de Microcirugía Ocular (C/ Josep Maria Lladó, 3), specialized in ophthalmology
Institut Dexeus (Gran Via de Carles III 71-75), specialized in assisted reproduction
Institut Guttmann (Camí Can Ruti, s/n, Badalona), specialized in neurorehabilitation
IVI Barcelona (Ronda General Mitre, 14), specialized in IVF and assisted reproduction
Hospital Clínic (C/ Villarroel, 170), specialized in general surgery and digestive system
Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau (C/ Sant Quintí, 89), specialized in internal medicine
Hospital Plató (C/ Copèrnic, 61-63), specialized in pain management
Hospital Quirón (Pl d’Alfonso Comín, 5), specialized in digestive system
Hospital Sanitas Cima (Pg Manuel Girona, 33), specialized in plastic and cosmetic surgery
Hospital Sant Joan de Déu (Pg Sant Joan de Déu, 2, Esplugues de Llobregat), specialized in treatments for children and adolescents
Hospital Vall d’Hebron (Pg Vall d’Hebron, 119-129), specialized in medical oncology
‘Turnkey’ services
The choice of options is accompanied by a complete service for the patient and his or her accompanying people.
In this way, traveling to Barcelona to receive medical or cosmetic treatment is accompanied by an inclusive holidays’ package with everything needed:
• Reservation for the patient in the health centre,
• Management of visa, and any necessary requirements, for the patient and his or her accompanying people,
• Organization of the trip for the visitor/s,
• Planning of first and subsequent consultations ,
• Hotel or accommodation reservation during all the stay,
• Interpreter language service, if needed, and a bilingual nurse, if required,
• Translation of all the documents of the patient.
These complete services are offered both for operations and rehabilitation treatments, even for relax stays.
Because of Spain’s international fame as regards healthcare, more and more travelers are coming to our country looking for medical tourism, especially considering that Barcelona offers medical excellence within a comfortable environment.
