 TN to boost medical tourism
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 Tamil Nadu, which registered an overall growth rate of 11.4 per cent in tourism last year, is now gearing up to promote medical tourism in a major way to further accelerate the growth rate.
"The growth of domestic tourists had jumped from 3.6 per cent in 2001 to 11.4 per cent in 2004 while the growth of foreign tourists had jumped from 1.7 per cent in 2001 to 17.3 per cent," said R Perumalsamy, assistant director of the Department of Tourism, Tamil
Nadu.
The government was now keen to boost tourism through aggressive marketing, road shows and participation in national and international travel marts.
The government was also keen to leverage the presence of world-class medical infrastructure and knowledge power in the state to promote medical tourism in a major way, he said.
 "Medical tourism mainly revolves around patients and their families visiting the state hospital. It also spans the medical colleges and institutions of the states, which attract students and research scholars," Perumalsamy said.
The government was closely coordinating with multi-speciality hospitals and with the private sector running these hospitals to promote medical tourism, he said.
The ancient Indian healthcare system of Ayurveda, meditation and yoga were also being promoted in a major way to attract domestic and foreign tourists.
"The Central government has also announced a new category of `medical visas' for the convenience of `health tourists’," he said.
Agencies
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