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MEDICAL TOURISM IN UZBEKISTAN.
Bakhrillaeva Marjona.
Silk Road International University of Tourism and Cultural Heritage
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14059610
Abstract.
Medical tourism is a form of tourism facing a rapid growth
worldwide in the last few years. In Uzbekistan, medical tourism has become
indispensable portion of travel and tourism sector, allowing millions of visitors
to get high quality medical services annually.The main objective of this research
note is to investigate medical tourism in Uzbekistan applying data which is
derived from UZSTAT represents inbound and outbound medical tourist
arrivals.
Introduction.
In recent years, tourism has been growing at a rapid pace
and contributing to the global economy substantially.According to WTTC, the
travel & tourism sector contributed 7.6% to global GDP in 2022; an increase of
22% from 2021 and only 23% below 2019 levels. In 2022, there were 22 million
new jobs, representing a 7.9% increase on 2021, and only 11.4% below
2019.Being one of the leading industry,tourism comprises several categories
and forms such as cultural tourism, ecotourism, educational tourism,,adventure
tourism, business tourism and medical tourism as well. Medical tourism brings
the largest share of economic benefit from tourism and is becoming increasingly
popular on a global scale. “Medical tourism” refers primarily to a new
phenomenon of travelers leaving family and friends to seek care abroad, often in
less developed countries, along with the organizations that support or offer
incentives for such travel(Christie M. Reed ).Medical Tourism Accosiation states
that about 14 million people travel to other countries in need of medical care
every year. Currently ,Thailand is in the top of desinations for medical tourism
followed by Mexico that mostly recieves Canadian and American vistors. United
states, which is in the third place welcomes 800 thousand people. One of the
fastest growing tourism markets in the world, medical tourism now generates
US$60 billion in business annually worldwide (Jones and Keith, 2006, MacReady,
2007).
Literature review
. Medical tourism is among the fastest growing sectors,
and many countries are now making legal and practical plans to serve it
(VincentC.S.,Heung, Deniz,Kucukusta, HaiyanSong,2010).Medical travel is not
new, but the global nature of the cross-bordermedical care industry is recent
and has developed rapidly.(Corinne Packer,Ronald Labonté, VivienRunnels,
2010).Medical tourism and health tourism are used synonymously most of the
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time, but there are some distinguishing features between those two where
health and wellness tourism indicates travel to spa resorts or for traditional and
alternative therapies (Sunita Reddy,2010) and medical tourism encompasses
primarily and predominantly biomedical procedures, combined with travel and
tourism (Whittaker 2008, Connell 2006). Medical tourism is commonly
perceived and popularly depicted as an economic issue, with high costs of
domestic health care being a major driver of individual demand, and with these
expenditures being a major driver on the supply side for countries and
companies who feel they can offer significant cost advantages elsewhere to large
numbers of potential patients who are willing to vote with their feet
(Vivien Runnels a, P.M. Carrera 2012,).
This study analyzes medical tourism inflows and outflows in Uzbekistan.
Though Uzbekistan contribution of travel and tourism to GDP (% of GDP)
fluctuated substantially in recent years, it tended to decrease through 2000 -
2019 period ending at 3.4 % in 2019. Medical tourism in Uzbekistan can be a
convenient option for foreigners who are residing in Central Asia, while quality
but inexpensive lab work, diagnostic tests and basic medical procedures can be
easily incorporated into tourists’ travel itineraries. Those who prefer natural
remedies will appreciate Uzbekistan’s trained specialists offering acupuncture,
homeopathic cures and massage therapy, while all can benefit from the
country’s recreational options offered as a part of (advantour.com)
.
Data and Methodology.
Table 1.Number of people who crossed the border of Republic of Uzbekistan for
medical purposes ( thousand people).
Source: UZSTAT.
Table 2.Number of people who left Republic of Uzbekistan for medical purposes(
thousand people).
Year Total
From CIS countries From
other
countries
2019 55,5
55,4
0,1
2020 15,0
15,0
0,0
Year Total
To CIS countries
To other countries
2019 37,2
29,5
7,7
2020 16,5
9,5
7,0
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Source: UZSTAT
As for 2021, data on accommodations of persons in specialized accommodation
facilities regarding placement of persons by purpose of travel illustrates 423,9 (
thousand people) in medical and wellness procedures.
Furthermore, in 2022 foreign citizens from the total number of trips, the
purpose of which was treatment, mainly came from Tajikistan - 8.73 thousand
people (47.3%), Kazakhstan - 8.07 thousand people (43.8%) and the Kyrgyz
Republic - 1.36 thousand people (7.4%).
CIS countries - Commonwealth of Independent States - Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova ,Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan,
Turkmenistan.
Results.
Results of the findings suggest that a great proportion of tourist
arrivals to Uzbekistan for medical purposes are from CIS countries, which some
of them are bordered with Uzbekistan.As shown in the table 1, total arrivals to
Uzbekistan for medical tourism in 2019 is 55,5 , almost entire tourists coming
from CIS countries, except 0,1 from other countries.
In 2020 , the whole inflows come from CIS countries for treatment purposes.
Outbound tourism flows in 2019 for medical tourism in Uzbekistan points total
of 37,2 , to CIS countries 29,5, and 7,7 for non- CIS countries. In 2020 the trend
drops to 16,5 with 9,5 to CIS countries and 7,0 for other countries. Number of
people traveling for medical purposes from Uzbekistan to CIS countries
relatively greater than to other countries. In 2020, there were no visitors for
medical purposes in Uzbekistan from other countries except CIS countries.
CIR countries play significant role in tourism flows, particularly Tajikistan 8.73
thousand people in2022. Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan also share significant
amount of influx in medical tourism.
Conclusion and Policy implication.
Medical tourism in Uzbekistan has
become one of the predominant tourist destination in Central Asia. Current
paper analyzed medical tourism in Uzbekistan, both inflows and outflows using
data from UZSTAT. Findings reveal that major contributors of inbound tourist
arrivals to Uzbekistan are CIS countries, such as Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and
Kyrgyzstan. This fact ensures the quality of medical services and improvements
have reached certain levels in Uzbekistan, but still some challenges remain to
reach Uzbek medical tourism top levels on the global scale as the numbers of
visitors from another countries are less than CIS countries.Moreover , citizens of
Uzbekistan prefer foreign medicine services to domestic treatment at some level
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, suggesting medical tourism should be improved in Uzbekistan in terms of
understanding patients' needs and expectations.
References:
1.WTTC - World travel and tourism council.
2.Christie M. Reed ,2008,Medical Tourism
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mcna.2008.08.001
3.CorinnePacke,Ronald Labontè, Vivien Runnels ,
Medical Tourism Today: What Is the State of Existing Knowledge
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/44660694
3. Sunita Reddy,2010 ,Medical tourism in India: progress or predicament?
https://www.jstor.org/stable/27807028
4.VincentC.S.,Heung, Deniz,Kucukusta, HaiyanSong,2010
Medical tourism development in Hong Kong: An assessment of the barriers
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2010.08.012
5.Corinne Packer,Ronald Labonté, VivienRunnels, 2010.
Medical Tourism Today: What Is the State of Existing Knowledge
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/44660694
6.Whittaker 2008, Medical migrations
7.Connell 2006
8.Vivien Runnels a, P.M. Carrera 2012,
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