Iran tourism to attract more Indian and Chinese tourists

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H‭ead of Iran Hotel Association‭ ‬Jamshid Hamzehzadeh said on Sunday that Iran tourism is capable of tourist attraction from India and China, especially in winter season when European tourists keep low profile.

‬Jamshid Hamzehzadeh siad on Sunday in an interview with IRNA talking on ways to improve Iran's tourism, said: preparing conditions for the arrival of other foreign tourists, such as the Chinese, Russians, and Indians, is one of the ways that can reduce the cost of canceling European tours. These countries have a large population and certainly a large number of the citizens of these countries go on foreign trips annually, which Iran could be a good destination for them.

More than 600,000 health tourists visit Iran every year

About 600,000 health tourists come to Iran every year for treatment despite having rival countries such as India, Turkey, and Thailand, the deputy director of resources development and management at Health Ministry said.

Kamel Taghavi said at the Health Tourism Development Summit at the Ministry of Health that in recent years "we are witnessing the growth of the health economy and health indicators in the country. However, as in other sectors, the health sector, if it is to grow, has to move towards increased productivity and, of course, it is important to pay attention to the justice indicator, especially as the government's orientation is now towards reducing the out-of-pocket payments for health.

Iran Health Tourism

Recently, foreign health tourists who enjoyed Iranian medical services in the last Iranian year (March 21, 2018 – March 20, 2019) stood at 500,000 to 550,000, Director of the office for health tourism of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education Saeed Hashemzad said.

Saeed Hashemzadeh said that the number of foreign health tourists visiting Iran in the current Iranian year will definitely be higher, adding that about 72,000 of the patients were hospitalized and the rest received outpatient services.

Hashemzadeh said that Iran can host up to 2.5 million health tourists every year.

He said that 70 percent of the patients coming to Iran demand services in obstetrics and gynecology, ophthalmology, orthopedics, cardiology, plastic surgery, and 30 percent in other branches of medicine.

He added that the figures are variable in terms of alternative medicine services provided by the hospitals and other medical centers.