New mecca of medical tourism
By Yun Suh-young
Seoul’s affluent southern district of Gangnam is emerging as a center of medical tourism as a growing number of foreign patients have visited here, seeking quality services.
Gangnam has started putting up signs on hospitals and clinics to designate them certified medical centers catering to medical tourists from overseas.
“We decided to launch the campaign to further promote medical tourism partnership. It is also intended to build trust with foreign visitors,” said Gangnam Office Chief Shin Yeon-hee.
The decision comes as more and more medical tourists are coming to the district, which is placing the signs in cooperation with the Gangnam Medical Tourism Association.
“With rapper-singer Psy’s hit song Gangnam Style becoming an instant global sensation, our district’s popularity has been bolstered among foreigners, thus attracting more tourists,” Shin said.
“We want to turn our district into a medical tourism mecca by offering better services tailored to foreign tourists,” she added.
Shin has vowed to expand partnerships with related industries such as hotels and shopping centers.
On Thursday, the district office held a ceremony to put up the first sign on JK Plastic Surgery Center in Sinsa-dong, southern Seoul. JK has recently become the first medical institution to receive a consumer-centered management certification from the Fair Trade Commission.
The ceremony was attended by Lee Byung-seok, general director of the Gangnam Severance Hospital; Lee Kyung-ok, vice chairman of the Gangnam-gu Council; and professor and architect Noh Sung-jin of the Korea Institute of Art and Design, who designed the sign.
The district office has formed partnerships with 130 hospitals and clinics to promote medical tourism, and provides financial support to help them attract more patients.
There are over 2,000 hospitals and clinics in Gangnam, but it has been difficult for medical tourists to choose which to visit. The signs will help them find good services.
At the moment, 541 hospitals and clinics are registered as medical centers to offer services to foreign patients.
The number of foreign medical tourists visiting the district increased from 15,994 in 2009 to 19,135 in 2010 and 24,535 in 2011.