Outbound medical tourism from the UAE to Europe and North America is on the rise as visitors from the Emirates combine treatments with vacation plans, according to the travel industry.
That is despite travel agencies in the UAE being mandated since 2011 not to promote such tourism without authorisation from destination countries.
In response to the trend, the Fairmont hotel operator has been customising its properties in Europe and North America to include halal menus and prayer mats as well as having Arabic-speaking sales teams.
"Over the past year, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts has witnessed a growing market of tourists from the UAE and across the Middle East travelling to properties in Europe and North America for medical purposes," said Meenaz Lilani, the executive director of global sales for Europe, Middle East and Africa for Fairmont Raffles Hotels International in London.
Fairmont properties in Europe and those in Chicago and Boston report more guests coming from the UAE and Arabian Gulf specifically seeking medical treatment, but figures were not available.
Fairmont Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten in Hamburg, for instance, has partnered with Lans Medicum, a preventative medical examination centre that helps to identify early stage cancer, cardiovascular disease and metabolic illness.
According to the resort its guests are primarily from the Middle East and Russia and are typically male and over 40 years of age.
In the United States, medical tourism at Fairmont hotels in Boston and Chicago usually centres on women's health care, paediatrics and cancer care.
In Switzerland, Fairmont Le Montreux Palace reports its Middle Eastern guests seek treatment at the nearby private clinics offering routine medical exams, dental and cosmetic surgeries and anti-ageing treatments.
In the Swiss city of Lausanne, which is popular for its wellness and cosmetic surgery clinics, tourist arrivals from the UAE jumped 16 per cent in the past year to 1,388 guests.
The top three source markets for Lausanne, which this year has a tie-up with an Abu Dhabi travel agent to promote the city as a medical destination to the UAE, are Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt.
Lausanne is the sixth most popular destination in Switzerland with Geneva the leader.
Traditionally popular medical tourism destinations such as India, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia have been joined by Germany and North America, says one Dubai-based travel agency.
Last year, 100 Emiratis and expats went abroad through the travel management company Anta GlobalStar.
"That number has been rising between eight and 12 per cent every year over the last three years across all destinations," said Ajay Nair, the head of corporate travel and sales for Anta GlobalStar.
The Anta group partners with the London-based travel company GlobalStar in the UAE.
"With the national and budget carriers expanding their routes and this segment being seen as a lucrative opportunity for various countries within the Gulf and abroad, I do see considerable traction in outbound medical tourism rising over the next coming years," he said.
Every week, Mr Nair's travel management agency gets two to three medical tourists through their insurance company and via word of mouth, Mr Nair said.
At the same time, the UAE is positioning itself as an upcoming destination for medical tourists for Middle Eastern patients as well as those from the Commonwealth of Independent States, he added.
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Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Health Valley
Founded in 2002 and set up as a foundation in 2006, Health Valley has been an innovation in healthcare for more than 10 years in Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
It serves as a place where companies, businesses, universities, healthcare providers and government agencies can collaborate, offering a platform where they can connect and work together on healthcare innovation.
Its partners work on technological innovation, new forms of diagnostics and other methods to make a difference in healthcare.
Its agency consists of eight people, four innovation managers and office managers, two communication advisers and one director. It gives innovation support to businesses and other parties in its network like a broker, connecting people with the right organisation to help them further
