330 delegates, 35 countries… came to Athens to debate the future of medical travel
The IMTJ Medical Travel Summit 2018 , held in Athens, Greece on May 21-24 2018, attracted 330 delegates, exhibitors, sponsors and participants from around the globe. The Summit brought together key opinion leaders and senior executives involved in medical tourism and healthcare businesses across the world to discuss the future of this developing industry sector.
The Summit was co-hosted by Elitour, the Greek Medical Tourism Council.
The Summit addressed many of the issues that face the sector – the future of global healthcare, trends in healthcare and technology, destination development, and the patient experience. Sessions were dedicated to specific areas such as fertility travel, dental travel, and wellness tourism and important international patient markets including Russia and the CIS, and the Gulf. The closing highlight of the event, the Great Debate, conducted in Oxford Union style, considered whether “the medical tourism sector has failed to deliver what its customers need and want”.
According to Keith Pollard, IMTJ Editor in Chief and Executive Chairman of LaingBuisson International:
“The Summit exceeded our expectations not only in the support from delegates and sponsors but also in the quality of content delivered by our speakers. What will continue to differentiate the IMTJ Medical Travel Summit is our commitment to substance, avoiding the hype that has plagued other events in the sector, providing an honest and realistic assessment of the current market and examining the future of medical travel.”
The event was made possible through the support of Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI), Medical Korea, Poliklinika Bagatin, Zagreb, Hygeia Group, Embryogenesis, IASO, Institute of Life, Athens Medical Group, Dubai Health, Sunway Medical Centre, Intermedika, Enterprise Greece, Elitour – Greek Medical Tourism Council, Greek National Tourism Organisation, Athens Convention & Visitors Bureau, Federation of Hellenic Associations of Tourist & Travel Agencies, Hellenic Association of Travel & Tourist Agencies, SETE – Greek Tourism Confederation, Argo Travel, Aegean, Healthcare Business International, Kathimerini, Russian Media Group, Travelling, Travel Daily News, Greek Travel Pages, Pink Medico
For all media enquiries, including images of the Summit and interviews with Keith Pollard, please contact Sarah Ward: sarahward@imtj.com.
Notes for editors:
About IMTJ
The International Medical Travel Journal provides insight into the medical travel and medical tourism sector. IMTJ was established in 2007 in response to the increasing interest in medical travel and medical tourism. It embraces many of the themes that challenge healthcare providers across the world – insurance, accreditation, marketing and promotion, quality, patient safety, levels of care and experience in treating international patients.
IMTJ is independent of the associations and special interest groups that have come aboard the medical tourism bandwagon. Our aim is to create a central focus for information, resources and opinion on medical travel for those involved in the industry, anywhere in the world.
The internationalisation of healthcare through medical travel is at the heart of IMTJ. Patients are becoming healthcare consumers and in many countries, patient choice is being extended to surgery and treatment provided by international hospitals and clinics. By sharing expertise, knowledge, and views about the health travel industry, IMTJ helps to ensure that patient expectations are met, and that the industry maintains a high reputation.
LaingBuisson
The International Medical Travel Journal (IMTJ) is owned and managed by LaingBuisson International. The company also operates consumer facing portals for medical tourism – Treatment Abroad and Fertility Treatment Abroad .
LaingBuisson is a leading healthcare intelligence provider and has been serving clients for over 30 years with insights, data and analysis of market structures, policy and strategy across healthcare and social care. LaingBuisson is the chosen provider of independent sector healthcare market data to the UK Government Office for National Statistics and works globally with providers, commissioners, payors, manufacturers, investors, regulators and advisors. LaingBuisson helps clients to understand their markets, make informed decisions and deliver better outcomes through market intelligence, consulting and data solutions.