KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 30 (Bernama) -- Medical tourism will remain robust and resilient despite the current economic slowdown, says OSK Research.

The majority of medical tourists to Malaysia seek curative medical treatment instead of aesthetic purposes, it said in its research note.

"Based on this fact, we believe demand for medical tourism in Malaysia will remain resilient as patients with a medical condition will seek treatment regardless of whether there is a recession or not, although those considering treatment for aesthetic reasons may defer their decision," it said.

OSK Research said Malaysia could gain from the slowdown given the competitive advantage over the main competitors, namely Singapore and Thailand.

Since Indonesians formed the biggest number of medical tourists to Singapore and Malaysia, the slowdown might result in some Indonesian patients seeking treatment in Malaysia than in Singapore due to the cheaper cost.

"We believe Malaysia will always have a price advantage over Singapore unless Singaporean players adjust their pricing drastically, which we believe is highly unlikely, due to the higher labour and operating costs," it said.

Lower treatment costs in Malaysia will prompt more Malaysians and Singaporeans, who used to seek treatment in the republic, to turn to Malaysia, it said.

Despite being a major player in medical tourism, Thailand's political turmoil has resulted in a significant drop in the number of tourists and medical tourist arrivals in the country, particularly after the shutdown of the two main airports in Bangkok last year, it said.

"Our discussions with the major players in Bangkok indicate that they have not seen any sign of recovery in the sector as a large number of its foreign markets such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Australia are still warning their citizens against travelling to Thailand due to high political risk," OSK Research said.

Nevertheless, the players expect the recovery to come in the second half of 2009 once the political landscape in Thailand stabilises, it said.

"This situation offers great opportunities for Malaysia to capture some of Thailand's market share in medical tourism given that Malaysia offers comparable services at competitive prices," it added.

By : BERNAMA