Taiwan is likely to become Asia’s next one-stop plastic-surgery shop if the government lifts current travel restrictions and allows individual tourists from mainland China to visit the island, according to the July 16 issue of Time magazine.
The article noted that Taiwan has long been popular as a medical-tourist destination for expatriate Taiwanese, as the rates for various medical treatments are highly competitive and cost effective.
“At Taipei’s abundant health care facilities, the equipment is modern and sophisticated, and most importantly, prices are considered a steal,” the article noted. “Some of the biggest savings are in liver-transplant surgery, which runs to around US$91,000, compared with some US$300,000 in the U.S.”
According to the article, mainland tourists have been coming to the island for face revamps since the middle of 2008, when restrictions on mainland travelers were lifted.
In the wake of the government’s plan to allow individual mainland travelers in the near future, Taiwan’s plastic surgery industry is expected to receive a further boost, it said.
Though mainland tourists are currently required to travel in large groups with tour guides, the article quoted David Wang, a plastic surgeon and chairman of the Taiwan Medical Tourism Development Association, as saying that he has heard of a few people who secretly came for a nip and tuck on the island.
If travel restrictions—which prevent mainland Chinese tourists from deviating from their itinerary and travelling singly—are lifted, mainland patients can plan ahead and book various plastic surgeries according their own schedule, Wang said.
In addition, the island’s travel agencies and plastic surgeons have sought to attract more plastic surgery-seeking tourists to visit the island, the article said.
According to the article, Lion Travel, Taiwan biggest travel agency, has partnered with Chang Gung Medical Foundation, the largest private hospital chain on the island, in building a medical tourism services center for the past year and a half.
“Many enterprising proponents of Taiwan’s medical tourism have been making the cross-strait journey in the hopes that they, too, might entice more mainlanders to seek medical care on the island,” the article added.
The news report, however, pointed out that Taiwan’s medical tourism industry is still in the early stage of development compared to other Asian countries. “Its output last year narrowly missed the US$20 million mark, whereas revenue in more established Asian medical-travel industries, Singapore and Thailand, reached billions of dollars,” it said.
Nevertheless, it noted that warming cross-strait relations and expansions of cross-strait links will both contribute to the island’s tourism and medical-travel industries. “With over a million projected to visit this year, even more mainlanders will be emptying their wallets into Taiwan’s service sector,” it said. (HZW)
Write to Audrey Wang at audrey@mail.gio.gov.tw