Kerala is eyeing to be the hub of Medical Value Tourism in India by combining its strength in Ayurveda and modern medicine.

The state, a popular MICE destination, is now aiming to position itself as a global health destination, said S. Saji Kumar, past Chair, CII Kerala and Managing Director, Dhathri Ayurveda ahead of the 5th fifth edition of Global Ayurveda summit and 10th edition of Kerala Health Tourism beginning on October 25th, which is being organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Kerala chapter.

The two conferences are being supported by the Ministry of Ayush and Kerala Government.

While there was scope for positioning ayurveda as a standalone entity, he said there was a need for collaboration between Ayurveda and modern medicine to position Kerala as a holistic health destination. During 2019-20, total tourism revenue in India was ₹45,000 crore of which 30 per cent was being contributed by Ayurveda.

“Of the around 16 lakh annual tourist arrivals to Kerala from abroad, 30 per cent were for Ayurveda treatments. About 100 countries know about Ayurveda and we are looking at how we can get approvals for expanding Ayurvedic products. That is a big challenge”, he said.

P M Varier, Convenor, CII Kerala Ayurveda panel and Chief Physician and Managing Trustee, Arya Vaidyasala, Kottakkal, pointed out that there were hurdles galore for registering ayurvedic medicines. Recently, Australia had approved ayurvedic medicines, but after detection of some heavy metals, they had been banned, he said adding there are some countries which have approved ayurvedic medicines, but many have banned them.

Jose Dominic, Past Chair, CII Kerala and Co-founder CGH Earth, said Kerala’s competence in ayurveda and modern medicine was the best in the world. “During Covid, the tourist arrivals were first hit, worst hit and longest hit. Post pandemic we are seeing a new scenario”, he said.

According to him, 11 million foreign tourists landed in India pre Covid and 26 million from India went to countries like Thailand, Switzerland. For the past three years, this has drastically come down and there has been an “explosive” boom in domestic tourism and this was a big opportunity for Kerala.

“I foresee 2024 as a year of big explosive numbers in travelling. Today there is a decline in foreign travel and there is an increase in domestic travel’ Dominic, the veteran hospitality industrialist who championed the concept of Responsible tourism, said.

Ranjith Krishnan, Member, CII Kerala Healthcare panel and Chief Executive Officer Kinder Group of Hospitals, said flight connectivity was a problem which was a challenge from infrastructure point of view. The medical professionals and equipment in the State were comparable to any hospitals, he said adding Ayurveda and modern medicine can be collaborated to give the best of treatment for the patients.

The CII is planning road shows to various countries aiming to get at least 20 per cent patients year to year. Road shows have been held in Oman, and the industry body is looking at European and South East Asian countries.

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