SANTIAGO DE LOS CABALLEROS.-The Dominican Association of Tourism Press (Adompretur) held the panel entitled “Discovering the potential: Health tourism in Santiago and its global impact”, within the framework of ExpoTurismo Santiago 2024, which had the support of the Dominican Institute of Civil Aviation (IDAC), the Northern Medical Union and the Ministry of Tourism (MITUR).
The welcoming remarks were delivered by Yenny Polanco Lovera, president of Adompretur, who said that in recent years, health tourism in the Dominican Republic “has made great strides due to the quality of our services, our doctors who are increasingly specialized so that their patients receive the best service, and of course, the hospitality that is so characteristic of us.”.
“We must continue to focus on the quality of our health tourism offerings because we are on the right track. The figures presented at the 6th Health and Wellness Tourism Congress indicate that more than 260,000 patients were treated in 2023; and I am sure that these numbers will increase in 2024,” Polanco Lovera stated.
Dr. Julián Sued, president of the Board of Directors of the Northern Medical Union, highlighted that due to its geographical location, close to all tourist points, its excellent air and land communication, and its large hospital structure of large, modern and competitive hospital centers, Santiago is becoming a great Hub of the Health Tourism Cluster for the development of fourth-level medicine.
Second most visited destination
“The Dominican Republic is the second most visited destination in Latin America, after Mexico in terms of tourism, and this benefits Santiago as the nerve center of the country, because it also contributes between 15-17% to the GDP of our economy,” Sued explained.
He specified that at the Unión Médica University Clinic, their main visitors "who come seeking health are Dominicans residing abroad, followed by patients who come from our neighbors Haiti, Turks and Caicos Island; Saint Martin, Guadeloupe and Puerto Rico.".
“After Mexico, our country is the second most visited in the region, and I’m sure last year’s figures will be surpassed this year. The factors that influence tourism include the quality of medical care, safety, and the legality of services. The patient experience is equally important in healthcare. Well-told stories attract more tourists.”.
Another area where we need to improve is language. Specifically, Dr. Sued revealed that all clinics offering health services should have an international department. This is another challenge we must address because we are receiving many non-Spanish-speaking patients, mostly from the United States, Haiti, and French-speaking islands.
Amelia Reyes Mora, vice president of the Dominican Association of Health Tourism (ADTS), said that the first medical specialty that visitors seek is dentistry; then plastic surgery; orthopedics and ophthalmology; while others come for preventive studies.
