The Kerala Medical Tourism Facilitators Forum (KMTFF) in association with hospital managements is set to organise a month-long intense marketing campaign from November across 50 African nations in an attempt to promote Kerala as an attractive destination for Medical Value Travel (MVT) in the African continent.
The idea is to market the high-quality treatment at affordable cost offered by the State compared to other destinations like Europe. A road map of the project was unveiled at the MVT Meet-2024 organised in Kochi by KMTFF on June 13 (Thursday).
“At present, medical value travellers from countries like Tanzania, Senegal, and Kenya do come to Kerala but make up only for around 20% compared to visitors from West Asia, Maldives, and Sri Lanka. A major hiccup in attracting African visitors to Kerala is the absence of direct flights to Kerala from African countries,” said K.A. Aboobacker, one of the pioneers of the concept of MVT and president of KMTFF.
At present, MVT from Africa is mostly routed via West Asian destinations. But during peak seasons, airlines raise ticket fares exorbitantly making the service unaffordable for visitors.
KMTFF also plans to approach the Ministry of External Affairs for a more liberal medical visa regime for ease of travelling to Kerala and India in general as part of their Africa outreach project. At present, those travelling to India on medical visa are required to renew the visa every two months, which he said, was a major put-off prompting potential visitors to opt for other destinations.
Mr. Aboobacker said business by way of MVT routed via KMTFF in 2023 stood at around ₹600 crore. It would be in the range of ₹1,000 crore if those who approached hospitals directly were taken into account, he added.
KMTFF was formed in 2017 and now has around 100 members.
