The recent increase in popularity of lifestyle tourism - eco-tourism, culinary tourism, archaeological tourism - means that countries’ tourism agencies are more focused on developing niche tourist markets. Now, in the latest of new, lifestyle-orientated travel packages, comes ‘healthcare’ tourism. According to Dr. Prem Jagyasi, chief officer of the Medical Tourism Association in the UAE, the medical tourism industry is likely to be worth $60 billion in the next 10 to 15 years in the Gulf region.

The rapid improvement of the UAE’s healthcare infrastructure, often in partnership and gaining recognised accreditation from private US healthcare firms, means that the quality of services available throughout the Gulf might be an attractive lure for those seeking the world’s best healthcare.

Dr. Jagyasi says, "The country plays an important role in driving perception of destination ... the UAE has significant capabilities primarily because of the perception [which it now enjoys]."

His words demonstrate that like other areas of tourism, ‘healthcare’ tourism is just as much about reputation and perception. Allied with a booming and profitable property management market in the UAE, those wealthy enough to be able to afford medical tourism may likewise be attracted to the glamorous lure of luxury properties being developed in the region and marketed by firms like The First Group and Hamptons International, who recently opened an office in Abu Dhabi.

Whilst places like Cuba and Singapore have already developed a significant and world-renowned healthcare tourism sector, the UAE is on the cusp of entering a new market which will undoubtedly further enhance the region’s reputation as a tourist hotbed. Other countries, such as Tunisia and Panama are also in a process of developing their healthcare tourism industry, but one of the key advantages of the UAE may well be its lucrative and ever-expanding property market.  Iwona szymanska