‘The Malta Medical Tourism Summit’
12 - 14 July 2009, Hilton Hotel, St Julians, Malta

The Malta Medical Tourism Summit was held on the 12th – 14th July 2009 at the Hilton Hotel and attracted participants from fifteen different countries. The focus of the conference was too highlight Malta as a major destination for health travellers and provide delegates with the most up to date information on current medical tourism trends and legislative issues.

Prior to the start of the main conference agenda two workshops were given by Julie Munro, CEO and founder of InterMed Global and Sandra Millar an internationally renowned consultant in global healthcare. The workshops provided invaluable information for travel agents and international hospitals wishing to enter into the medical tourism market place.

The main conference agenda showcased a panel of international speakers and covered topics such as the dynamics and structure of medical tourism, marketing, the impact of current EU directives on cross border healthcare, accreditation, insurance and the future of medical tourism in the current global financial downturn. Further presentations from Josef Formosa Gauci, CEO of the Malta Tourism Authority and Dr. Joseph Cassar, Malta Parliamentary Secretary for Health gave insight into the role that Malta plays as a destination for medical tourism.

At the end of the first day delegates were provided with a tour of St James Hospital, one of Malta’s leading medical facilities where the staff were kept busy answering questions from the visiting consultants , doctors, physicians, dentists and medical tourism facilitators. Upon returning to the hotel, serious networking and partnership building began at the drinks reception and continued late into the evening at the gala dinner.

Day two of the conference saw presentations providing further insights into medical tourism and raised discussion on the success of Asian countries such as India, Thailand and Singapore in attracting patients and how other countries can emulate this.

The Summit provided delegates with a thorough overview of the medical tourism industry throughout the world and will certainly have raised issues and concerns that will be considered and discussed long after delegates have left the warm Malta sunshine and returned home.