Speaking at the opening of the Forum, Ms. Huynh Lien Phuong, Deputy Chief of Office of the People's Committee of Da Nang City, emphasized the outstanding advantages of Da Nang in developing medical tourism such as strategic geographical location, synchronous infrastructure, safe living environment and increasingly improved service quality. She said that the city has issued a Medical Tourism Development Plan to 2030, with a vision to 2050, aiming to build Da Nang into a modern destination, converging high-quality medical services associated with different tourism experiences, in line with the development trends of the region and the world.
Ms. Huynh Lien Phuong, Deputy Chief of the City People's Committee Office, delivered the opening speech
Doctor Huynh Thuan, Deputy Director of the Da Nang Department of Health, said that by 2030, Da Nang strives to have over 50% of hospitals and medical centers qualified to serve international visitors, with at least two facilities meeting international standards, and to build from 5 medical service packages in 2026 to 15 packages in 2030. He emphasized the natural connection between the two tourism and medical ecosystems, which will help Da Nang to easily build integrated products such as resorts - traditional medicine, health care - general check-ups or specialized rehabilitation services.
Discussion with representatives of city departments and experts in the field of Medical Tourism
Representative of the tourism industry, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong Tham, Director of the Danang Tourism Promotion Center, shared that medical tourism is becoming one of the important directions of the city's tourism industry, contributing to enriching products and increasing the competitiveness of Danang on the regional tourism map. According to her, the initiative, creativity and cooperation between units in the service chain will determine the success of this field in the coming time.
From the perspective of investment promotion, Ms. Nguyen Thi Tuyet Mai, Deputy Director in charge of the Danang Investment Promotion Agency, said that the city has planned a land fund with a total area of more than 35 hectares in 07 locations in Hoa Xuan and Tam Ky wards.... According to her, the model of nursing homes or elderly care centers developing in the direction of "wellness resorts" or "healthcare retreats" is very suitable for the orientation of medical tourism, because it has the ability to integrate medical services, rehabilitation, nutrition and resort space in a closed ecosystem.
In his speech on the role of technology, Dr. Quach Huu Trung - Director of Vinmec Danang International Hospital - affirmed that artificial intelligence (AI) is an important solution to help improve the quality of medical tourism. According to him, AI can help predict treatment outcomes, optimize treatment regimens, increase safety and cost transparency; and allow remote health monitoring after treatment. Standardizing care processes with AI will create a smart medical tourism model, bringing a great competitive advantage to Da Nang in the region.
From an international perspective, Mr. Jack Nguyen - Director of InCorp Vietnam Co., Ltd. - assessed that Vietnam possesses many favorable foundations to develop medical tourism such as treatment costs 30-50% lower than Singapore and Thailand, developed tourism infrastructure and rapidly improving medical technology. He emphasized that the new legal corridor, including the 2023 Law on Medical Examination and Treatment and the 2024 revised Law on Pharmacy, has significantly expanded opportunities for foreign-invested medical and pharmaceutical enterprises, helping Vietnam become a potential market in the production of high-quality pharmaceuticals and medical services.
In the next group of content, Dr. Hoang Quoc Bao, Manager of Southern Arkansas University and General Director of SPACE ASEAN, analyzed the difference between medical tourism and healthcare tourism. According to him, medical tourism is “reactive”, aiming to treat diseases or health problems, while healthcare tourism is “proactive”, focusing on improving the quality of life. Depending on the goals of tourists, the requirements for infrastructure, human resources and service ecosystem will be different, thereby suggesting a diverse development direction for Da Nang.
From the perspective of private medical facilities, Specialist II Doctor Truong Nguyen Thoai Nhan, Director of Hoan My Da Nang Hospital, emphasized the need for a national medical tourism development strategy, expanding international aviation cooperation, building a mechanism to attract international cooperation and simplifying the licensing process for foreign experts. These factors will create a foundation for Da Nang to attract more good experts, improve service quality and meet the increasing demands of international tourists.
From the perspective of international services, Mr. Rafi Kot, Founder and General Director of Family Medical Practice International Clinic, said that Vietnam can focus on developing four key service groups including international dentistry, aesthetics and beauty, general health check-ups and assisted reproduction (IVF). These are areas with high demand, easy to integrate with resort tourism and can quickly make an impression for Vietnam in general and Da Nang in particular in the global medical tourism market.
At the end of the program, the Event left many good impressions with rich content, multi-dimensional opinions and a spirit of open exchange between management agencies, experts, domestic and foreign enterprises. The event not only contributes to clarifying the potential and advantages of Da Nang in developing medical tourism but also opens up many new directions of cooperation, creating a foundation for the city to continue perfecting the medical service - tourism ecosystem in the coming time. With the attention of the city's leaders and the support of the business community, Da Nang is expected to gradually affirm its position as a quality and prestigious medical tourism destination in the region and internationally.
IPA Da Nang
