Time to promote medical tourism

The projected decline in regular tourist arrivals gives the respective stakeholders an opportunity to become creative with niche marketing as there is a huge untapped potential in medical tourism, says Parvish Kumar, owner of Fiji’s largest state-of-the-art 130-bed specialty private hospital.

Mr Kumar who is the founder and chief executive officer of Pacific Specialist Healthcare (PSH Hospitals) which is situated in Walu Bay, Suva and Legalega, Nadi right opposite the Nadi International Airport believes the time for Fiji’s tourism industry movers and shakers to get creative as to how they promote the country with niche marketing and targeted visitors is “now”.

“Every action has a reaction and therefore every projection for the downturn of an industry also creates opportunities for something else,” Mr Kumar said.

“For example, during the great depression, the buying power of customers declined significantly and expensive equipment and machinery for different purposes became out of reach for many. This gave rise to the concept of giving machinery and equipment for hire to customers and it turned out to be a great success for creative industry leaders who thought outside the box,” Mr Kumar added.

He said the time to heavily promote Fiji as a reliable and world-class medical tourism destination has arrived and PSH Hospitals with its pool of 90 highly trained specialists and medical professionals together with cutting edge medical technology is ready to take on the challenge.

“We share the same vision as the government to make Fiji the hub of the Pacific and beyond for medical tourism.

“With the looming national budget for the fiscal year, we urge the Fiji Government to incentivize this segment of the tourism industry and also waive other taxes which will be crucial for the success of medical tourism in the country.”

Meanwhile, provisional data from the Fiji Bureau of Statistics indicates a decline in visitor arrivals for January and February 2025 compared to the previous year.

Fiji’s tourism sector is experiencing a decline in visitor arrivals, which has led to a revised economic outlook for 2025. Initially projected to grow at 3.4%, the economy is now expected to grow by 2.7% due to factors like capacity limitations in tourism and a slowdown in travel demand.

For more information please email to: – pr@psh.com.fj or log onto www.psh.com.fj

• by SHALENDRA PRASAD is a freelance photojournalist based in Nadi, Fiji