When numbers speak, they tell a compelling story. And one such example is the success of the UAE’s medical tourism sector. By 2033, the country’s medical tourism market is expected to hit $2.3 billion. Meanwhile, the industry revenue could reach $53.5 billion by 2028. In the wider Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, health spending is predicted to reach $30.7 billion by 2027.
In Dubai, the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) is at the forefront of enhancing the emirate’s healthcare services, focusing on accelerated infrastructure expansion year after year. In the first quarter of 2024, the city saw a 9 percent increase in healthcare facilities year-on-year (YoY). Moreover, there was a 7 percent rise in the number of healthcare professionals — with over 150 licenses issued to healthcare facilities and 800 licenses to healthcare professionals.
Furthermore, 12,319 licenses were renewed for healthcare professionals and 1,122 for healthcare facilities. According to DHA, Dubai welcomed over 691,000 health tourists from across the world in 2023. Collectively, these tourists spent around AED1.03 billion. These figures show a substantial rise from 2022’s 674,000 medical tourists, whose collective spending has crossed AED992 million. The city’s health tourism sector generated indirect revenues worth AED2.3 billion in 2023, which helped swell its overall GDP. These milestones support Dubai Economic Agenda D33’s goal of accelerating investment, business, and tourism growth. “If numbers tell a story, we are listening to the international community’s trust in UAE’s healthcare sector, medical excellence, and safety standards.
This trust has been built by the government’s 360-degree healthcare vision that consistently integrates progressive policies, initiatives, and infrastructure for a dynamic healthcare sector, which drives its global medical tourism,” Sherif Beshara, group CEO of American Hospital Dubai, notes. “From the Emirates Health Services Innovation Strategy 2023-2026 and the National Strategy for Wellbeing 2031 to its state-of-the-art healthcare facilities, world-class medical professionals, and advanced technology, the continual buoyancy of UAE’s medical tourism market is ensured through vision, implementation, and rigorous quality control,” he adds.
Strategic vision
Dubai’s prescience was evident in its strategic vision to revolutionize the healthcare sector as early as over a decade ago. By shaping and implementing policies, the emirate had planned to transform this vital sector into a thriving hub of world-class medical services and cutting-edge advancements that deliver results-oriented treatments.
Beshara explains: “The vision was inclusive, encompassing, and expansive. Its investment and enhancements to its healthcare system ensured its citizens’ healthcare needs would be fully met while offering an unbeatable advantage to regional and international patients.”
He adds: “It is a synergistic value that deserves a closer look. Providing high-quality medical services as a baseline national commitment builds a legacy of healthcare excellence, offering tremendous impetus for boosting medical tourism.”
What assets drive medical tourism?
Medical tourism has a strong potential when it comes to advancing a country’s healthcare sector and overall economic growth. But what drives this sector to success?
As Beshara points out, world-class treatments and care, technologically advanced medical facilities and procedures, international accreditations for healthcare entities, diverse medical professionals, a talent pool of global excellence, innovation and evidence-based medical care, and complex diseases and chronic disease expertise are among the factors that attract health tourists.
Key assets also include robust medical cybersecurity measures, expertise in aesthetics and wellness, and dedicated, streamlined processes for onboarding international patients. What makes Dubai appealing is that it boasts excellent governance and visa facilities, which are a boon for medical tourists. Health tourists from all over the world who come to Dubai enjoy some of the world’s fastest processing systems and a healing experience that promises to be stress-free, welcoming, and data secure.
According to the group CEO, the tried and tested concept of Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) also have a vital role to play in accelerating medical tourism in the emirate.
Beshara explains: “When the two entities, the government and the private healthcare sector work in tandem with the aim of boosting the healthcare industry, it can create a conducive climate for the healthcare consumer. Dubai is an excellent example of how its prioritization of Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) through consistent government support has led to a highly productive healthcare alliance that promotes medical tourism.” All these things point to a clear takeaway: Improving healthcare infrastructure means strengthening social development. And Dubai is an integral promoter of this principle.
Medical tourism as a transformative experience
Medical tourism is indeed emerging as an important pillar in the healthcare landscape. But what underpins this very concept? For Beshara, it’s a humanitarian ideology. “People become medical tourists because they seek affordable, trustworthy, safe and effective healthcare overseas. For every individual, man, woman or child, the socio-emotional worth of receiving the correct treatment and being guided back on the road to recovery is priceless,” he enthuses.
“When a host country works to build the best medical infrastructure, possesses top-notch expertise, harnesses the latest technology, and nourishes a multicultural and empathic environment to offer people from all over the globe renewed optimism and hope through successful health outcomes, it is undertaking a humanitarian calling. Equally, cultural sensitivities, language support services and empathic quality of care are also star advantages.”
“Medical tourism upholds this calling, even informs it,” Beshara adds. Dubai proves to be a great example. Thanks to its investment in healthcare facilities and advanced medical technologies, the emirate has been successful in fortifying its healthcare system. Add to this is Dubai’s focus on artificial intelligence (AI) to boost medical efficacy. Furthermore, the city has shown intensified efforts to attract the best medical professionals and implement progressive policies with an emphasis on skill retention and capacity building.
Beshara states: “Dubai’s message is sans frontiers: When you come to it for medical treatment, you are in the best hands because its healthcare system consistently works to create the most skilled, effective, and safe healing environment for you. This message is like music for people seeking solutions to their health worries.”
American Hospital Dubai’s role in accelerating Dubai’s medical tourism
One of the leading names in Dubai’s booming medical tourism scene is the American Hospital Dubai. AHD Global Initiative, its newest medical tourism endeavor, is an international medical tourism media tour. And it highlights how private healthcare entities can integrate their mission with the government’s vision to fulfill national objectives.
“We conceived the AHD Global Initiative as the region’s most innovative international medical tourism campaign. This creative campaign, an immersive concept-on-wheels journey that kicked off in London and traveled through some of the most exciting European capitals, such as Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Zurich, Milan, and Barcelona, educated people on American Hospital Dubai’s cutting-edge medical infrastructure and Dubai’s unmatched healthcare environment,” Beshara explains.
American Hospital Dubai acknowledges that people are at the core of the healthcare vision. Hence, they employed a people-to-people aspect to their international media tour.
“We embedded celebrity influencers in the tour in each capital city, building a bridge of engagement and allowing communication to be more personal, receptive, and inclusive. We offered lucky draws for 14 followers of the celebrity influencers who got an opportunity to participate and learn about American Hospital Dubai’s support for the emirate’s mission to provide world-class healthcare to everyone,” Beshara adds.
With its highly accessible and immersive format, AHD Global Initiative received an enthusiastic response during its European tour. This milestone helped solidify Dubai’s status as a premier medical tourism destination.
Why American Hospital Dubai pursues an intentionally designed patient-centric care model
American Hospital Dubai is guided by intentionally designed patient-centric care, and this is adopted in every step of the hospital’s performance. “As a proud partner of the Dubai Health Experience (DXH), it helps us fulfill our commitment to support Dubai’s medical tourism objectives through conscious choices in performance,” Beshara states.
At American Hospital Dubai, the patient is the priority. “Patient satisfaction and happiness are the only outcomes that matter, and everything we do must lead to that destination. So, there is a vision at work here, a vision that integrates evidence-based treatments, emphasis on innovation, use of AI-based solutions and robotics, our partnerships with global healthcare leaders, our constantly updated expertise in complex disease treatments, and instituting our own centers of excellence in critical fields, such as heart disease, orthopedics, diabetes, and robotic surgeries, among others. And this vision — this vast superstructure — is put to task to achieve a singular mission: Providing a positive patient experience,” he says.
Knowing that positive patient experience is at the heart of medical tourism, AHD’s commitment to putting the patient at the core of its operations is a universal value. For them, it’s all about assuring people that AHD will fulfill their desire for good healthcare. This is why American Hospital Dubai also expanded its presence overseas.
“We opened our first representative medical tourism office in Lagos, Nigeria, to cater to people seeking affordable and trusted healthcare. The office will facilitate patient access to American Hospital Dubai’s world-class medical services and innovative healthcare, a part of our 30-office expansion across Africa and the Middle East,” Beshara explains.
“Beyond working as a channel to seek medical treatments at American Hospital Dubai, our Lagos representative office actively engages with the Nigerian people and its healthcare system, promoting local community engagements. We conduct knowledge-sharing online seminars with Nigerian healthcare professionals because we know education and awareness-raising initiatives are integral to giving back to society and empowering people to adopt healthier lifestyles,” he adds. American Hospital Dubai’s Nigeria footprint is the beginning of its medical tourism engagement with Africa and the Middle East.
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Expanding medical care excellence footprint and shaping Dubai’s robotic era
In 2024, American Hospital Dubai further expanded its presence when it opened a multispecialty hospital in Dubai Science Park in Al Barsha South. The American Hospital Dubai Science Park showcases the organization’s dedication to bringing world-class healthcare services to more people and boosting medical tourism in the process. Robotic surgery, which has substantially transformed healthcare, is another area of focus.
“We are proud to have earned a leading place in Dubai’s robotic surgery era. American Hospital Dubai was the first private healthcare provider in the UAE to install the 4th generation DaVinci Robotic System, the ROSA® Knee System, the Halcyon® system radiation therapy, and the Mazor X Stealth™ edition Robotic Guidance System for spinal surgeries,” Beshara says.
Additionally, the hospital’s Center of Excellence in Robotic Surgery (COERS) is accredited by the Surgical Review Corporation (SRC). This milestone is a first for the region. American Hospital Dubai has also conducted over 1,500 robotic surgeries since 2020.
“We are unrelenting in our pursuit of excellence because every effort is directed toward the one goal that defines us: Delivering the highest quality of patient care,” he states.
Seamless integration
American Hospital Dubai, the flagship brand of the Mohamad & Obaid AlMulla Group, exemplifies the seamless integration of healthcare and hospitality.
“It is well documented that many medical tourists also seek leisure experiences in the host country. Hospitality and tourism choices play a significant part in their plans. The Mohamad & Obaid AlMulla Group’s mission and vision for aligning with Dubai’s healthcare objectives, epitomized by American Hospital Dubai, its flagship division, has always nurtured the synergy between healthcare, medical tourism, and hospitality,” Beshara says.
From the year it was established in 1996, the organization has since dedicated to providing world-class, patient-focused healthcare driven by innovation. Its renowned hospitality division, which includes some of the most prominent hotel franchises like IHT, further strengthens this commitment. These hotel franchises give the American Hospital Dubai the unique advantage of accommodating medical tourists within its own hospitality properties.
The unique combination of modern hospitality assets and innovative medical facilities have proven to be crucial in the organization’s success. “The Mohamad & Obaid AlMulla Group’s hospitality brands are integral to Dubai’s world-class tourism and hospitality hub status. Combine this with the emirate’s multiculturalism and inclusivity, and medical tourists experience unsurpassed advantages in undertaking their healing journey in Dubai’s sensitive, empathic, and
nuanced environment,” Beshara explains.
Contributing to medical tourism’s wellness and aesthetics
Over the years, Dubai’s medical tourism market has witnessed a strong demand for wellness treatments, including plastic surgery and dermatology services. According to a DHA report, 43 percent of health tourists in 2023 seeking plastic surgery services came from Arab and GCC countries, while 21 percent were from Asia, and another 21 percent were from Europe.
“American Hospital Dubai keenly understands the importance of wellness and aesthetics in medical tourism. Our longstanding expertise in advanced wellness and aesthetics treatments has earned us third-party management of these domains for prestigious healthcare entities. It gives us a leading edge and a distinct advantage, helping us promote Dubai’s medical tourism goals,” Beshara notes.
Recently, American Hospital Dubai launched The Face, a premier skincare and aesthetics clinic in Al Khawaneej Walk in Dubai. The clinic takes pride in offering the region’s most advanced medical and aesthetic dermatology services, positioning itself as a top choice for people seeking advanced solutions for dermatological and aesthetic concerns.
Building a healthcare legacy to benefit all
As the Group CEO points out: “Effective healthcare is the engine that drives universal social progress. It must make its impact felt far and wide like a massive, perennial tree that spreads its branches over vast expanses, offering shade to everyone.” Living up to this vision, American Hospital Dubai is relentlessly committed to helping humanity enjoy healthier lives.
“This imperative aligns with the UAE’s goal of becoming the healthiest, happiest country that ensures the highest quality of life — not only for its people but also for those who choose it as their healthcare destination. This synergy between American Hospital Dubai’s mission and the UAE’s healthcare goals will continue to define our performance in the service of humanity,” Beshara concludes.
