Malaysia’s Penang hopes to hook Chinese medical tourists with healing holidays

Penang is aiming to increase revenue by offering Chinese tourists diverse medical services and capitalising on its growing holiday destination reputation

The Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council and Penang hospitals collaborate to broaden their market, amid competition from Indonesia’s advancing healthcare sector

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Tourists and locals in George Town, Penang. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 9:30am, 19 Nov 2023Updated: 11:25am, 19 Nov 2023

Penang is one of Malaysia’s top tourist destinations, attracting foreigners not only with its celebrated Peranakan culture and cuisine but, increasingly, its medical services.

Medical tourism has become a major source of revenue for the state and it aims to fuel further growth by targeting Chinese nationals who are searching for treatment options abroad.

Malaysia’s medical tourism industry rebounded quickly after pandemic travel restrictions were lifted last year, reaching 1.3 billion ringgit (US$279 million) in revenue, according to the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC), up from 585 million ringgit in 2021.

The Penang Centre of Medical Tourism (PMED) – an association of local hospitals – found that the state earned more than 583 million ringgit in the first nine months of 2023, up from 356 million ringgit in 2022.

But for Malaysia to grow beyond its pre-pandemic high of 1.7 million ringgit in 2019, officials say the country needs to attract more medical tourists besides Indonesians, who currently make up the vast majority of their foreign patients.

A hospital room at the Bagan Specialist Centre in Penang, Malaysia. Photo: Randy Mulyanto

That’s why Malaysia, and Penang in particular, are increasingly looking to woo medical tourists from China. For example, MHTC has opened a representative office in Hangzhou and signed several agreements with Chinese medical organisations to smooth the way for mainlanders seeking medical treatments in Malaysia.