Medical Tourism Market in China
There’s a new type of tourism trend that is becoming mainstream amongst females in China. It’s called medical tourism. During a medical vacation, tourists seek services like plastic surgery, medical care, disease treatment, rehabilitation, and training.
Medical tourism (MT) is defined as patient movement from highly developed nations to less developed areas of the world for medical care by bypassing services offered in their own communities.Wikipedia
Medical tourism is different from the traditional model of international medical travel where patients generally journey from less developed nations to major medical centers in highly developed countries for medical treatment that is unavailable in their own communities. While the general definition of the MT above covers most of the aspects of the phenomenon, there is no international consensus yet on the name of the phenomenon. MT is often related to globalization healthcare policies which in this case are considered to undermine the quality and quantity of the services available to the middle class in home countries.
see also the official website of the medical tourism association
Tourism Market in China
.The attraction of Medical Tourism
Tourists from metropolitan cities like Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai have shown great interest in this new tourism trend. Specialized medical tours to Japan, Korea and Thailand have been attracting tens of thousands of tourists from China.
A piece of news published by JNOCnews, medical tourism to Japan is becoming more and more popular in China. Compared with only sightseeing, sightseeing combined with medical surgery makes Japan a unique tourist attraction for Chinese female tourists. There are even some groups whose main purpose of traveling is for medical care and sightseeing is just a cherry on top.
More information about
- How to promote your hotel to Chinese tourists?
- Chinese Student Tourist
- The Ultimate Guide To Recruit Chinese Students
Competition in China Outbound Medical Tourism
In the “high-yield” medical tour market of China, some countries have already established a certain reputation.
Top Country for Medical Tourism for Chinese (Source China Tourism Academy)

According to most Chinese:
- Korea and Japan are experts in facial surgery
- Thailand is a paradise for SPA and transsexual operation
- India has the best Yoga lessons in the world
- Turkey offers great seawater bath
- Switzerland is the best choice for detoxification
- France has great experience in cardiology
- Germany is famous for the quality of their Hospital
- USA is famous for Esthetic surgery among Stars
- Australia has a great Image in China for “natural health”
What’s more, those countries selling medical tours are strengthening their promotion. Especially Thailand promote news about the advantage in medical tour via the most powerful website in China like Ren Min, Xin Hua (State-owned news agencies), Sina, and Tencent (the biggest portals).
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How to promote medical tours in China?

Chinese website
A website in Chinese is necessary to enter a market and realize branding. This is an efficient solution to increase the popularity of your products, influence consumers with content and design, and develop the image of your company in the country. Moreover, having a website written in mandarin is essential. Chinese consumers spend more than 40% of their daily life on the Internet and these internet users trust more Chinese websites than English websites

Optimize your presence on Chinese Social Media
In China, there are around 900 million internet users and 91% of Chinese online users have a social media account, in comparison with the U.S. where around 67% of the online population have a social media account. Every day, Chinese netizens spend an average of 46 minutes on social media platforms. Internet user follows an average of eight brands and over 38% of Chinese netizens make purchasing choices based on recommendations that they find and read on social media platforms.
In order to increase your brand presence, it is mandatory to have an active presence on social media platforms. In China, more than in other countries, Chinese users spend more time online and because of that, companies have to deepen their knowledge about social media networks. As reported by OgilvyOne, over 55% of Chinese users had participated in online discussions about brands, and that discussions are able to directly affect businesses.

WeChat, known as Weixin in China, is the number 1 social network. This platform includes text messages, voice messaging, video, games, e-commerce and mobile payments. In 2017 Wechat counts 950 Million Users and is the first App used in China. WeChat has to be considered by brands seeking to engage consumers directly. The platform allows brands to target ads according to age, gender and region in order to reach more potential customers. One of the most common strategies in Wechat is to offer unique content and access to special offers. Through this strategy, brands have a positive impact on consumer loyalty and help to increase brand reputation.
- Open a WeChat account is the first stem
- Having an Ebrochure is a good way to show your Company in the best way
- After publish, Article usually help to sensitive cold prospect
SEO on Baidu

SEO on Baidu is the key to the visibility of your business in China. Baidu is the most used search engine in China, it ranks 5th among the most visited sites in the world and currently has more than 800 million web pages. Baidu now offers a wide range of services, such as web searches, image searches, music, forums, or a Q&A service. SEO on Baidu requires several steps, which may be different from what needs to be done on Google.
The notions of trust and notoriety remain essential for companies wishing to enter the Chinese market and be visible on Baidu. Key SEO strategies include keyword optimization, backlinks, and content sharing, this is the way to generate quality traffic. Compared with SEA, SEO takes more time, but it is long-term solution in terms of developing a better e-reputation and is ultimately more stable. The quality search result won’t disappear after you stop the campaign, on the contrary, you will remain higher in the rankings and continue to drive traffic.

E-reputation
Public Relations is one of the key points on which any digital marketing strategy should be based. More than attracting Chinese visitors to your website, it is important to raise your brand awareness and to make your company more visible to Chinese consumers by using online Public Relations.
You have to keep in mind that your message needs to be carefully tailored for your target. Indeed, all the content that is released must be in line with the company’s positioning as well as with its intended consumers.
Moreover, it is important to choose the right media for your Public Relations. You should avoid offline media because most par of PR activities are now taking place online.
Study case: ILaya

ilaya was founded in 2011 to help couples realize their dream of becoming parents. Ilaya’s specialty is in innovative medical technologies. Their aim is to eradicate disease with minimal intervention within the body, which results in significant reductions in patient recovery time.
GMA worked with Ilaya, to help them to increase their visibility in China, and attract Leads from China.
About Gentlemen Marketing Agency
Marketing China is an agency specializing in digital marketing and communication for the Chinese Audience. We advise foreign Companies wishing to develop the Chinese market, to work on their SEO and e-reputation.
We have experience in the health Industry and especially in Medical Tourism (outbound) oversea clinic that wants to attract Chinese wealthy Patient.

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If you want more information about China’s tourism Market… read the following articles :
5 comments
AKOL
And explain why my company shoul target China now.
And who is the Name of the Founder and clear size of your agency please.
Doctor in India
Nice Post !!India as one of the world’s leading destinations for medical & wellness tourism.The health and wellness providers to tour facilities, meet their experts and try out the various services available to medical tourists.
Olivier
It is in the Top 5 Destinations yes.