GEORGE TOWN, Feb 16 – Penang is eyeing a boost in the medical tourism sector through a strategic collaboration between the Penang Adventist Hospital and Firefly Airlines.
The president and chief executive officer of Penang Adventist Hospital, Ronald Koh Wah Heng said that the collaboration between the hospital and the airline aims to fly in medical tourists from abroad to receive excellent medical services in Penang.
“With this collaboration, Firefly will be launching their first direct flight from Penang to Medan and vice versa with Boeing-737 starting from Feb 17.
“This new direct flight route will open up the door for Indonesian tourists to travel to Penang, leading to an increased contribution to the Penang state’s economic growth,” he told a press conference on the collaboration here today.
Also present to officiate the partnership announcement was Penang State Exco for Tourism and Creative Economy, Yeoh Soon Hin.
Koh said the Penang Adventist Hospital, on the other hand, will be offering exclusive wellness screening packages at special rates to Firefly Airlines passengers flying the Penang-Medan route and Banda Aceh.
He added that the promotion provided by the Penang Adventist Hospital will surely encourage patients and regular travellers to go for health screening, leading to early detection of diseases.
Meanwhile, Yeoh added that the partnership has brought two industry leaders together with an aim to provide quality healthcare services to international patients while enabling them to explore the beauty of Penang.
“Penang has invested in medical tourism and is able to generate more than RM52 million in revenue last year. This is largely due to the cost-saving benefits, a wide variety of tourism products coupled with the availability of top-notch medical facilities and skilled healthcare professionals in our state,” he said.
He stated that it is necessary to create a more diverse and resilient medical tourism industry that is not entirely dependent on a few countries.
“Currently, I am looking at attracting international patients from the South Asia region which has a population of 1.9 billion including in countries like Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and more.
“According to the information provided by the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC), there are 800,000 Bangladeshis seeking treatment overseas yearly. This would be a great opportunity for us to bring them to Malaysia, especially to Penang,” he said.
