Medical tourism and PPPs offer a combined opportunity to attract healthcare investment, expand specialist services and strengthen domestic health systems. Growing demand for treatment abroad is creating opportunities for investment in hospitals and supporting infrastructure. For governments, the prospect extends beyond tourism receipts: well-structured partnerships can connect international patient demand with public health priorities.
Medical tourism involves travelling abroad specifically to receive medical care. Patients seek services ranging from dental procedures and elective surgery to cancer treatment and fertility care. Cost, access to treatments unavailable at home, and confidence in particular clinicians can influence their decisions. Although often promoted alongside wellness tourism, clinical treatment has distinct requirements for regulation, patient safety and follow-up.
Medical Tourism and PPPs in Practice
The opportunity is already visible in established destinations. India recorded 507,244 foreign arrivals for medical purposes in 2025, drawing patients from markets including Bangladesh, Iraq, Uzbekistan, Somalia and Oman. Industry estimates place India’s medical tourism market at approximately US$8.7 billion in 2025, with the market projected to reach about US$16.2 billion by 2030. Its 2025–26 Budget also announced that medical tourism and the Heal in India initiative would be promoted in partnership with the private sector.
Türkiye provides another example of the sector’s economic scale. The country generated approximately US$3 billion from health tourism in 2024, after receiving about 1.5 million international patients.
Malaysia welcomed approximately 1.6 million healthcare travellers and generated RM2.72 billion, approximately US$595 million, in revenue in 2024. In 2025, healthcare-traveller revenue increased to approximately RM3.35 billion, equivalent to about US$783 million. Malaysia’s coordinated approach to healthcare travel illustrates the value of connecting hospitals, destination promotion and patient services.
In Dubai, more than 691,000 international health tourists received medical treatment in 2023, generating more than AED1.03 billion, approximately US$280 million, in direct healthcare spending. The emirate also estimated around AED2.3 billion, approximately US$626 million, in indirect revenues across sectors such as aviation, hotels, hospitality and telecommunications.
Together, these examples demonstrate the growing economic significance of medical tourism. Beyond hospital revenues, international patient flows can stimulate healthcare investment, create employment, support aviation, hospitality and transport services, and strengthen demand for specialist medical facilities.
Where PPPs Fit
For emerging destinations, the lesson is that a hospital operates within a wider network of services. Patients need dependable information, straightforward travel arrangements, transparent prices and support during recovery. Hospitals need skilled staff, reliable infrastructure and referral relationships. Governments can help establish these conditions while private operators contribute investment, management expertise and access to international markets.
A formal PPP gives this cooperation a contractual structure. In broad terms, it involves a long-term arrangement for a public asset or service, substantial private responsibility and risk, and remuneration linked to performance. General cooperation between government and private hospitals does not, by itself, establish a PPP.
Structuring Medical Tourism and PPPs
Connecting medical tourism and PPPs opens several routes for developing healthcare facilities. One option is for the government to select a private partner through competitive procurement to finance, develop, equip, operate and maintain a new specialist hospital on public land. The agreement could combine international patient services with defined obligations to treat residents.
A second option is to bring an existing public hospital into a PPP arrangement, with the private partner responsible for rehabilitation, upgrading, equipping, operation and maintenance under defined performance standards. This approach can allow governments to modernise existing healthcare infrastructure without developing an entirely new facility.
A third structure could assign hospital buildings, equipment, maintenance and other support services to the private partner, while clinical services remain with the government or are provided under separately defined arrangements. This allows infrastructure and non-clinical responsibilities to be separated from the delivery of medical care.
Existing hospitals also offer opportunities for more targeted interventions. A PPP could support the refurbishment of facilities, replacement of diagnostic equipment or development of specialist treatment and rehabilitation services. For countries entering the market, a focused centre built around demonstrated clinical strengths may provide a more manageable starting point than a large medical city. Its first customers could include regional patients and diaspora communities already familiar with the destination.
Investment can extend to training facilities, patient accommodation, digital coordination and medical waste treatment. Each component needs its own commercial assessment. Some will suit conventional private investment or service procurement; others may justify a long-term PPP. The contractual approach should follow the service need and allocation of responsibilities.
Public authorities should also assess what they contribute and what they receive. Land and existing facilities have an economic value even where government provides no cash or equity. Their use should be linked to clear development deadlines, permitted activities, performance obligations and arrangements at contract expiry or termination. Any government commitment to purchase treatment or guarantee revenue must be assessed against future budgets.
Testing Demand and Financial Viability
For projects combining medical tourism and PPPs, the central financial challenge is establishing dependable demand. A promising international market does not guarantee sufficient patients for an individual project. Feasibility studies should test demand by specialty and source country, referral arrangements, insurer acceptance, competing providers and the full cost of treatment and recovery.
Financial models should also allow for slower growth, travel disruptions, staffing pressures and the lifecycle costs of maintaining and renewing medical equipment.
Protecting Local Access and Patient Safety
A particularly important design question is how international patient demand will benefit domestic patients. A contract could reserve treatment capacity for eligible residents, establish publicly purchased services at agreed prices, or require investment in training. These commitments need funding, measurable targets and independent monitoring. Expected revenues from foreign patients will not automatically translate into affordable local care.
Workforce planning is equally important. A project that recruits heavily from nearby public hospitals may weaken the services it is intended to complement. Training partnerships, additional specialist capacity and monitoring of local waiting times can help governments assess whether the investment is strengthening the wider health system.
Clinical credibility will determine whether patients return and recommend a destination. Treatment abroad can expose patients to infection, complications, gaps in follow-up and difficulties obtaining legal redress. PPP contracts should address clinical governance, informed consent, insurance, complaints and responsibility for complications. Patients should understand who will support them after they return home.
Digital consultations and secure records can improve continuity, but cross-border professional licensing and data protection require jurisdiction-specific review. Clear responsibilities are especially important when a hospital, travel facilitator and overseas referring clinician participate in the same treatment journey.
For PPP authorities, a practical route is to identify a demonstrable service gap, assess demand independently and compare delivery options before procurement. A phased project can establish a record of clinical quality and financial performance before expansion. Government oversight should measure domestic access, patient outcomes and additional skills alongside investment and international revenue.
Medical tourism and PPPs can connect healthcare investment with economic development when contracts make the public benefit explicit and financial assumptions withstand scrutiny. The most successful projects will earn international trust while leaving the host country with stronger healthcare capacity.
Sources:
Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC), Press Information Bureau, Government of India, Government of Dubai Media Office / Dubai Health Authority, Republic of Türkiye, Ministry of Trade
