Health Tourism Summit on Nov 25-26

The tourism department, along with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has decided to hold a Quality Summit "" Health Tourism Services on November 25-26.

This is a first of its kind effort by the hospitality sector, the tourism sector and the healthcare sector to canvas Bangalore's prowess in all these fields.

Announcing the details of the summit, Mahindra Jain, tourism commissioner, government of Karnataka, said, "Healthcare cost in Bangalore is one-tenth of Western countries. Our estimates indicate that nearly 8,000 people come every year to cure their ailments. This can be easily doubled in a year's time."

The tourism department feels the summit will help in connecting all stake holders for a better business opportunity.

According to Vishal Bali, chairman CII-Quality Summit "" Health tourism and vice president, Wockhardt Hospitals, "The CII-McKinsey indicates that healthcare in tourism alone can rake over $ 2 billion as additional revenue by 2012. Healthcare spending will double in the next 10 years and private institutions will form a large chunk of this spending, rising from Rs 690 billion to Rs 1,560 billion. This figure could rise with the availability of health insurance cover."