The Philippines has won the bid to host the next World Health Tourism Congress in Manila, the organiser Aura International has announced. The country will be the first outside Europe and the Asia Pacific region to host the event, which will be held at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila on 26–29 March 2009. Previous congresses have been held in Germany, Cyprus, and Spain.

Hadi Malaeb, managing partner of the Dubai-based events company, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that the Philippines won the bid for hosting the congress in 2009 partly because of an emerging trend in the Middle East to tour Southeast Asia, particularly the Philippines. He said that 92,000 medical tourists from the United Arab Emirates came to the Philippines last year, compared to 60,000 who went to Thailand.

Malaeb said that a 2006 Globalysis study estimated the global health and wellness tourism industry at US$40 billion, which is projected to grow to US$60 billion by 2012. “The Asian market alone consists of 1.5 million medical tourists spending a daily average of US$362 compared with the US$144 of regular inbound visitors,” he added.

The tourism industry in the Philippines has been promoting the country health-care destination for the past few years. During a medical tourism and wellness summit in October, Tourism Secretary Joseph H. Durano emphasised the wellness sector as part of the Department of Tourism’s ‘recession-proof strategy’ to ensure tourism growth amid the economic downturn. Tourism Undersecretary Cynthia L. Carrion told reporters that the country has internationally recognised healthcare facilities that compete with those in Thailand and Singapore.

Carrion also said that her department recently set up a technical working group for health and wellness tourism with representation from both the public and private sectors. The department is also developing a statistical database to track the industry’s progress, and has negotiated tax incentives for medical tourism from the Board of Investments.