Health tourism is known to be one of the fastest growing segments in international tourism. This is where people from developed countries travel to other countries to seek medical care. Most commonly this is people travelling to a country where cosmetic surgery is cheaper and therefore more affordable for them, but there are also growing numbers of wealthy people from poorer countries travelling abroad for better medical care, especially for essential treatments.
Bahrain is one of the countries on the list of medical tourism destinations, because its health care system is first rate, and cheap by western standards. Bahrain has also become the first country to build a resort specifically around medical tourism.
The literature says: The Dilmunia Health Island is envisioned to create a secluded oasis, exclusively promoting health and wellness, away from the hustle and bustle of the city. The Health Island, after reclamation, will cover an area of approximately 1,250,000 sq. m. and is designed to house the following components related to the “Balance of Life” concept that is integral to the project.
The resort is to be the focus of a 1.25 HA reclaimed (AKA manmade) island off the coast of Bahrain. It is to have practically every medical facility one can imagine including: diabetics centres, centres for children with learning difficulties and disablements like Autism, a maternity suite including neo-natal intensive care, a diagnostic centre, a sports medicine centre and a research centre.
There will also be a wellness centre and an Aesthetic medicine centre. Both of these are bordering on the new-age of medicine. The literature says of the Aesthetic centre that it aims to create a rejuvenating and therapeutic haven for its clients using cutting edge technologies to accelerate wellness and harmony of the body through the provision of invasive and non-invasive treatments. And the wellness centre will house things like massage suites and spas.
On top of the world class medical resort, Dilmunia will also be a resort resort, with residential units, swimming pools and a wide array of other leisure facilities. According to the most recent reports the development is continuing despite how circumstances have changed since it was envisaged. The latest report is that the design firm Mott Macdonald have been brought in to design the infrastructural aspects like roads and bridges to the mainland etc.
This is certainly the first ever medical resort we have heard of, and even the first resort aimed almost solely at a medical tourism clientele. If it takes off however, it certainly will not be the last. Watch this space.
