How Health Traveling Differs from Holiday Travel

The ever increasing cost of medical services in the United States has made Americans to seek affordable, high-quality treatment in other countries. Instead of just traveling for pleasure, tourists are now flocking various destinations for purposes of improving,
restoring and maintain their health via medical intervention. Here are the differences between leisure or holiday travel and health traveling.

Purpose of travel

With health tourism, people travel to new destinations to prolong their life or improve health. Tourists go to far away countries to seek medical care and treatment, for cosmetic purposes or alternative therapy like naturopathy, hot Sulphur springs or Ayurvedic
treatment. For leisure tourism, tourists travel to other destinations to experience climate change, new place, gain knowledge, and enjoy breathtaking scenery or new culture. Holiday makers usually devote their holidays to rejuvenating themselves and relaxing.

Manmade creations versus nature

For holiday tourism, most people visit other countries to see nature at its best. For example, deserts, oceans, sandy beaches, wild animals and much more. For medical tourism, people are attracted by man-made creations such as advanced medical technology. For example, Indian is a renowned medical tourism destination because of its holistic health services like homeopathic treatments, yoga, unani, Ayurveda, and meditation.

Time factor

For holiday travel, the time that one spends in a foreign country is usually dependent on the amount of cash that the tourists are willing to spend or have. However, for medical tourism, the time that the patient spends in the foreign country or a facility like Alpha Addiction Treatment center, will depend on their medical condition and the treatment procedures that they will undergo.

Save on cost

Medical tourists usually travel to other countries to save money on medical services. Normally, these patients make savings of up to 90% inclusive of their travel expenses. These are costs that they would not save if they sought treatment in their mother countries. The sole motivation of medical tourists is the need to save money and get the needed treatment at the same time. Conversely, leisure travelers tend to spend money rather than save it.

Confidentiality

Confidentiality is a major consideration for medical tourists. However, privacy is not an issue for leisure travelers. Foreign patients need privacy issues to be addressed and resolved with regards to patient information. Quantitative and qualitative research shows
that it is easy to get information of leisure travelers compared to health tourists.

Tourist Attitude

Unlike medical tourism, the choice of a destination in leisure tourism is largely affected by the tourist’s attitude. A holiday tourist will choose a destination that favors his/her age, income, social class, ethnicity, race, family structure or much more. Conversely, medical tourists will choose destinations that are renowned for successfully handling the type of medical condition that they are suffering from. Therefore, their feelings do not count, but the quality of medical care is what matters most.

Quality medical services and personnel

Medical tourists choose a destination that offers qualified labor forces and quality services. These are crucial in ensuring that the patients get excellent medical care from the medical personnel and hospital that they settle for. On the other hand, leisure travelers want destinations that offer excellent scenic views, distinct culture, fun and exciting activities that they can enjoy or see.

Author Bio

Cindy Wales is a renowned physician who works with addicts and their families at the Alpha Addiction Treatment get more information by visiting www.alphaddictiontreatment.com.