Muslim tourists have long chosenMalaysia, its beaches and its malls as a holiday destination thanks to cultural affinity.

Now the Southeast Asian country, where Muslims makeup about 60 per cent of the population, wants to parlay its visitor dividend into a bid to overtake its neighbours for the world’s medical tourism crown.

It seeks to appeal to less affluent patients with reasonably priced treatments. But figures show it has some ground to make up on Thailand and Singapore in boosting its share of an industry that generates US$38 billion to US$55 billion (Dh139 billion to Dh202 billion) annually.

Malaysia is a new player in the market, competing with experienced, branded names. But it is quickly attracting the attention of patients, earning third place for “best and most affordable health care” by International Living, a lifestyle magazine.

“Thailand’s pricing is not attractive any moe and Singapore can’t cope with the flood of patients,” said Jacob Thomas, president of the Association of Private Hospitals of Malaysia.“We are one of the easiest countries to enter. Most foreigners don’t need to fill in a landing form.” The number of foreigners seeking care in Malaysia more thandoubled over five years to 770,134 in 2013. Mostpatients are from Indonesia, followed by the Middle East and North Africa, areas with plenty of new money and where health care is inadequate or dogged by long waiting lists.

That compares with 850,000 in Singapore in 2012 and nearly 2.5 million last year in Thailand, though that figure includes spa stays and resident expatriates. Spending by foreign patients totalled U16 million in 2013, dwarfed by Thailand’s $4.3 billion, again including spa stays.

Medical institutions have promoted cardiology and orthopaedics, areas with high demand in Indonesia and the Gulf states. And the mainstay, according to Patients

Beyond Borders, a medical tourism publisher, is health screenings, which account for more than two-thirds of business.

The UAE spent over $2 billion in 2011 to send patients abroad, according to Medical Tourism Guide 2014. Also being tapped are middle class patients from countries with poor health systems. Kuala Lumpur’s Prince Court Medical Centre received almost 2,000 from Libya and more than 1,000 from Iran in 2012.

At least three countries — Kazakhstan, Libya and Oman — already have government-to-government agreements to send patients to Malaysia. “The way to gain ground is to secure these accounts with government agencies since they are paying for the patients,” said Amiruddin Satar, managing director of KPJ Healthcare , one of three big hospital groups.

Still, institutions anticipate an influx of patients. KPJ Healthcare, along with fellow health giants IHH Healthcare and Ramsay Sime Darby Health Care have sought increased bed allocations for foreigners.

KPJ hopes by 2020 to see the share of its revenue from medical tourism jump to 25 per cent from 4 per cent last year. To the north, business is still flourishing in Thailand, but the military coup in May has posed a problem for patients whose governments have issued travel advisories.

Thailand had a head start, promoting its services after the 1998 Asian financial crisis, when the value of the baht currency sank. Middle East business rose after the September 11, 2001 attacks on US targets, as patients felt unwelcome in the West.

But competition is also heating up from elsewhere.South Korea last year flew actor Song Joong Ki, its medical tourism ambassador, to Qatar and the UAE to drum up business.

Dubai and Istanbul are also marketing themselves as hubs for Middle East patients reluctant to travel long distances.

source: The Gulf News