EXPLORING MEDICAL TOURISM IN MAURITIUS: AN IDENTIFICATION OF CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES AFFECTING THE SECTOR

Abstract

Mauritius although known for its tourism worldwide has reached a stagnating phase due to its reliance on the traditional sea, sand and sun concept; leading led to the branching of tourism industry towards medical tourism. This paper aims at identifying the limiting and precipitating factors in the Mauritian medical tourism industry; and tailor market-driven strategies in line with the governmental policies, ensuring a sustainable growth of this sector and most importantly remove trans-boundary barriers to medical services offered in Mauritius. A qualitative approach was used through face-to-face interviews with stakeholders from the private and public sector, inclusive of the main body regulating foreign investment and access to local medical platforms. Individuals within the category of medical tourists were also interviewed. Questions were formulated and systematically administered based on the SWOT framework. The Mauritian government is incentivizing this sector as reflected by the mushrooming of private clinics catering for international patients. However, the expansion is not rapid enough given the challenges they face legislatively as well as harboring and attracting more investors. The inability to showcase the existing state-of-the-art facilities on the international market is a major inhibiting factor. Relevant to the SWOT framework, the following were identified as per the Strengths: safety and location; Weaknesses: legislative boundaries and medical coverage; Opportunities: Branding and capacity-building; and Threats: Other travel destinations and Covid-19. Mauritius is still at its embryonic stage with respect to the medical tourism hub with the potential of becoming a support pillar to the economic development, given its central location bridging Asian and African regions. The legislative frameworks do require an extensive review to be more supportive of such developments, while bi-lateral agreements with foreign allies may potentiate this hub.