- Pramod Goel
- Jul 20, 2023
Though the COVID-19 pandemic is still far away from being under complete control, the signs of flattening are noticeable in different parts of the world. Despite the fact that the number of cases is rising in the US, France, Germany and other European countries, the rate of increase is gradually falling. In Asia, most of the countries are still in better control over the situation. This has resulted in reducing the lockdown restrictions in many countries and plans are being made on re-starting international travel. This is definitely a positive sign for the medical travel industry, but it is also a very crucial time to plan innovative recovery measures. So, what could be the road to medical travel recovery amid coronavirus pandemic? Let’s analyze.
Evaluate Preparedness of your Region
Coronavirus still continues to rage across the world, which is seriously affecting the medical tourism sector. The entire business model of healthcare providers has toppled over. Some providers, particularly the smaller independent clinics that only focus on the market of medical travel might have been forced to shut down. A few might be getting a limited volume of patients traveling from other nations, following a period of quarantine. However, the maximum number of healthcare providers had to cancel all elective procedures. Whether the impact is severe or mild depends on the patients you are targeting, your location and your nation’s response and preparedness to the pandemic. Therefore, you must evaluate the preparedness of your region before strategizing your business actions.
Identify Locations Easing Outbound Travel Restrictions
In recent weeks, there has been a modest improvement in travel-related searches. Many reports have stated that people are optimistic and willing to travel abroad once the situation settles down. This is good news for the medical travel sector. Thus, it becomes essential to identify the regions where international travel restrictions are being lifted or eased. Based on that, you can focus on these markets to grab the attention of potential customers who may consider treatment abroad.
Assess Patients’ Intent to Travel
Even when the travel restrictions are lifted in some countries, it is very unlikely that the patients will immediately start booking. Identify the potential customers who are willing to travel once the situation normalizes. However, you must portrait a very transparent picture of the safety of traveling to your region. There might be patients who already booked but couldn’t complete the treatment due to lockdown. Reach those customers and try to reschedule the booking.
In the present situation, you may not witness an immediate rush of booking by international patients. It can be a wise move to keep your business rolling by targeting the local patients. Remember the locals will be among the first ones who would seek medical attention once the situation becomes normal. If you trap this local market, it can give a boost to your business until international bookings get back to usual.
Connect with Past and/or Present Patients
With people maintaining social distancing and spending their time with self-isolation or home quarantine, it also allows you to connect with your past or present patients. These patients who may have canceled or postponed their procedures can be provided with information relevant to their condition. One of the innovative measures you can adopt here is starting online medical consultations or healthcare second opinion by expert doctors. These patients can directly contact with the experts of your medical center via telemedicine or video calls and get additional information on wellness or assistance in maintaining their health during the treatment delay.
Communicate Directly
It is extremely important to scale up communication with the patients. Inform and educate patients about
- When you are planning to open or if you have already started operating
- Launch of your programs (something like online medical consultation or any other program that you are planning to introduce)
- Discounts on treatment programs (if you are planning to drive new customers)
- Relaxing cancellation policies for the patients who could not travel due to pandemic
- Rescheduling treatment plans, etc.
You can communicate with your customers through your website, social media handles, text messaging, emails, etc. However, it is very important that you adopt the power of digital technology and communicate with patients directly using WhatsApp, AI, direct chat, etc. This provides an opportunity for the patients to reach you directly, which increases trust and transparency.
Targeted Marketing
The governments of almost every nation are advising of safety parameters and gradually relaxing the restrictions. The medical experts across the globe are stating that the changes being implemented for good are the new normal. That is why the consumers are beginning to express more positive sentiment about the future. According to a report, 80% of consumers say they are missing travel. Such results suggest demand for medical travel will increase once they again feel comfortable in engaging with them.
Therefore, it is essential to initiate targeted marketing campaigns. Depending on the available resources, analyze which treatments and procedures make more sense to promote in the present scenario. It can be wise to revamp your website and social media pages and feature the latest updates about the situation in your region and what safety measures you are taking at your medical center.
You can also identify new partnership opportunities with leading a global medical tourism marketplace like PlacidWay to promote your brand to a huge network of international patients with professional center profiles, doctor profiles, infographics, videos, treatment packages, informative articles, blogs and more. This will help you to constantly monitor the situation and begin to execute revised strategies and new business plans to get over the crisis.
For more details on how to survive COVID-19 crisis and strategize future health tourism marketing plans, contact PlacidWay at info@placidway.com:
