Tourism and health authorities in Ho Chi Minh City rolled out a guidebook on medical tourism – traveling to a different country for medical treatment – on Wednesday as part of an effort to develop this form of tourism and diversify tourist options in the southern metropolis.

The handbook features information, images, addresses and maps of reputable providers of medical treatment, traditional medicine, dental care and health checks.

It also includes information and answers to questions of medical tourism in the city and introduces famous local places of interest, resorts, shopping centers and restaurants.

About 10,000 copies are scheduled to be distributed to tourism agencies, hotels and hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City.

International visitors have made approximately 80,000 arrivals to Vietnam for medical treatment purposes over the past one year, generating around US$$2 billion worth of revenue, according to Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa, deputy director of the municipal Department of Tourism.

Ho Chi Minh City alone received about $1 billion from 30,000 to 40,000 arrivals of medical tourists during the same period, Hoa said.

A potential portion came from Vietnam’s neighboring countries of Cambodia and Laos, and from overseas Vietnamese who trusted in the city’s medical services, she added.

The guidebook’s publication followed the metropolis’ recent offering of dental tourism, which local administrators said is one of the five key components of its medical tourism and is expected to become its strength on the international travel stage.

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