ELITOUR, Kountoura Meet to Set Out Medical Tourism Plan

Aiming to tap into the constantly evolving medical tourism niche and lay the foundations for its growth, Greek Tourism Minister Elena Kountoura met with the head of the Greek Medical Tourism Council (ELITOUR) George Patoulis last week.

Topping the meeting agenda were ways to promote Greece’s high quality medical and health products and treatment services in order to establish the country as a competitive health tourism option.

Kountoura stressed the importance of health and wellness tourism in enhancing the ministry’s focus on year-round tourism, and added that the time was right to create a modern and comprehensive framework based on international standards.

Patoulis, who is also president of the Athens Medical Association, noted that coordination was key to the success of the endeavor and that Greece can use its competitive advantage to enter a dynamic and lucrative market.

According to Patoulis, revenue from medical tourism to Greece can reach 2 billion dollars in the next three years.

“Greece’s reputation as a global medical tourism destination… will increase with concerted effort and collaboration, with special attention to the markets targeted and with its promotion internationally… the time has come to clearly define the product being offered, the certification procedure and to whom it is being addressed,” Patoulis added.

This was the first meeting between the Athens-based non-governmental organization and the ministry.

In relevant news, ELITOUR together with the International Medical Travel Journal (IMTJ) will be organizing the 2018 IMTJ Medical Travel Summit on May 21-24, at the five-star Wyndham Grand Athens.