手握“王牌”，泰國旅游業另辟“醫療”蹊徑

黃昀昀

根據世界衛生組織的報告，到2025年，北美、歐洲、中東、亞太60%以上的國家面臨著人口老齡化，全球跨境醫療旅游需求將迎來爆發式增長。事實上，早在16年前，泰國政府就開始整合醫療、保健、旅游等資源，致力于將泰國打造為集醫療服務和度假休閑為一體的旅游勝地。

醫療旅游為泰國旅游業提供新亮點

“感覺自己是來度假的游客，而不是來就診的病人。”前往泰國體驗醫療旅游的中國游客張菲麗說。時常面帶微笑的醫護人員、裝潢如星級酒店的醫院、一對一個性化的服務讓她對那次泰國之旅念念不忘。她的經歷是眾多游客的縮影。

自2004年起，泰國政府開始著力推動醫療旅游業的發展，泰國旅游和體育部聯合公共衛生部牽頭醫療服務、健康保健服務、傳統草藥等相關產業，先后提出了把泰國打造為“世界保健中心”“亞洲健康旅游中心”“亞洲SPA 中心”的戰略計劃。截至2018年12月，泰國有64家醫院獲得了JCI（國際醫療衛生機構認證聯合委員會）認證，美容整形、SPA養生、牙科保健、試管嬰兒等專業醫療項目受到多國游客追捧。

據美國彭博新聞社報道，泰國的醫療旅游規模位居世界第一，是全世界接待醫療旅游者最多的國家、亞洲地區作為醫療旅游目的地賺取外匯最多的國家。從2015年起，泰國醫療旅游產值超過45億美元，年增長率達18%，每年有超過300萬人到泰國看病。其中擁有最優質醫療資源的地區也是著名旅游地，分別為曼谷、清邁、清萊、華欣、蘇梅島、芭提雅和普吉島等。

泰國亞洲醫療旅游公司副總裁Pimnara Punsuay介紹道，隨著醫療旅游風潮的興起，大量針對改善患者健康情況的酒店和度假村，以及提供綜合醫療方案的私人醫院崛起，許多酒店在已有SPA療養的基礎上建立起醫療診治中心。為顧客提供醫療問診和療養咨詢等服務逐漸成為泰國酒店服務的別樣亮點。

高性價比的醫療服務帶來更強競爭力

泰國街頭，按摩店依次排開，店員站在門口熟練地招攬客人，店內有三五游人體驗“馬殺雞”。這是很多游客熟悉的場景。泰式按摩擁有4000多年歷史，古代泰國皇族用它來治療身體勞損問題，現在普及為當地民眾一種“治未病”的養生方式。和中國的“不到長城非好漢”一個道理，許多游客赴泰旅游，都將體驗泰式按摩列入計劃中。“做了泰國的‘馬殺雞才懂什么是真正的按摩。”是一句廣泛流傳于游客中的話。

如果說“馬殺雞”是泰國醫療旅游的初級一環，那么由專業醫療機構開展的醫療服務可以說是它的重要支柱。美國薩托利醫療旅游公司總裁史蒂芬·拉什評價道：“泰國許多醫院已經達到世界最高水平，和美國不相上下。”從價格來看，“尤其是在重癥治療上，泰國醫院的價格相當于歐美的1/3到1/4，較新加坡低一到兩成。”曼谷杜斯特醫療服務集團首席運營官Poramaporn Prasarttong-Osoth透露，在價格和亞洲文化的一致性上，泰國比其他國家更具競爭力。

以較為著名的曼谷醫院、康民國際醫院、BNH醫院、帕亞泰醫院為例，經過多年發展，這些醫院在心腦血管治療、腫瘤治療、試管嬰兒等醫療項目上頗有建樹，并且結合泰國旅游業蓬勃發展的趨勢，為患者配備多種語言的專業翻譯。患者在診療過程中，通常能享受到護士一對一的貼心服務。

曼谷醫院作為泰國眾多國際醫療醫院的杰出代表，在芭提雅、普吉島等旅游勝地都設立了分院。需要進入康復、療養階段的患者，可在總院調出資料后，到其它城市或海島療養，同時享受異域風光和醫療服務。

受益于得天獨厚的氣候、地理環境和較低的生活成本，長期以來，泰國也是最受養老者青睞的國家之一。2002年，為鼓勵外國老人前來休養，泰國允許年滿50歲、存款不低于80萬泰銖（約合人民幣15萬元）、有身體健康證明和無犯罪記錄證明的外國人，申請為期一年的“退休簽證”，到期后還可續簽。五十幾歲的美國人Ray在清邁為自己購置了一套房產，打算在那里度過自己的晚年生活。“泰國生活節奏慢，美食、美景豐富多樣，當地人也十分熱情，在那里養老是比較適合我的。”Ray說。

泰國醫療旅游成中國游客的新“寵兒”

在中國，隨著出境旅游市場的進一步開放，越來越多人希望能享受到更高層次的醫療服務。這使泰國一些醫療機構瞄準機遇，積極布局，以期能在中國游客群體中提升知名度和影響力。

曼谷杜斯特醫療服務集團成立于1972年，經過近50年的發展，它由一家單體醫院發展為泰國最大的醫院和診所網絡集團。2018年9月，在《亞洲貨幣》雜志組織的2018年度亞洲杰出獎項評選中，該集團獲得“泰國最杰出醫療保健企業”獎。為爭取中國消費市場，該集團特別定制了醫療旅行套餐，其中包括中國多個城市飛往泰國的機票、地面交通和住宿，配套的醫療服務有健康檢查、癌癥篩查、心血管篩查等。另外，中國患者到訪其旗下任何一家醫院，都能得到翻譯團隊、客戶服務團隊的全程協助。

該集團首席財務官Narumol Noi-Am稱：“中國正逐漸成為泰國醫療旅游的重要市場。2015年以前，我們醫院的前十大患者來源國并不包括中國。而2017年，中國已經成為第二大收入增長的市場，并開始以每年30%的增速增長。”曼谷杜斯特醫療服務集團首席運營官Poramaporn Prasarttong-Osoth介紹，泰國醫院在治療肺癌、乳腺癌、結直腸癌方面取得了世界級臨床效果，極大提升了這些患者的長期生存率。“考慮到中國的癌癥發病率正在急劇增加，患者尋求能夠提供更好醫療效果和服務的治療目的地，我們認為這一增長趨勢將會繼續。”他說。

像這樣的國際醫院，泰國還有很多。為中國患者設立專門的網站、標識、講中文的醫護人員等，成為這些醫院的“標配”。有些醫院甚至根據中國患者的喜好，設立了官方微信公眾號，推出具有中國特色的病患飲食套餐等。泰國政府也為各大醫院爭取這一商機鋪路。2017年6月，泰國公共衛生部聯合外交部、旅游和體育部在泰國旅游局中文網上發布了聲明，規定對于以治病為目的入境泰國的中國居民及其陪同者可獲免簽。每次入境泰國不得超過90天，需要多次入境泰國的上述人員可以續簽。在多種便利優勢并行的前提下，中國人赴泰旅游的目的除了感受當地風土人情之外，尋醫問藥也逐漸成為主流。

The COVID-19 in 2020 has brought a heavy blow to the global exhibition industry. Thousands of exhibitions expected to hold in China were suspended， especially outbound exhibitions. This situation inevitably caused worries among people. But Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said， “China will unswervingly promote opening-up. This policy will not and cannot be changed.” The remark made people rest assured.

The role of China-ASEAN Expo （hereinafter referred to as the CAEXPO） in promoting economic and trade cooperation between China and ASEAN will still be effective. “The Belt and Road” and “digital economy” will be? key words for the 17th CAEXPO. At that time， higher-level， more diverse and innovative activities will be unveiled.

“Necessary exhibitions” can be held

Three major smoke-free industries recognized by the world are exhibition industry， tourism and real estate. It is generally believed that the exhibition industry has an inherent driving effect featuring 1：9. That is to say， if the income of a certain exhibition is “1”， then the income of corresponding industries such as hotel， transportation， catering and tourism is “9”.

According to the data of China Exhibition Economic Development Report 2019， 3，547 economic and trade exhibitions were held in China， with a total exhibition area of 130.48 million square meters， and the market scale continued to rank first in the world. The direct economic output value exceeded RMB 700 billion yuan. Affected by the COVID-19 in 2020， the thriving exhibition industry stepped on the “speed bump”. From February to April 2020， there were nearly 3，500 domestic exhibitions affected by the epidemic in China， while the situation of outbound exhibitions would be even more severe. The outbreak of overseas epidemic has increased uncertainty for the recovery of Chinas exhibition industry.

The Guidelines on Epidemic Prevention and Control issued on May 8， 2020 by the State Council of China has brought hopes to the exhibition industry， in which the saying that “all kinds of necessary meetings and exhibitions can be held” has provided policy support for accelerating the “restart” of the exhibition industry. On May 28， at the third session of the 13th National Peoples Congress， Li Keqiang reiterated the basic national policy of “opening-up”， increasing the confidence of international exhibitions. “China will unswervingly promote opening-up. This policy will not and cannot be changed. We will continue to expand cooperation with the world and independently introduce more measures to expand the scale of opening up，” said Li Keqiang.

Great hopes have been placed on Nanning， the permanent venue of the CAEXPO. The Implementation Opinions of Nanning Municipal Peoples Government on Further Promoting the High-Quality Development of the Exhibition Industry （hereinafter referred to as the Implementation Opinions） put forward that Nanning should be built into an international exhibition cluster area facing ASEAN， and an important meeting destination for China-ASEAN and central south and southwest regions. According to the Implementation Opinions， Nanning will give full play to the brand effect of the CAEXPO and the China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit， guide the leading enterprises， industries and trade associations to improve the competitiveness of exhibition industry by deepening cross-border cooperation and innovating exhibition modes such as “Internet plus”， and support holding exhibitions in ASEAN and countries along the Belt and Road. Although the epidemic has not yet disappeared， the CAEXPO still bears the mission.

Focus on two key words and create several “firsts”

In the past 16 years， the CAEXPO has been serving the basic national policy of “opening-up”. The scope of the CAEXPO has expanded to RCEP and the Belt and Road from China-ASEAN. Since 2020 marks the Year of China-ASEAN Digital Economic Cooperation， the theme of the 17th CAEXPO has been determined as “Jointly Building the Belt and Road and Developing Digital Economy”， to build a cooperation platform for exhibitors with brand new attitudes.

Since the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative， Chinese President Xi Jinping has been constantly enriching its connotation， “Promoting connectivity， openness and inclusiveness is the only way to deal with the global crisis and achieve long-term development. Jointly building international cooperation facing the Belt and Road can play a vital role.” It is reported that the CAEXPO will plan more high-level friendly exchange activities and build more diversified high-level dialogue platforms. Besides， countries and regions along the Belt and Road will be encouraged to join the CAEXPO and be invited to become specially invited cooperation partners. The CAEXPO also will promote the participation of their economic and trade delegations led by ministerial level officials and hold special economic and trade exchanges， to display dominant and characteristic commodities and enhance the effectiveness of the CAEXPO.

On June 12， 2020， the opening ceremony of the Year of China-ASEAN Digital Economic Cooperation was held online. Li Keqiang said in the congratulatory letter that he hoped the two sides can “focus on win-win cooperation， cultivate more new growth points of cooperation in the fields of smart city， artificial intelligence， big data and other industries， create more powerful new momentum for economic and social development of both sides， and inject new vitality into the realization of lasting stability and prosperity in the region”.

The CAEXPO will closely follow the hot spots of cooperation， take the high-quality development led by digital economy and the industrial transformation and upgrading promoted by the new generation of information technology as its goal， focus on “innovation and cooperation”， and pay more attention to the scientific and technological content and the added value of exhibits. In the 17th CAEXPO， targeted arrangements will be made in terms of the content of exhibitions， and a series of activities will be planned to promote the achievements of China-ASEAN digital economic cooperation.

Under the theme of “Jointly Building the Belt and Road and Developing Digital Economy”， the CAEXPO will create several “firsts” as its highlights. First， the RCEP exhibition area will be set up for the first time.

In June 22， 2020， the trade ministers of the 15 member countries of RCEP said in a statement that the epidemic increased the importance of signing the agreement. Since it would show the strong support for multilateral trade system， regional integration and regional economic development. On June 23， the 15 member states held a ministerial video conference and unanimously decided to work hard to promote the signing of the agreement within the year. If the agreement is signed successfully， RCEP countries will be invited to participate in the CAEXPO， and exchange activities for RCEP countries will be held to display investment information and characteristic commodities from Japan， South Korea， Australia and other countries in special forms.

Second， the first cross-border E-commerce exhibition area will be set up in the CAEXPO. Cross-border E-commerce platforms and retailers from China， ASEAN and countries outside the region will be invited， with a focus on cross-border E-commerce services and imported goods.

Since 2010， express companies like SF， Zhongtong， Baishi and Yuantong have successively entered the ASEAN market. In addition to bringing “China speed” to the local express industry， we can also see the feasibility of cross-border E-commerce development between China and ASEAN. On June 18， 2020， Jingdong Indonesia， a subsidiary of Jingdong group， ushered in the first “618 Shopping Festival” with local characteristics. This not only shows the great potential of “digital economy”， but also marks a good start for the Year of China-ASEAN Digital Economic Cooperation.

According to the CAEXPO Secretariat， the preparatory work for the CAEXPO is in progress. The co-organizers of ASEAN countries have said that they will continue to book an entire exhibition hall or increase the number of booth in the CAEXPO. Countries outside the region， such as South Korea and Poland， will continue to participate in it. According to statistics， the number of foreign exhibitions is expected to exceed 1，700， including nearly 1，500 for ASEAN countries.

The CAEXPO has yielded fruitful results in the past 16 years. It has promoted the signing of more than 4，000 investment projects， involving many fields such as port cooperation， shipping construction， E-commerce， modern agriculture， trade and logistics， etc.， and promoted the implementation of a number of major projects such as China-ASEAN Information Port and China-ASEAN Entrepreneurs Association， ensuring enterprises of both sides truly enjoy the dividends of CAFTA and the Belt and Road. It is believed that when hibiscus is in full blossom， China-ASEAN cooperation will make even greater achievements.