Polish medical tourism very prospective

Polish medical tourism sector has a large potential to grow and medical services provided by Polish firms are of very high quality, according to the evaluation of the three-year program of medical tourism promotion conducted by the consortium of the European Center for Enterprise (EuCP), the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency (PAIiIZ) and Ameds Centrum. "Poland has never acted before as the country, which host medical tourists. This program allows us to enter the international arena," said dr Ada Kostrz-Kostecka – Project Manager in the EuCP. The program lasted 36 months, it was launched in March 2012. Poland was promoted in Denmark, the UK, the US, Russia, Sweden and Norway. As many as 48 Polish medical companies, clinics and hospitals participated, of which 20 were the most active, the consortium evaluated. Polish firms had an opportunity to take part in 12 international touristic and medical fairs, seven economic missions and three training sessions. The consortium recorded a promotional movie and launched a website polandmedicaltourism.com. "I had a chance to receive some information about the sector, about my competition, about the environment," the director of Szpital Zachodni in Grodzisk Mazowiecki, Krystyna Płukis said. The hospital was among few public entities which took part in the program. What is more, in total, 84 foreign partners such as medical agents, sector experts, travel agencies' representatives and journalists visited the ten most prominent Polish medical facilities. The most attractive for foreign customers were services provided by convalescent homes, dentistry, cardiology and orthopedic clinics, the feedback from the foreign visitors showed. Polish medical tourism needs to work on e-marketing, use social media and such tools as SEO, they also pointed out.