An Overview of the Medical Tourism in Qatar: Where Do We Stand?

Abstract

<b><i>Background:</i></b> Since the early 2000s, the Qatari Government has been proactively trying to provide world-class healthcare for its population free at the point of use. The Qatar National Vision 2030 advocates developing a medical tourism industry, which would continue to provide world-class healthcare for its citizens and residents, provide high status employment, and expand its sustainable economic base. <b><i>Summary:</i></b> Currently, the outbound medical tourism appears to be higher than the inbound tourism in Qatar, but this trend may be reversed in the future given the publicity generated by the recent FIFA World Cup and the large number of people who visited and learned about Qatar as a safe and developed destination in the Middle East. In this review, an in-depth understanding of the complexity of medical tourism per se and, in particular, the complexity of medical tourism as a distinct niche market within the Qatari context is described. <b><i>Key Message:</i></b> Considering the tangible and intangible infrastructure, Qatar boasts a very high potential to place itself among the top medical tourism destinations in the region.