Kerala Tradition & Fascinating Destinations 2014 Kerala Tradition & Destinations 2014 | Page 394

from southern part of India to these countries in search of job has provided
them a better knowledge of South India. This comes handy for Kerala,
Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to beat many other competitors. While advising
their patients for better medical aid, the most of the medical practitioners
in Gulf countries ask them to go to South India, thanks to their faith in the
healthcare system here.
International Connectivity
The southern part of Indian peninsula has many international airports so
as to facilitate the arrival of health tourists from abroad to different
regions. A tourist arriving here by air can reach any of the locations in
these southern states with just a couple of hours drive from the nearest
international airport. Easy accessibility is the most important factor for
the growth of tourism. Earlier, the costs to cities in these states from other
Indian cities like Delhi were as high as the fares to destinations in SouthEast and Middle-East. But the situation has changed for the good thanks
to the Open Sky Policy and the emergence of budget airlines in the country.
Well connected roads and rail aids comfortable and low prized travel
throughout the region.
Ambassadors of Indian Medical Services
Some of the other plus points of South India’s Medical Tourism are related
to the fact that doctors and nurses from these states are accepted all over
the world, the people of the south Indian states are known for their
compassion and NRIs all over the world function as ambassadors for
Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. In fact some US NRIs function as
entrepreneurs facilitating Medical Tourism to South India and many NRI
Travel Agents operate in Medical tourism arranging to and fro travel,
treatments and sightseeing. With globalization more countries have
started to pump in money into Indian market paving way for an opportunity
for India to showcase its potentials before them. On the other hand, the
workforce and experts of the country have started to long for a job abroad
in an unprecedented manner in the post globalization era. They, mainly
the doctors and nurses working abroad, also act as ambassadors of Indian
medical services. This has started to draw more medical tourists to the
country from abroad.
Traditional Systems of Medicine
The traditional systems of medicine like Ayurveda, Siddha and Naturopathy
are the main attractions of South India as far as medical tourists are
concerned. When it comes to serious marketing efforts abroad, alternate
Medicine sector is much ahead of Modern Medicine. The fact is that the
Alternate Medicine sector is in the forefront of exploiting the tourism
potential involved in medical tourism and takes serious efforts for its
promotion. Till recently, it was mainly the Europeans who come to South
India seeking alternative treatments. But the trend is slowly changing
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MEDICAL TOURISM|TRADITION AND DESTINATIONS