PATA has teamed up with the International Medical Travel Association (IMTA) to promote and develop healthcare travel and tourism across the region. The two associations have signed a Memorandum of Understanding that seeks to collaborate in such areas as data and trends analysis for the healthcare travel sector as well as exploring opportunities for joint membership.

Medical tourism is recognised as one of the industry's high value sectors, with medical tourists tending to stay for longer durations with the associated increase in local market spend. Ruben Toral, President of the IMTA, says, "Asia is a well developed medical tourism region with excellent hospitals and tourism infrastructure.  Working with PATA helps us to bring the healthcare and travel industries together in a more cohesive manner." Deloitte Consulting last August projected that medical tourism originating in the USA could jump by a factor of ten by 2018. An estimated 750,000 Americans sought health care overseas in 2007.

PATA is hosting a webinar 'Opportunities in Healthcare Travel' featuring a presentation by Ruben Toral on Thursday June 11th at 10.00hrs Bangkok time.