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Kerala has enormous opportunity in boosting medical and tourism revenue through medical value travel by tapping its non-resident population, experts attending the Kerala Health Tourism and Global Ayurveda Summit and Expo pointed out. Medical value travel (MVT) is showing strong double-digit growths across many geographies, of which Kerala has tapped only a small slice, they said, adding that the opportunity to attract the MVT category and thereby also boost the state’s tourism sector, is beckoning Kerala, they said. Estimates show that roughly 1,500 patients come to India every month from the Gulf Cooperation Countries alone. There is good potential for Kerala to attract a good number of them, Dennis Sebastian, Vice President and Head of Health Solutions, RGA Reinsurance Company Middle East, said. The very fact the National Health Service in the UK had an average 18-week waiting period revealed another opportunity for the State, he said. Reports say that in 2024, approximately 7.4 lakh foreign nationals visited Kerala for medical and wellness purposes. Around 60-70 per cent of them opted for ayurvedic treatment or therapeutic wellness programmes. Ayurvedic medical value tourism alone generated ₹13,500 crore in revenue in 2024, up from ₹10,800 crore in the previous year. Kerala is estimated to be earning roughly ₹40 crore per month from modern medical value travellers, which translates to ₹480 crore in annual revenues. The state has attracted MVTs from as many as 65 countries, CII Kerala Ayurveda Panel Convenor PM Varier said. Hari N Namboothiri, Chairman, Sreedhareeyam Group said large numbers of MVTs were now discovering Kerala as a medical value tourism destination, particularly from Maldives, Oman, African nations, Japan, the Middle East and South Asian countries. The two-day event that witnessed participation from 16 countries and featured various sessions covering ayurveda, modern medicine and insurance, concluded with a valedictory function Presided by K. Saravana Kumar, Consul General of Malaysia in Chennai. Saji Kumar, Chairman Global Ayurveda summit 2025 said the next edition of Kerala Medical Value Travel and Global Ayurveda Summit will feature leading scientific experts, keeping in mind the need for more validation of findings in the Ayurveda sector. In all, more than 10,000 people from the industry, academia and research fields attended the event. Published on October 31, 2025
