Azernews.Az

The biggest news story of 2014 in the global travel and tourism industry was a drastic reduction in the patient outflow from Russia. The market contracted due to tough economic environment, imposition of sanctions against Russia, ban on travel abroad for certain categories of citizens and rise in the exchange rate.

According to some reports, the patient outflow has already decreased by 30%, particularly to European countries – Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, Poland and Spain. Twenty major Russian operators went bankrupt in the second half of 2014 due to contraction in consumer demand.

Medical tourism has always been the most economically stable segment of the market. However, stagnation of the Russian economy has taken its toll. The number of requests for treatment in Germany has reduced by - 26%, in Israel by - 13%, in Czech Republic by - 32%, in Hungary by - 29% etc. However, despite that the country’s healthcare sector is now reaching critical condition, Russians still seek medical services at home or in the neighbouring countries, such as Belarus, which saw a 5% increase in the number of treatment requests between August and December 2014. At that, such a situation is pertinent to all sections of the population, from economically vulnerable people to the well-off. The contributing factors here are devaluation of the ruble, rise in prices and drop in household income.

Projections do not look good as well. So, the country is exiting the market. The outlook is far from being encouraging. It is time to take a sober look at the reality and seek business retention and expansion opportunities/ Learn more here www.medyahoo.com

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