5th International Health and Wellness Tourism Congress announced

• This gathering has become the sector’s leading event in Central America and the Caribbean.

Santo Domingo, 15 January 2020.- Dr Alejandro Cambiaso, president of the Dominican Health Tourism Association (ADTS), and Amelia Reyes Mora, president of AF Comunicación Estratégica, have announced the 5th International Health and Wellness Tourism Congress, to be held from 21 to 23 October 2020 at the Embajador Royal Hideaway hotel in Santo Domingo.

Dr Cambiaso said this edition of the congress will analyse the new trends and projects that will set the course of the Dominican health and tourism sectors. Its main focus areas include destination reputation and crisis management, public-private partnerships, the international accreditation process, digital health, healthy cities and centres of excellence, local, international and travel insurance, and the role of the hotel sector and the wellness industry, among others.

Amelia Reyes Mora added that this biennial event fosters professional updating, integration and business development, as well as positioning health tourism as an activity of national and regional interest. In 2018 the country received approximately 47,725 international health tourism patients and 69,550 tourists who received care under travel medicine, with an economic impact of more than 13 billion pesos.

The event, which will feature major lectures and panels, is aimed at leaders from the sectors that make up health tourism’s broad value chain: health centres, insurers, travel agencies, airlines, tour operators, hotels, the financial sector, government, transport, legal, pharmaceutical, education and more.

Concluding the announcement, the organisers stressed that the congress promotes quality, safety and compliance with local standards and international accreditations to strengthen the country’s medical practice and health indicators, with a view to positioning the Dominican Republic as a reliable and safe health destination. It also encourages local and foreign direct investment and the diversification of the tourism offer, having a very positive impact on the economy, since 80% of health tourists travel with companions and spend eight times more than a conventional tourist, they noted.