The Health Facilitator Training Programme Certification Ceremony was held in collaboration between the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC) and the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) in Kuala Lumpur earlier today.
YB Dato’ Sri Hajah Nancy Shukri, Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia was present at the event, who awarded 30 healthcare facilitators with the certificate of participation for completing the first session of the programme.
The programme is a product of the Memorandum of Understanding between MHTC and MATTA, signed on 17 November 2021.
“The healthcare travel industry possesses great potential as a key export service sector to catalyse economic growth and impact multiple industries. With the high quality and affordable healthcare services Malaysia has to offer, I envision that healthcare travel and tourism will promote better economic growth as the country recovers from the pandemic. Collaborative
opportunities, such as this programme, creates a synergy between agencies under the Ministry of Health Malaysia and the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia in playing their pertinent role to rebuild Malaysia’s economy,” said YB Dato’ Sri Hajah Nancy Shukri, Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia.
Malaysia has been a preferred destination for healthcare travellers around the world, amassing a total of 1,220,000 healthcare travellers in 2019. Known for delivering world-class quality healthcare services which are both easily accessible and competitively affordable, Malaysia is fortifying its healthcare offerings through capacity building to offer the Best
Malaysia Healthcare Travel Experience.
With the borders now reopened, the Programme comes at an opportune time as it equips tour and travel agents with the essential knowledge, skills, and tools to service the rapidly re-growth in demand for healthcare travel.
“The Health Facilitator Training Programme is a capacity building effort aimed at equipping our and travel agents with the necessary knowledge, skills, and thereafter providing services to returning and potential healthcare travellers who recognise Malaysia as a safe and trusted destination for healthcare. Our intention is essentially to ensure a seamless end-to-end
ecosystem is built addressing and facilitating every healthcare traveller need coming into Malaysia. We project that healthcare travel will generate about RM2 billion in revenue by 2025, hence, this collaboration with MATTA and its members is crucial in setting the foundation in making this a reality. We look forward to continuing this significant collaboration with MATTA for healthcare travellers to experience the best of Malaysia Healthcare,” said Mohd Daud Mohd Arif, Chief Executive Officer, MHTC.
The Health Facilitator Training Programme scheduled to be conducted over 3 sessions kickstarted with the first session attended by 31 tour and travel agents completing the stint in April 2022. These trainings are planned across the Central, Northern and Southern Regions as well as in East Malaysia.
“MATTA recognises the value of the nation’s healthcare travel industry in recovering from the pandemic. With the Health Facilitator Training Programme, our members recognise that beyond the travel attractions Malaysia has, there is also a strong pull in our quality healthcare offerings that is affordable and easily accessible,” said MATTA President Datuk Tan Kok Liang.
“The Programme helps to address the gaps within the support services of the healthcare travel ecosystem, and provides immeasurable benefits to their businesses in addressing the growing influx of international travellers coming into Malaysia for healthcare treatments. We are very extremely pleased to be working with MHTC and look forward to reaping the benefits of this programme for the country,” he added.
“This program is a part of MATTA’s strategic plan to help its members tap into new high-value markets and to take advantage of new and emerging tourism trends post-Covid 19. This strategic collaboration with MHTC is a good example of how the private and public sectors can work together for the greater benefit of the nation”, he added.
