The Tourism Ministry has formulated a National Strategy and Roadmap for Medical and Wellness Tourism in order to boost Medical Tourism in the country. The Strategy has identified the following key pillars:
- Develop a brand for India as a wellness destination
- Strengthen the ecosystem for medical and wellness tourism
- Enable digitalization by setting up Online Medical Value Travel (MVT) Portal
- Enhancement of accessibility for Medical Value Travel
- Promoting Wellness Tourism
- Governance and Institutional Framework
The Government of India liberalized the e-Tourist Visa Scheme pursuant to the Cabinet approval on 30.11.2016 and the e-Tourist Visa (eTV) scheme was renamed to e-Visa scheme and at present it has e-Medical Visa and e-Medical Attendant Visa as sub-categories of e-visa.
As part of promoting India as a Medical & Wellness Tourism destination,
Ministry of Tourism has formulated a National Strategy & Roadmap for Medical & Wellness Tourism besides other ongoing activities to promote it
More details: https://t.co/jDvyeBkZBy pic.twitter.com/74Itc4MDk5
— Ministry of Tourism (@tourismgoi) March 16, 2022
In the case of e-Medical Visa and for e-Medical Attendant Visa, triple entry is permitted and extension may be granted up to 6 months on case to case basis on merits of each case by the Foreigners Regional Registration Officer (FRRO) / Foreigners Registration Officer (FRO) concerned. Medical Attendant Visa was co-terminus with the validity of the principal e-Visa holder.
Further, as conveyed by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, it is coordinating with other Ministries along with Tourism Ministry and stakeholders to promote medical value travel in the country. Several rounds of stakeholder consultations have been conducted with line Ministries, Hospitals, MVT facilitators, Insurance Companies and NABH etc. to identify the challenges and opportunities in the sector.
