India offers a lucrative destination for patients who do not have a life threatening health problem. A patient will come to India for a medical treatment and along with that we can show him the Indian tourist and pilgrim destinations, as and when advised by the Doctors. The whole thing would save him a lot of money while discovering India at the same time.

Medical Tourism or Health Tourism mixes leisure, fun and relaxation together with wellness and healthcare.

The idea of the health holiday is to offer an opportunity to get away from daily routine and come an environment which provides a complete peace of mind. Here one can enjoy being close to the beaches or the mountains. At the same time be able to receive an orientation that will help improve life in terms of health and general well being. It is like rejuvenation and clean up process on all levels - physical, mental and emotional.

Many people from the developed world come to India for the rejuvenation promised by yoga and Ayurvedic massage, or other alternative therapies, but few consider it a destination for cardiac or brain surgery. However, a nice blend of top-class medical expertise at attractive prices is helping a growing number of Indian corporate hospitals lure foreign patients, including from developed nations to the likes of UK and the US.

India holds an edge with other destinations in Asia like Singapore or Thailand in medical or health tourism and the edge is in form of the expertise and the presence of professional healthcare providers with top order infrastructure and state of the art facilities.

The Apollo Group, Escorts Hospitals in New Delhi and Jaslok Hospital & Breach Candy in Mumbai are to name a few who have established names even abroad.

In India, the Apollo group alone has so far treated 95,000 international patients, many of whom are of Indian origin. Apollo has been a forerunner in medical tourism in India and attracts patients from Southeast Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. The group has tied up with hospitals in Mauritius, Tanzania, Bangladesh and Yemen besides running a hospital in Sri Lanka, and managing a hospital in Dubai.

Another corporate group running a chain of hospitals, Escorts, claims it has doubled its number of overseas patients - from 675 in 2000 to nearly 1,200 this year. Recently, the Ruby Hospital in Kolkata signed a contract with the British insurance company, BUPA. The management hopes to get British patients from the queue in the National Health Services soon.