Medical Tourism and Inclusive Growth: Significance of Ayurveda Sector

Abstract

Medical tourism has emerged as a critical component of tourism  in  India.    Medical  tourism,  a  subset  of  health tourism, is an emerging segment of tourism industry and there  are  only  a  few  serious  studies  conducted  on  the topic. With the growing importance of medical tourism and the thrust given by central and state governments to promote tourism, the paper explores the potential role of Ayurveda  in  medical  tourism  sector. A  survey  of practitioners, manufacturers, researchers, representatives of various associations in Ayurveda sector was carried out and the findings of the  survey, which have policy implications, have been used to explore the possibilities of promoting Ayurveda sector in the medical tourism with the  participation  of  local  government  institutions  and community in  order  to  achieve  inclusive  growth.  The dominance of small and medium enterprises, individual researchers  and  practitioners, and labour  intensive operations in Ayurveda based medical tourism and its impact on inclusive growth is highlighted. The paper also aims to formulate an action plan to address the critical issues of Ayurveda sector to enable it to play a central role in medical tourism.