Lam Dong: New advantages from medical tourism

With the largest area in the country, Lam Dong province possesses a diverse and unique tourism ecosystem, a unique combination of the land of "thousands of flowers - blue sea - great forest". That advantage brings a lot of potential for developing tourism, resorts, health care, including medical tourism.

Tien Thanh beach (Tien Thanh ward) has many urban areas suitable for both medical examination and relaxation.

Developing medical tourism is a major policy of the Party and the State, reflected in the Law on Tourism, Resolution No. 08-NQ/TW dated January 16, 2017 of the Politburo on developing tourism into a spearhead economic sector, and Official Dispatch No. 34 dated April 10, 2025 of the Prime Minister on promoting tourism development associated with the target of double-digit economic growth.

High value industry

Currently, medical tourism is becoming a world trend. This is a unique combination of high-quality medical services and tourism experiences. At the medical tourism development conference held in Lam Dong at the end of August, Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van Thuan said: The global medical tourism market will reach 100 billion USD in 2024, with an annual growth rate of 15-25%. Medical tourism in Vietnam will reach about 700 million USD in 2024 and is forecast to reach 4 billion USD in 2033, with an average growth rate of 18%/year. With these figures, Vietnam has a potential position on the world medical tourism map.

In the first 7 months of 2025, Lam Dong welcomed more than 14 million tourists and set a target of welcoming more than 22 million visitors in 2025. With a unique ecosystem, many "specialty" tourism resources and convenient transportation, Lam Dong has the foundation to develop medical tourism.

According to the Provincial Tourism Promotion Center, the central area of ​​the province is considered the land of "thousands of flowers" with an altitude of 1,500m above sea level, a cool temperate climate all year round, and will develop medical tourism in the direction of post-treatment rehabilitation, respiratory care, light cardiovascular care, and mental health. The "great forest" land is the western area of ​​the province, with majestic mountains, waterfalls, and geological parks suitable for meditation and yoga.

The “blue sea” area has long stretches of sandy beaches with luxury resorts, suitable for therapies using nutrients from the sea, salt-algae-mud therapy, combined with light exercise recovery.

In addition, Vinh Hao mineral source, Bung Thi hot spring can also be used for bathing, steaming and combined therapy. Director of Lam Dong Department of Health Huynh Thi Phuong Duyen said: The province has a very large and rich area of ​​medicinal plant cultivation; there are three general hospitals, three traditional medicine hospitals and two rehabilitation hospitals. In addition, hundreds of resorts are ready to cooperate with the health sector to promote traditional medicine and rehabilitation tourism.

In September, Lam Dong will hold a conference to promote the health sector. The health sector has also sent a document to the Provincial People's Committee approving the planning of 18 projects focusing on high-quality hospitals specializing in stroke treatment, cardiovascular intervention, along with medical tourism projects and resort hospitals at tourist destinations.

Mr. Ha Van Sieu, Deputy Director of the National Tourism Administration (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) shared: In order to promote the "quintessence" of traditional medicine, health care resort tourism is very suitable for the mountain and sea climate. With the foundation of "gifts" from nature, Lam Dong needs to create a favorable investment environment and shape medical tourism products such as high-class health recovery, acupuncture, acupressure, mineral baths, and medicinal herbs associated with nature. Medical tourism will have a longer stay than regular tourism.

Attracting international tourists

Lam Dong province still lacks hospital clusters that meet international standards, lacks the “hospital-hotel” model; long-term care services are still fragmented. Director of the Provincial Tourism Promotion Center Nguyen Linh Vu commented: In addition to planning health care areas at tourist destinations, the province needs to build a center for coordinating emergency care and medical tourism referrals, and electronic medical records linked with hospitals around the world.

Checking the quality of seaweed before processing at DT Khanh Hoa Seaweed Joint Stock Company. (Photo: HA LINH)

In addition to the policy of reducing land rent and supporting green interest rates, the province needs to call for socialized capital to build rehabilitation projects and international standard multidisciplinary clinics to link with upper-level hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City to transfer technology.

Aiming for a model for the whole country, Director of the Provincial Department of Health Huynh Thi Phuong Duyen said: The province needs to direct departments and branches to develop specific policies and solutions on planning, orientation, attracting investment, resources from the state...

Along with that, the Central Government builds a model of medical tourism; for Lam Dong to ask for permission to pilot. The health sector advises the Provincial People's Committee to orient medical tourism projects to become part of the local socio-economic development strategy. A unified ecosystem between tourism-health-culture-enterprise also needs to be created.

Some tourism experts say that human resources supporting the medical and tourism intermediaries play a key role. These employees must have knowledge of tourism and healthcare, and be fluent in many foreign languages ​​to grasp the situation of medical treatment and health consultation. Lam Dong needs to develop medical services with examination costs 2-4 times lower than those of developed countries.

This is a great opportunity to attract international tourists to use Vietnam's leading medical services such as in vitro fertilization, cosmetic surgery, dentistry, and interventional cardiology. Along with that, the province must also establish hospitals and medical centers that meet international standards and are capable of receiving and treating international tourists.

The National Tourism Administration (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) is coordinating with the Department of Medical Examination and Treatment Management (Ministry of Health) to develop a project to develop medical tourism.

Source: https://bvhttdl.gov.vn/lam-dong-loi-the-moi-tu-du-lich-y-te-20250915095003504.htm