SINGAPORE – Worldwide gross medical tourism revenue is projected to grow from $56 billion to $100 billion by 2012, with Asia as a major driver of this growth, according to experts speaking Monday at the Healthcare Travel Exhibition and Congress in Singapore.

Rising healthcare standards together with the growing demand for more affordable treatment will keep the Asian market for medical tourism buoyant, said Andrew Keable, divisional director at Informa Life Sciences.

"Buoyed by the success stories of earlier waves of medical tourists, consumers, insurance companies as well as businesses fully recognize the reliability and affordability of going overseas for medical procedures," said Keable. "Patients who choose to undergo treatments in Asia can pay just 10 percent of the cost of comparable treatment conducted in developed countries like the United States or United Kingdom. This differential cost, coupled with today's sophisticated travel industry, provides an excellent catalyst to the growth of medical tourism."

Keable said Asia is well-placed to grow in medical tourism as healthcare standards and technology adoption continue to improve. Hospitals in Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, India and Singapore have made it a point to implement state-of-the- art medical technologies to improve patient care.

The Healthcare Travel Exhibition and Congress is part of a global series of life sciences events organized by Informa Life Sciences, a firm that organizes conferences for the life sciences industry. Along with Arab Health, Hospital Build and Aesthetics Asia, Healthcare Travel Exhibition and Congress also takes place annually in Dubai.