Chennai: With India emerging as a low cost healthcare destination, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is looking at cooperation between India and Singapore in medical tourism.

Says Lim Neo Chian, deputy chairman and chief executive: "We are open for joint venture or even mergers and acquisitions in the Indian healthcare sector. Singapore has good hospital infrastructure and serves patients from countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, while Indian has good medical professionals like doctors."

According to him, talks are already on with some Indian hospitals. "We have a vibrant Chinese traditional medicine system in Singapore, but have not been marketed in a major way. STB will like to facilitate joint ventures or mergers in this sector."

Healthcare is one of the eight strategic tourism units for STB. Annually around 2.5 lakh patients and their attendants visit Singapore from countries like Indonesia and Malaysia. The strategic tourism units are: business travel, education, sightseeing and attractions like tourism shopping, cuisine, life style, entertainment events and recreation cruises.

According to Chian, the SARS scare is behind us now and tourism arrivals has picked up from the second half of 2003, though there was a sharp decline during the first half of 2003.

"Last year the number of visitors to our country was 6.1 million, down by 19 per cent compared to 2002. But the dip happened during the first half of the year and by June business travel was back to its normal levels. August onwards, there was a 9 per cent growth in the number of arrivals to Singapore," Chian remarked.

According to him, tourists from long-haul markets and Japan stayed away from Singapore due to the SARS scare, resulting in sharp fall in tourist arrivals to the island. As a consequence, the tourism receipts in 2003 fell by 25 per cent as compared to the previous year. In 2002, Singapore earned $9.4 billion from tourism.

For Singapore India is one of the top ten tourist markets ,attracting annually around 4 lakh visitors and ranks fouth in terms of tourist spending. "Indians also stay longer at an average of 5.5 days per visitor, as compared to the overall tourist average of 3.08 days", says Chian.

Given this situation, STB is focusing on increasing tourist traffic from India. The board has opened its first Singapore Visitors Centre in India in Chennai. The Chennai office is the second one in the country for STB after the regional office in Mumbai opened nearly ten years ago.

Headed by Bridget Goh, area director, the Chennai office will take care of southern and eastern Indian markets and also Sri Lanka and Maldives.

"Education and healthcare are the two new segments we are focusing on. We will soon start holding promotional meetings in other southern cities in India," says Goh.