New Delhi [India], October 5 (ANI): To enhance the bouquet of its travel and tourism offerings, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has recently started online medical tourism packages for customers.

With this aim of providing a holistic experience of medical value, travel coupled with various other elements such as travel and accommodation arrangements, road transfers and optional wellness packages after the treatment, IRCTC has partnered with a medico-technical online services company on a pilot basis which will provide the entire back-end services to the customers availing various medical and wellness packages.

For availing of the medical tourism services, a customer has to log in to the tourism portal of IRCTC 'www.irctctourism.com/MedicalTourism' and fill up a basic enquiry form detailing his need for treatment. Once the enquiry is generated, the IRCTC team will call up the customer and explain to him the treatment options for the ailment as per the convenience and budget of the customer and will further enable the customer to take up the treatment handling all back-end arrangements.

With a substantial network of hospitals, nursing homes and diagnostic centres empanelled with its technical partner, IRCTC is offering medical treatment and wellness packages to its customers at highly competitive prices.

The company is aggressively marketing its medical tourism initiative through the network of its Pan India offices and has also conducted a product sensitization session for its officers and staff working in various zonal and regional offices.

It is worth mentioning that India is one of the most sought-after destinations in Asia for Medical Value Travel. The country has enormously progressed in the field of modern medicine in the last few decades and has created a unique ecosystem for holistic health which combines the best of modern healthcare, alternative medicine, and wellness.

According to data from the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), approximately 6.97 lakhs medical tourists visited India in 2019 alone for medical treatment. By 2023, India will account for 6% of the global medical value tourism (MVT) market share.

With the growing presence of medical facilities such as hospitals, nursing homes and diagnostic centres across the country, a need is felt to guide and assist the customers in opting for the medical facilities for treatment of their ailments as per their choice, convenience and budget. (ANI)