It is perhaps the fastest-growing segment in travel and tourism, and the purpose might surprise you —cheaper dental care.
More than 200,000 Americans traveled abroad for healthcare in 2008, a number that is expected to double in 2011, according to one expert estimate. Some published reports put that number much higher: An estimated 1.6 million Americans will travel abroad for medical procedures by 2012, according to the Deloitte Center for Health.
As insurance rates skyrocket and hospital costs balloon, medical tourism may be a natural solution. Even when you factor in the cost of airfare, accommodations and recuperation, the overall cost of care abroad can be fraction of what you would pay here in the United States.
It’s not always a matter of jetting to a distant shore either. Just south of the U.S.-Mexico border is the tiny town of Los Algodones. Seven miles west of Yuma, Ariz., Los Algodones has more than 350 practicing dentists who charge up to 70% LESS than dentists in the United States.
Los Algodones is approximately a 2hr 38 min drive from San Diego, CA
Literally, all you have to do is park your car at a $3 lot in Yuma, walk over the border, and enter one of the hundreds of dental offices that line the streets there. Many of these dentists were trained in the United States, and most have English-speaking staff to help you navigate the process. As many as 33,000 Americans a day walk into Los Algodones in high season. With exceedingly few exceptions, there’s no waiting weeks for some laboratory to make impressions or molds. No return visits needed, either. Nearly all of the Mexican dentists have their own labs on premises. After your initial examination, you’re encouraged to go out for about two hours and have lunch. And when you return, the work is done, you’re treated, and you can be back across the border in time for dinner.
ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Building new hotels, restaurants, homes and stores in the middle of the Jornada del Muerto, an iconic New Mexico desert.
It might sound like a reach to some, but Virgin Galactic says there are lots of opportunities for developers to cash in on the creation of a shimmering space city around New Mexico’s Spaceport America in the Jornada east of Truth or Consequences.
Addressing the New Mexico Commercial Real Estate Development Association, NAIOP, Virgin Galactic Vice-President Will Pomeranz said each space tourist who comes here will bring an entourage that will need a complete spectrum of travel and tourist destination services.
“They are going to be coming with their loved ones, their immediate family and most of them with a lot of others as well,” he said.
So, Pomeranz urged the New Mexico developers to consider investing in the construction of the facilities needed to cater to wealthy space tourists, calling them “a lot of individuals and a lot of companies who have a lot of walking-around money.”
“If you spend $200,000 on a luxury experience, you are probably willing to pay a fair amount for a hotel, and a meal and a rental car,” he added.
New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez has pledged that public funds would not be used for commercial development at the spaceport.
NAIOP members are interested in filling the need.
“This is an industry that we haven't seen,” said Drew Dolan, NAOIP Chairman.
“And from tourism, to hospitality to commercial property, it's going to be an opportunity for us in New Mexico.”
The new executive director of Spaceport America, Christine Anderson, said Virgin Galactic is not the only company coming to do business here.
“We also have several other paying tenants now and we hope to attract others, and we'll be working toward that,” she said, adding “the industry is really growing.”
Anderson said she knows there is a lot of competition from other spaceports in other states and foreign countries.
However, she thinks there will be enough business for all.
“I really think that this is a growing market and in 20, 30 years, this will be commonplace,” she said.
Anderson also promised extensive public access and unique opportunities for students.
Virgin estimates it will be about a year and a half at the earliest before the first paying passengers ride rockets at Spaceport America.
Tickets presently cost $200,000 each, but Pomeranz said with volume in future years, prices might be reduced to about $30,000 each.
As insurance rates skyrocket and hospital costs balloon, medical tourism may be a natural solution. Even when you factor in the cost of airfare, accommodations and recuperation, the overall cost of care abroad can be fraction of what you would pay here in the United States.
