Penang draws 285,400 medical tourists, RM601.8m revenue in first half of 2026

In the first half of the year, Penang welcomed approximately 285,400 medical tourists, generating RM601.8 million in revenue, underscoring its significant role in Malaysia's medical tourism industry.

Wong Hon Wai, chairman of the state tourism and creative economy committee, highlighted Penang as Malaysia's premier medical tourism hub, attributing this to its accredited healthcare facilities, competitive pricing, and strategic connectivity, particularly with Indonesia.

Amid increasing regional competition, Penang aims to diversify its international market base, exploring opportunities in regions like the Arab world and Australia, leveraging its attractive pricing and comprehensive healthcare services.

GEORGE TOWN, Sept 30 — Penang received about 285,400 medical tourists and generated RM601.8 million in medical tourism revenue in the first six months of this year, state tourism and creative economy committee chairman Wong Hon Wai said today.

Citing Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC) data, he said the figures demonstrated the sector’s significant scale and Penang’s continued importance to Malaysia’s medical tourism industry.

He said Penang received about 520,000 medical tourists and generated RM1.14 billion in revenue last year.

“Whether measured by the number of medical tourists or their economic contribution, Penang accounts for more than one-third of Malaysia’s medical tourism industry and remains the country’s leading destination,” Wong said in a statement released today.

He noted that the figures only covered hospitals and excluded dental clinics, clinical laboratories, diagnostic centres, pharmacies and other healthcare service providers.

"Therefore, when the medical tourism ecosystem is viewed in its entirety, the actual number of medical tourists served by Penang and the economic activities generated are likely to be even more significant,” he said.

Wong recently met MHTC representatives in Kuala Lumpur to review Penang’s performance and discuss strategies, resource coordination and joint promotions for the final quarter of Malaysia Year of Medical Tourism 2026.

He said his discussions with MHTC looked at ways to better align federal and state promotional resources and channel national initiatives into Penang’s medical tourism ecosystem.

He said Penang was well placed to capitalise on Malaysia’s recent ranking as the world’s sixth-best medical tourism destination for 2026 by Travel And Tour World.

“While price is certainly one of Penang’s attractions for medical tourists, it is by no means our only advantage," he said.

He said Penang’s medical tourism industry had several core strengths, including multiple internationally accredited healthcare institutions, modern medical facilities and equipment, competitively priced and high-quality healthcare services, as well as multilingual capabilities and a conducive communication environment.

He also said Indonesia remained Penang's largest source market for medical tourism, with the state currently having direct flight connections from major Indonesian cities including Jakarta, Surabaya, Banda Aceh and Medan.

"A new direct flight route between Batam and Penang is set to commence on October 18," he said.

"The continued expansion of these air links reflects Penang’s efforts to strengthen its aviation network, enhance connectivity between Penang and major cities in Indonesia, and further consolidate and expand the Indonesian medical tourism market,” Wong added.

He said Penang and Malaysia were facing increasingly intense regional competition from neighbouring countries such as Vietnam, Thailand and Pakistan, which had also begun actively developing their medical tourism industries in recent years.

"Penang must therefore remain forward-looking and plan ahead," he said.

He said Malaysia had the advantage of multilingual communication, which formed an important foundation for Penang to diversify its international source markets.

"Therefore, Penang will not be content with relying solely on the Indonesian market, but will continue to pursue excellence by consolidating traditional source markets while identifying and developing a more diverse range of potential international markets," he said.

Wong said Penang was now exploring other international source markets such as the Arab region, as some Arab medical tourists were choosing Thailand as a medical tourism destination.

"We should therefore study the market’s needs more closely and actively seek to attract this potential group of medical tourists,” he said.

Another potential market Penang is eyeing is Australia, as Australian travellers already find Penang’s beaches, food, heritage sites and rich cultural heritage highly attractive.

"While Australia has a well-developed healthcare system, certain medical services may involve longer waiting times and higher costs," he said.

"By comparison, Malaysia’s favourable exchange rate enables us to offer competitively priced, high-quality healthcare services," he added.

He said Penang could also provide a one-stop healthcare experience, including health screening packages that allow medical tourists to undergo multiple examinations at one healthcare institution and obtain their results within a short period of time, even on the same day.

“For international medical tourists, time and service convenience are just as important as price when making their decisions,” Wong said.

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今年上半年，槟城接待了约 285,400 名医疗游客，创造了 6.018 亿令吉的收入，凸显了其在马来西亚医疗旅游业中的重要地位。

槟城州旅游及创意经济委员会主席黄汉伟强调，槟城是马来西亚首屈一指的医疗旅游中心，这归功于其获得认证的医疗设施、具有竞争力的价格以及战略性的交通连接，特别是与印度尼西亚的交通连接。

在区域竞争日益激烈的背景下，槟城致力于实现国际市场多元化，探索阿拉伯世界和澳大利亚等地区的机遇，并利用其有吸引力的价格和全面的医疗保健服务。

乔治市，9月30日讯——槟城州旅游及创意经济委员会主席黄汉伟今日表示，今年上半年，槟城接待了约285400名医疗游客，医疗旅游收入达6.018亿令吉。

他援引马来西亚医疗旅游理事会（MHTC）的数据表示，这些数据表明该行业规模庞大，槟城对马来西亚医疗旅游业的重要性依然不减。

他表示，槟城去年接待了约 52 万名医疗游客，创造了 11.4 亿令吉的收入。

黄先生在今天发表的一份声明中表示：“无论是从医疗游客的数量还是他们的经济贡献来看，槟城都占马来西亚医疗旅游业的三分之一以上，仍然是该国领先的旅游目的地。”

他指出，这些数据仅涵盖医院，不包括牙科诊所、临床实验室、诊断中心、药房和其他医疗保健服务提供商。

“因此，从整体上看医疗旅游生态系统，槟城实际接待的医疗游客数量以及由此产生的经济活动可能更为显著，”他说道。

黄先生最近在吉隆坡会见了马来西亚医疗旅游委员会（MHTC）的代表，审查了槟城的表现，并讨论了2026年马来西亚医疗旅游年最后一个季度的策略、资源协调和联合推广。

他表示，他与槟城医疗旅游委员会的讨论着眼于如何更好地协调联邦和州政府的推广资源，并将国家举措引入槟城的医疗旅游生态系统。

他表示，槟城地理位置优越，能够充分利用马来西亚最近被《旅游世界》评为 2026 年全球第六大最佳医疗旅游目的地这一优势。

“虽然价格无疑是槟城吸引医疗游客的因素之一，但这绝不是我们唯一的优势，”他说。

他表示，槟城的医疗旅游业拥有几项核心优势，包括多家国际认可的医疗机构、现代化的医疗设施和设备、价格合理且高质量的医疗服务，以及多语言能力和良好的沟通环境。

他还表示，印度尼西亚仍然是槟城最大的医疗旅游客源市场，目前槟城与包括雅加达、泗水、班达亚齐和棉兰在内的印度尼西亚主要城市之间有直飞航班。

“巴淡岛和槟城之间的新直航航线将于10月18日开通，”他说。

黄先生补充道：“这些航空线路的持续扩展反映了槟城为加强其航空网络、提升槟城与印尼主要城市之间的联系，以及进一步巩固和扩大印尼医疗旅游市场所做的努力。”

他表示，槟城和马来西亚正面临来自越南、泰国和巴基斯坦等邻国日益激烈的区域竞争，这些国家近年来也开始积极发展医疗旅游业。

“因此，槟城必须保持前瞻性，并提前做好规划，”他说。

他表示，马来西亚拥有多语言交流的优势，这为槟城实现国际客源市场多元化奠定了重要基础。

“因此，槟城不会满足于仅仅依赖印尼市场，而是会继续通过巩固传统货源市场，同时寻找和开发更多样化的潜在国际市场，来追求卓越，”他说道。

黄先生表示，槟城目前正在探索其他国际客源市场，例如阿拉伯地区，因为一些阿拉伯医疗游客选择泰国作为医疗旅游目的地。

“因此，我们应该更密切地研究市场需求，并积极寻求吸引这部分潜在的医疗游客群体，”他说。

槟城正在关注的另一个潜在市场是澳大利亚，因为澳大利亚游客已经发现槟城的海滩、美食、历史遗迹和丰富的文化遗产极具吸引力。

他说：“虽然澳大利亚拥有完善的医疗保健系统，但某些医疗服务可能需要更长的等待时间和更高的费用。”

“相比之下，马来西亚有利的汇率使我们能够提供价格具有竞争力的高质量医疗保健服务，”他补充道。

他表示，槟城还可以提供一站式医疗保健体验，包括健康筛查套餐，让医疗游客可以在同一医疗机构进行多项检查，并在短时间内（甚至当天）获得结果。

黄先生说：“对于国际医疗游客来说，时间和便利性与价格一样重要，这是他们做决定时需要考虑的因素。”

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