Medical tourism: where Russian citizens can go

Abstract

Countries that are the most attractive for Russian medical tourists in peacetime and when political tensions arise are considered in this article. The availability of medical services for Russians currently abroad is assessed due to the sanctions policy applied by various countries, including Western ones, against Russia. One of the limiting factors in the access of outbound medical tourism for Russians is the situation with air traffic between Russia and countries where Russians prefer travelling to receive medical services. So, direct flights are currently carried out with limited number of countries; basically, Russian medical tourists can get there with transfers. At the same time, a number of countries have completely restricted the entry of Russians into their territories, including for tourism purposes. This inevitably leads to a shift in demand for outbound medical tourism for Russians across countries. The global market for medical tourism is actively developing now, and, in general, it is already quite capacious and competitive. This is due to different countries have a number of identical specializations in the field of medicine. Therefore, Russians have the opportunity to find alternative countries to receive medical services, including by turning to the domestic market, in particular for the treatment of cancer. As before, the Middle East (Israel) will be attractive for Russian medical tourists. Also, a shift in demand from Europe to the countries of South and Southeast Asia will be.