JEDDAH, 27 July 2005 — It is no surprise that tourism is a large contributor to the Jeddah economy, but it may be surprising that medical tourism is an important component of that summer boom. At the time when many people flock to Jeddah for vacations, summertime festivals and entertainment events, there also appears to be a great increase in the number of people visiting the city’s medical and cosmetic surgery centers.

Doctors and clinic managers say patient volume increases as much as 90 percent at the centers. Private medical centers are capitalizing on the opportunities by offering attractive discounts and free medical checkups for visitors wishing to combine tourism with medical treatment.

Although the summer business is booming, due in large part to visitors from other GCC countries, some patients still complain about the pricing despite significant savings over similar clinics abroad. Eye clinics, dental and cosmetic surgery centers are the most popular tourist destinations.

Dr. Waheed Mustafa said his eye clinic receives more than 70 visitors per day during summertime — incredibly high compared to other times of the year. He said he is conducting more than 15 operations per day. “Many of the clinic visitors are from outside Jeddah,” Dr. Mustafa said. “Most of them are from Gulf countries who come to Jeddah for tourism and for eye treatment.”

Young women make up a large number of the visitors to dental clinics.

Dr. Zaina Zogby, a Saudi woman dentist, said most of her patients are women seeking orthodontics treatment. “We’re booking appointments for visitors six months before summer,” she said. “Summertime is a good season for us because we have discovered that people put visiting medical clinics on their schedules when visiting Jeddah. Promoting tourism should include promoting the medical facilities and marketing the medical services.”

Nabeel Khouri, manager of a Jeddah cosmetic surgery center, said the number of visitors seeking such services in summertime increases by 60 percent. Most of the women are from Gulf countries.

“Not only women are visiting the center,” Khouri said. “We have young men, mostly Saudis, aged 20 and above, visiting the center. Some of them want operations to repair damage from traffic accidents or burn injuries. We offer reasonable discounts to them because of their conditions and because of the limited availability of cosmetic surgery centers in Jeddah.”

Recent statistics indicate medical centers take in more than SR1 billion annually, with more than SR300 million expended during the summer months. There are more than 40 large hospitals in Jeddah, not counting private medical clinics. Several people interviewed by the newspaper cited the wide variety of choices as one reason they choose Jeddah.