TEHRAN – Iran should shift its medical tourism strategy from relying primarily on attracting foreign patients to exporting healthcare services, developing joint investments abroad and expanding regional partnerships, the head of the Iran Chamber of Commerce's tourism commission said during a meeting with industry representatives in the southern province of Fars.

Seyyed Mostafa Mousavi on Sunday said Iran needed to move beyond the traditional model of bringing patients into the country and instead focus on exporting healthcare services, establishing joint medical facilities in neighboring countries and strengthening the value chain of its healthcare sector, ILNA reported on Sunday.

Mousavi said recent regional developments showed that companies focused on neighboring markets had demonstrated greater resilience during periods of crisis, adding that Iraq, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan and Pakistan should become priorities under Iran's new health tourism strategy.

Mousavi added that Iraq remained Iran's largest target market for medical tourism but warned that part of that market was being lost because of Iran's limited direct presence. He said Iran should pursue joint investments, establish specialized clinics with Iraqi partners, deploy Iranian specialists and provide preliminary consultations in patients' home countries rather than relying solely on bringing patients to Iran.

He said the Iran Chamber of Commerce would soon dispatch specialized delegations to Iraq with the aim of creating direct links between Iranian hospitals, medical universities, physicians and Iraqi healthcare centers to facilitate exports of medical services and medical equipment.

“Although Iraq had invested in expanding its healthcare infrastructure in recent years, it continued to face shortages of specialist medical personnel, creating opportunities for Iranian healthcare providers.”

He also said that while most Iraqi medical tourists currently travel to Mashhad, the cities of Shiraz, Isfahan and Yazd also have the capacity to become major health tourism destinations with coordinated planning.

The meeting also highlighted the growth potential of the global medical tourism market. According to figures cited during the event, the sector was valued at more than $50 billion in 2024 and is projected to approach $200 billion within the next decade, supported by annual growth of nearly 20%.

Moreover, Mohammad Jahangiri, president of the Iranian society for international health services, said medical tourism represented one of the country's key future industries and extended beyond patient treatment to include telemedicine, specialist training, clinical services and exports of medical expertise.

Jahangiri, who also heads the medical tourism working group of the Iran Chamber of Commerce's Tourism Commission, said Shiraz, Mashhad and Qom had been designated as Iran's "golden triangle of travel, pilgrimage and health," targeting between 250 million and 300 million people across Muslim-majority countries. He said linking these destinations with Iraq's pilgrimage cities could further expand Iran's health tourism market.

Jahangiri added that a specialized delegations to Iraq would also seek to promote joint investments, strengthen cooperation between scientific and medical institutions in both countries and expand exports of medical engineering services.

AM