Gwangju City Supports Compensation for Attracting Foreign Patients

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Gwangju Metropolitan City is strengthening its 2022 foreign patient attraction compensation support to revitalize the local foreign medical tourism, which has been stagnant due to COVID-19, and to support the tourism industry.

According to Gwangju City on the 22nd, for the first time this year, foreign patients visiting medical institutions in the Gwangju area who use accommodation facilities for self-quarantine will receive partial support for up to 10 days of accommodation costs depending on the medical expenses.

In addition, to enhance accessibility for attraction following last year, transportation costs (KTX, express bus, fuel costs, toll fees, etc.) will be supported, and interpretation and translation services will be provided through the Gwangju Medical Tourism Support Center to facilitate smooth communication between doctors and patients.

Support for local foreign medical tourism attraction businesses suffering from management difficulties due to the prolonged COVID-19 situation will also continue.

If medical institutions and attraction businesses registered in the foreign patient attraction information system operated by the Ministry of Health and Welfare meet certain criteria, promotional marketing expenses ranging from 3 million to 5 million KRW will be supported.

The foreign patient attraction compensation will be provided until the budget is exhausted, and applications can be submitted to Gwangju City and the Gwangju Medical Tourism Support Center by preparing plans for attracting medical tourists and support application details.

Details on eligibility, support contents, and application procedures can be found in the notices and announcements on the city’s official website.

Oh Donggyo, Director of the Future Industry Policy Division of the city, said, "Most foreign patients visiting Gwangju are from Central Asian countries such as Mongolia and Kazakhstan, and about 80% use medical institutions located in the metropolitan areas such as Seoul and Incheon." He added, "We will actively support the foreign patient attraction compensation to revitalize local medical tourism."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.