Destination Wellness: The Future of Medical Tourism
Blueliner Marketing, LLC
The Entrepreneur's Agency. Building web 3, mixed reality experiences and real world solutions to major societal problems
Welcome to The Marketing Matrix. We deliver curated intelligence and elevate thought leaders across industries to educate and inspire business owners, executives, entrepreneurs, students, and beyond.
This is the 2nd edition of The Marketing Matrix, published monthly, to set the tone for what we plan to share and learn as a community over the course of the month. You can expect the following touch points with each edition:
THEME FOR THE MONTH: DESTINATION WELLNESS
This month, we focus on a very cool industry cross section between Travel and Wellness that is often called Medical Tourism.?I foresee tremendous opportunities emerging in this sector in the months and years ahead, and it’s already happening as a result of many socio-economic, general health and geopolitical forces.?We at Blueliner have gotten a first hand look at one of the preeminent hospitals in this space - Health City, founded by Dr. Devi Shetty, which we have helped grow from $0, before the first brick was laid down to thousands of patients successfully treated and multiple millions in revenue currently.?
People are searching for more ‘alternative’ and ‘natural’ remedies for their health issues, and everyone in the Tourism and Health industries should take note.?We know because of our work with organic search and tracking trends on Google, Bing and other search engines - it’s definitely time for the emergence of some new players in Search (too much consolidation of power at the top, and room for nefarious antics, these days).?People want to take control of their own and their families’ health, and have the freedom to choose who their doctors are, even if that means they’ve got to get on a plane to get there.?Of course, financial constraints and potential savings are always a consideration, and we’ll look at how much of a factor that is for different people and health conditions.?We’ll also cover some ground on the sub-sectors of cosmetic and dental medical tourism.
I’ll leave you with one of the better ideas that we had - I thought it was original until we found out otherwise - as we started with Health City, and we looked for some branding language to define the experience of coming there for treatment and recovery.?I called it “Destination Wellness” (remember this was 10 years ago), and it resonated well for use in ads, website banners and other marketing communications.?But we soon found out that someone else in the U.S. had a trademark on that brand term as it relates to any health facilities.?So we had to abandon those campaigns.?Today, I see the term widely used by many U.S. and international wellness centers, as the word itself - “Wellness” - has grown in popularity, to broaden past the more narrow and controversial term of “Healthcare” or a word that is just too broad on its own - “Health”.
Make sure to catch our next podcast episode (to be broadcasted on Wednesday 7/20 @ 11AM ET) and the subsequent week’s workshop (participate live on 7/27 or watch the recording available a day or two afterwards).
TOURISM 3.0: REINVENTING, REIMAGINING, AND REENVISIONING THE INDUSTRY
Last month’s podcast episode joined Arman Rousta with Danny Klein, a writer, educator, and entrepreneur who has spent the last year living in a remote village on Mexico’s west coast. Using the village as a microcosm, they discussed Tourism 3.0, the transformational benefits of world travel, and the importance of challenging cultural misconceptions.?
In the following clip, Klein explains how life in Mexico has revolutionized his wellness practices.
“For any school in the United States,” Klein later remarked, “any elementary school, any high school, a trip to a place like this should be mandatory. It should be part of the education. We are spending two weeks together. We’ve got chaperones, we’re going to these villages, whatever it is. I know there are groups like that, of course. But I think it’s not about us helping these people. It’s about the uplift that I have felt. So I think this should be an intrinsic part of anyone’s education as a human being. And for someone who has a kid who’s anywhere between, you know, birth and 28, it’s a great trip.”
CLICK HERE??for the full podcast episode and transcript.??
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DIGITAL MARKETING IN THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY: INSIGHTS AND BEST PRACTICES
In addition to the podcast, June also witnessed the launch of Blueliner’s 2023 marketing workshop series, produced in partnership with the 7 Pillars of Digital Marketing, a unique, 2 decade old online learning curriculum. With a spotlight on the travel industry, the opening module focused on digital marketing best practices, the foundations of the Marketing Matrix, the 7 Modes of Business, and more.??
“You have to keep revisiting what constitutes ‘best practice’,” says Rousta. “Best practice for SEO or for web design in 2020 or 2021 isn’t necessarily the same in 2023. And going forward, the trends are definitely following a certain line. So you can follow the pattern. And usually the best practice is just trends stacked on top of each other; it’s not like you lose the one before it that you usually stack and build on top. There’s definitely a good purpose and a good rationale for continuing to get the education and continue to stack your own experience, as Blueliner has done going into our third decade in marketing and technology services.”
“Marketing is both an art and a science,” Rousta continues. “Part of it is science: it’s quantitative, it’s measurable. There’s particular steps that if you take them and repeat them, they generally produce very specific results, especially if done well. The art is that more qualitative part–the part that’s a little less tangible. It’s a brand, it’s a logo, it’s a picture . . .the art is working with your brand people, working with the creatives, and really just kind of getting into the essence and the real quality of a message and how it makes people feel.”
CLICK HERE?for the full workshop and transcript.?
REGISTER FOR THE MEDICAL TOURISM MARKETING WORKSHOP?@
The marketing workshops - per sector - will be conducted once a month, providing a deeper dive into specific strategies, tactics, tools and best practices being employed by leaders in destination management, tourism, hospitality, health, and wellness.?
Workshops range from 1-2 hours and are FREE. 7 Pillars Certifications are available to those who complete 10+ hours of coursework, and demonstrate a command of the tactical and/or strategic knowledge presented during the workshops.