Airlines Increase Airfares
Thai Airways and Singapore Air have announced they are increasing their economy and business class airfares.  This increase is in addition to the increase of their Fuel Surcharge announced last week. Please see below the additional charges per person that will need to be added to invoice on Tuesday 24th June. This will also effect the prices on packages offered by Meditravel as only $240 in taxes have been include. The average increase per person for Thailand flights will be $240 AUD (inclusive of the fuel and fare increases)

Airfares to increase by:
5% for all economy class airfares
10% for all business class airfares 

Fuel Surcharge to increase by:
AU$80pp one way(Aust-BKK vv)
AU$5pp one way(Domestic Thailand)

For all tickets issued on/after 25 June 2008. 

Launch of All Inclusive Packages 2008
To give our clients a full idea of the cost saving involved in travelling to Phuket t for surgery we have put together all inclusive packages These packages are exclusive for Destiny Medi-Travel clients wishing to travel to Phuket for surgery. The include your airfares ($240 of taxes included) 14 days accommodations, all transfers to and from airport and to and from all appointments as well as your selected surgery choice for the package that you have chosen. Breast implant packages start from $5400 per person and you can take a travel companion with you for $1550 with all the same inclusions minus the surgery option. Phuket provides an idea recovery location with it tropical lifestyle and beautiful beaches whilst having highly qualified surgeons and International standard Hospital. for further information please feel free to contact us with any further questions that you may have. Please note that if you are doing an online estimate that this does not calculate the promotion package offer and is used as guide for estimating prices for travel and surgery.

Escorted Tours in 2008.
Destiny Medi-Travel are pleased to offer escorted tours in 2008. The first one being in April. These tours are for any clients who would like the reassurance of having one of our capable staff members with them in Phuket during their recovery to assist in any way they can. These are ideal for clients who may be travelling alone and can not find someone to travel with them, or those who have never travelled before and also just for the clients who like the idea that we can be there should they need us.

Hospital Staff to Visit Australia.

Due to overwhelming enquiries we have decided to bring the the Hospital Staff of Bangkok Phuket Hospital to Australia to run a series of information days throughout Australia to provide potential clients with further information and the ability to meet and speak with the Doctor through video link up prior to Traveling to Thailand for their surgery. These information sessions will provide information and answer to any questions or concerns you may have about traveling to thailand provided by hospital executives. You will also have an opportunity during a private video link up for one on one session to speak personally with the Doctor.This is great opportunity for anyone contemplating surgery on the near future and to have any questions or concerns answered.

Should you be interested then bookings and expressions of interest will be essential please place you registration through the Event Registration Page to secure you place stating your preferred Location.. These sessions are a unique opportunity and bookings are limited at each location. They will be running from the 1-7th October 2007

Booking for surgery will be available to be made on the day and Special Travel Package price will be available for persons attending the sessions and making bookings

NEWS ARTICLES

The Phuket International Hospital offers affordable plastic surgery without the long wait.

Woman dies after surgery in Malaysia October 28th 2007
A warning to those considering Malaysia as an option for cheap surgery. We offer affordable alternative to plastic surgery and dental and will not place our clients safety at risk by sending them to Malaysia which is backed by our company guarantee

Malaysia Surgery Warning, The Border Watch, February 13th 2007

Recently on A Current Affair a program was broadcast about surgery in Malaysia.. (See the above article) We at Destiny Medi- Travel wish to acknowledge that we are in no way connected to any person or persons mentioned in the program. We primarily send patients to Thailand, and will not recommend Malaysia as a destination for our Clients. We use only International accredited Hospitals and surgeons in Thailand and the quality of care and Patient Safety will always be our main priority

Lifestyle 1 Magazine , February 7th 2007 read more....

Global Medical Travel Players To Meet At The 1st International Medical Travel Conference in Singapore

Singapore, 12 December 2006 – Singapore will host the first International Medical Travel Conference from 12 to 15 December 2006. Organized by Avail Corporation and supported by the Singapore Tourism Board, the four-day event will bring together key players in the worldwide medical travel industry to discuss trends and developments, as well as to share insights on the issues and challenges faced in this booming industry through a combination of site visits, pre-conference workshops, plenary sessions, presentations, case studies and one-on-one meetings. Medical travel-related companies can also take this opportunity to sign up as members of the International Medical Travel Association.

Speakers from Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, Australian and the United States will discuss topics covering the entire value chain of medical travel, giving delegates a better understanding of what it takes to internationalize medical services, the national and international issues involved, the roles of medical travel agents, the care of the medical traveler, and the requirements of healthcare services in a globalize world.

Delegates will also be visiting hospitals to gain first-hand insights on how International Patient Liaison Centre meet the medical traveler’s needs, and the international clinical services available at Singapore’s hospitals. In addition, two pre-conference workshops will bring participants through topics like “Seeking Healthcare Abroad – Safety and Care Considerations in Medical Travel” and “Packaging Medical Travel & Marketing Medical Packages”. 

“In many ways, medical travel is the extending of current medical-care sharing processes across international borders and the expansion of choices for patients on where they can get their healthcare from. We must not forget that these are patients whom we are looking after, not just the hale and hearty traveler,” said Dr Jason Yap, Director of Healthcare Services, Singapore Tourism Board. “The event will provide a conducive platform for the meeting of thought leaders in international medical travel. As the industry is still young, it will be good for us to examine some of the fundamentals and issues involved.”

To help grow and develop this new industry, the conference will also witness the soft launch of the International Medical Travel Association. The association aims to bring together the international community of medical travel organizations, creating opportunities for networking, business development and knowledge sharing on best practices among members, and ultimately to protect and promote the rights of international medical travelers. The association, the idea of which has received widespread interest, will take the occasion of the conference with its many participants to hold its first general elections and discuss its role and contribution to the Medical Travel industry.

Response

Destiny Medi-Travel were fortunate enough to be invited to speak at this conference, being one of the only referral companies that has its director as a Trained Travel Agent who also works for a Licence Travel Agency. The presentation focused on the intricate details that need to be taken care of when a Travel agent sends a patient to an overseas location for Medical Care.

The soft launch of the "International Medical travel Association" occurred in Singapore and Destiny Med-Travel being one of the first few Referral and First Travel Agent to become a member, also now are considered Founders of the Association. The International Medical Travel Association is the only Medical Travel Trade Association that represents leading Medical travel- related organizations, including hospitals, medical travel agents, insurance companies and national tourism offices.

The association aims to bring together the international community of organizations involved in Medical travel, creating opportunities for networking, business development and knowledge sharing between members and ultimately for the protection and promotion of Medical travelers.

"The Medical Tourist is not like the Leisure or Business tourist that Travel agencies deal with on a daily basis. They can not be treated the same as a Leisure Traveler, as there are a number of additional pieces of information that need to be given to airline and Accommodation venues to alert them that they have a client who has undergone Medical treatment. Many referral companies like ourselves just deal with the medical Coordination for clients with the Hospitals and Clinics and out source or partner their Travel to other companies or allow their clients to book their own travel arrangements. As a travel agent we have the ability to alert airline of a number of factors about our clients to assist them in the event of an emergency or comfort issue for a client. Many of our clients are first time International travelers and we make sure that the airline are aware of this and that they are available to assist our clients through immigration or Transit points. The last thing a first time traveler needs is to get confused in an airport and miss a flight. The Accommodations venues and resorts that we book our clients into are aware that our client is a Medical Client and should they need immediate assistance then the Hotels and resorts will react immediately knowing that they are a Medical Client and not a leisure client. Clients who book their own travel often do not divulge the information to the Travel agent that they are traveling for medical and this information can then not be passed onto the appropriate people. Our company aims to simplify the whole experience for our clients by taking care of their complete package in house and not outsourcing. This also allows us to adjust travel arrangement should a client need to stay longer or adjust their travel in anyway. We know where our clients are at all time and this is important in the interest of Patient Care." said Melanie Bawden, Director Destiny Medi-Travel