Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno, Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, anticipates that the recently launched Malang Health Tourism would strengthen the ecosystem of health-based travel and encourage people to prefer domestic health treatments rather than those offered abroad.

Uno stated in an official statement received in Jakarta on Tuesday that "this launch (of Malang Health Tourism) constitutes the government's efforts to suppress the high number of tourists obtaining health facilities abroad."

According to information from the Health Ministry, Indonesia is the country that sends the most patients overseas for medical care in 2021, with a total expenditure of Rp161 trillion. Malaysia and Singapore are the top destinations for Indonesian visitors.

"Hopefully, Malang Health Tourism will mark the beginning and initiation of the revival of the tourism and health industry in Greater Malang and Indonesia," the minister said.

The Indonesian government has designated health tourism as one of its national strategic priority programs.

After North Sumatra's Medan Medical Tourism Board, Bali's Bali Medical Tourism Association, and North Sulawesi's North Sulawesi Health Tourism, Malang becomes Indonesia's fourth health tourism zone with the launch of its Malang Health Tourism.

Similar to Bali, which has developed its Health Special Economic Zone (SEZ), Uno is optimistic that Malang Health Tourism will prioritize local tourists as its initial target audience before moving on to seek foreign visitors.

"We observe that Malaysia and Thailand took 15-20 years to reach the goal. However, they are concentrating on the Indonesian tourism sector. I am convinced that if we move quickly, we will be able to match the health services they offer in five years. We must cooperate and work together in that spirit, he said.

Ardantya Syahreza, the committee chair of the Malang Health Tourism Forum Discussion Group, expressed the expectation that the establishment of the Malang Health Tourism organizing committee would inspire physicians to actively promote hospitals concerning services needed in Malang.