Berlin, 16 October 2014 Berlin is strengthening its position as a destination for international medical tourism. The seven large Berlin hospitals that have developed offerings for patients from abroad recorded a rise of 15 per cent in the past year. At Charité International, Deutsches Herzzentrum Berlin, Helios Healthcare International, Paul Gerhardt Diakonie International, MEOCLINIC, Schlosspark Klinik and Vivantes International Medicine, the number of international patients having ambulant procedures and hospital stays grew from 9,271 to 10,670. This was announced by visitBerlin during the Berlin Health Week and the World Health Summit that are taking place in the German capital until 22 October.

Burkhard Kieker, CEO of visitBerlin, remarks: “The capital region offers a unique network of renowned specialists and sophisticated facilities. We work with our partners to provide information about health services offered in Berlin in our presentations and at trade fairs abroad.”

visitBerlin markets medical tourism in coordination with a network of hospitals and tourism service providers as well as Tourismus-Marketing Brandenburg GmbH, Berlin Partner for Business and Technology and the Senate Department for Economics, Technology and Research.

Falk Erzgräber, Head of International Health Care at the Charité, says: “Over the past three years, we have seen the number of enquiries more than double here at the Charité. All of the Charité’s departments are in demand, but especially innovative treatment concepts in the fields of oncology and surgery. The international patients come primarily from the Russian- and Arabic-speaking countries.”

Importance as a convention destination increases

Berlin’s importance as a destination for health care conventions is also on the rise. The Health Week is offering a host of events across the city and in the surrounding state of Brandenburg (health-week.de). The German Foreign Office is hosting medical experts at the World Health Summit where they are discussing strategies for better health care around the globe. The public is being offered the opportunity for the first time to purchase tickets for admission on 22 October to the World Health Summit at the Foreign Office. Attendees will be invited to attend lectures held by renowned international experts. The central theme are the challenges to health care in the world’s urban centres. More information can be found at worldhealthsummit.org.

visitBerlin informs international patients about the city’s medical offerings at health.visitBerlin.com. The page is available in German, English, Arabic and Russian. In addition, visitBerlin has produced brochures that advertise medical tourism in Germany’s capitals for people in these same target markets.