China opens world’s first resort hospital in gambling hub Macau

The world’s biggest gambling hub is now taking a leap forward toward becoming the epicenter of healthcare tourism.

Macau overtook Las Vegas as the biggest gambling hub in the world nearly 20 years ago and now it has opened the first-ever resort hospital with plans to become the hub of healthcare tourism surpassing Bangkok, Thailand.

Macau is a special administrative region of China located on the south coast, across the Pearl River Delta from Hong Kong.

The world’s first-ever resort hospital, located in a Hollywood-themed casino of Macau’s Studio City, provides several luxury medical services including health screenings, advanced scans and cosmetic procedures.

The project launched in partnership with iRad Hospital, a private healthcare group, aims to promote medical tourism, attract regional and foreign visitors, create jobs and bring healthcare and leisure under one roof.

The autonomous region already attracts 40 million visitors a year, posing an opportunity to become a leading destination of medical tourism as well.

Studio City’s chief executive said the hospital is part of a broader plan to diversify the mainly entertainment and gaming driven economy of Macau and venture into healthcare, technology and several other events.

The gambling hub’s economy was severely hit by the covid-19 pandemic as the government revenue was mostly based on taxes from gaming related activities. However, the region has gradually recovered from the pandemic’s economic impact.

Global medical tourism is a multibillion-dollar industry and it is expected to grow in coming decades.