Cancún Loses Millions in Medical Tourism Revenue, Expert Says

Cancún, Quintana Roo — Despite having internationally accredited hospitals, renowned specialists and one of the best air connections in the Americas, Cancún continues to underuse its medical tourism potential because of a lack of promotion, according to Andrés Jurado, a medical tourism advisor and director of My Medical Vacation.

In an interview, Jurado said the main obstacle is not the medical infrastructure but the absence of institutional backing to promote specialized services. He explained that the private sector has made significant investments to attract foreign patients, mainly from the United States and Canada, where medical treatments are often considerably more expensive or involve long waiting lists.

“The medical tourism ecosystem in Cancún already exists and works,” Jurado said. “We have hospitals accredited to the highest international standards, specialized clinics and highly trained professionals. What’s missing is promoting this product.”

Jurado noted that about 4 million American visitors arrive in Cancún each year, representing a major opportunity to attract patients seeking dental treatments, plastic surgery, fertility, orthopedic or regenerative medicine. He said that drawing even a small percentage of those visitors would generate significant revenue, since medical tourists stay an average of 10 to 12 nights and spend more than conventional travelers.

Each medical visitor leaves an estimated $12,000 to $13,000 in economic impact, benefiting not only hospitals and clinics but also hotels, restaurants, transportation and local shops, he said.

Jurado said medical tourism could help diversify Quintana Roo’s tourism economy, especially during difficult periods for traditional tourism such as the current massive sargassum arrivals. “The medical patient doesn’t come for the beach; they come for a treatment,” he said. “That means factors like sargassum have a much smaller impact on this segment.”

He compared Cancún unfavorably with other international destinations such as Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Colombia and Turkey, which have strengthened their position through permanent promotion campaigns involving governments and the private sector.

Jurado said that so far the most consistent institutional support has come from the municipal government, but that it is not enough to position the city internationally. He called for state-level backing and urged officials to integrate medical tourism into official tourism promotion strategies, arguing that Quintana Roo has the conditions to become one of the continent’s leading health destinations.