PENANG’S medical tourism sector continued its strong growth trajectory in 2025, with foreign patient arrivals and revenue both recording increases of more than 25%.
State Tourism and Creative Economy Committee chairman Wong Hon Wai (PH-Paya Terubong) said data from the Penang Centre of Medical Tourism involving 16 private hospitals showed that Penang received 527,176 foreign patients in 2025 compared with 418,608 in 2024.
“The increase represents a growth of 25.94% in foreign patient arrivals,” he said when replying to a question from Ong Ah Teong (PH-Batu Lanchang) at the State Legislative Assembly.
Wong added that medical tourism revenue also rose from RM898.07mil in 2024 to RM1.137bil in 2025, marking a 26.60% increase.
He said several initiatives had been implemented in conjunction with the Malaysia Year of Medical Tourism (MYMT) 2026 to further strengthen Penang’s position as a regional healthcare destination.
Among the measures is a collaboration with Air Asia through its Boarding Pass Privileges programme, which offers a 15% discount on health screening packages for foreign passport holders arriving from outside Malaysia.
“The programme runs from Oct 1, 2025 until Dec 31, 2026 and is aimed at attracting more medical tourists from the region,” Wong said.
He added that foreign patients are also being offered the option to make payments in their home currencies, including Indonesian Rupiah, through the Quick Response Indonesian Standard (QRIS) system.
“This allows patients to see payment amounts directly in Rupiah without having to calculate exchange rates, while also benefiting from lower foreign exchange charges compared with debit or credit cards,” he said.
Wong said Penang’s medical tourism industry had also been actively promoted through roadshows and exhibitions organised by the Penang Global Tourism (PGT) in China, Indonesia, Singapore and Taiwan.
He added that Penang stakeholders also participated in trade exhibitions organised by the Malaysia Travel Health Council, Tourism Malaysia and other regional organisations, including in Myanmar.
At the same time, Wong said efforts were ongoing to strengthen flight connectivity to destinations with high numbers of medical tourists, including Medan, Aceh, Jakarta and Surabaya in Indonesia, Yangon in Myanmar, as well as other ASEAN and East Asian destinations.
Story by Edmund Lee