http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=86147
Guard against illegal shops masquerading as spas Comprehensive marketing package, insurance cover needed M SARITA VARMA Posted online: Friday, March 25, 2005 at 0000 hours IST >From Delhi to Kerala, Ayurveda spas, multispeciality hospitals and even the modest tribal alternative therapy account for a thick slice of the $4.5-billion Indian tourism earnings this year. But, not all rejuvenation masseurs are qualified and not all parlours are supervised by doctors. Too often, brothels slip the law, masquerading as health spas. That is the humiliating reality of one part of India's health tourism. "Goa, the former Portuguese colony and one-time hippie paradise, is at risk of overtaking Bangkok as Asia's main sex resort, as pedophiles prey in increasing numbers on Indian children," reports a reputed news agency. Wrong perception of economic propriety has watered down law enforcement rules. According to former SC judge VR Krishna Iyer, authorities are reluctant to make arrests on the apprehension that such actions could deter foreign tourists. How much 'value for money' is there in Indian tourism's latest lunge for the 'wellness tourism' brand? Swiss and German tourists pay as much as $250 per day on Ayurveda rejuvenation in upmarket resorts while some get it as cheap as $1 per rubdown in beachside shacks. The other factor hampering health tourism is in the non-Ayurveda part. India is yet to come out with a comprehensive marketing package, inclusive of insurance cover. Indian treatment costs are one-fourth that of corresponding US costs. As a result, superspeciality hospitals have attracted overseas treatment-seekers, including celebrities like a Hollywood star who recently got her cosmetic surgery done in a Kerala hospital. But firebells are yet to ring in tourism industry circles on the urgency to generate awareness for upmarket service quality. A top resort-owner in Kerala refused to discuss the 'shady massage parlour business', since a recent write-up by a leading newspaper had triggered a nasty shower of phone-calls from potebtial NRI clients. Can quality issues be thus swept under the carpet? Shouldn't the industry be the first to be worried about preserving its reputation? The Kerala government is half-way through a legislation that would make it mandatory for every spa to employ an Ayurveda physician. Earlier, 'Green' or 'Olive' quality tags were given to such parlours as a certification only. Now, the draft bill makes it mandatory. "If health credentials are tarnished, it is the Rs 6,400-crore Kerala tourism industry that stands to lose the most," says state tourism minister KC Venugopal. In the last two years, India has attracted nearly 60,000 overseas patients, including NRIs, for dental care, hip & knee replacements and bypass surgery. The Union government has been in talks with CII to draw up a rating chart for hospitals and spas, but this database has not materialised as yet. Addressing quality and pricing issues in medical tourism would be all the more useful in the context of new WTO commitments in tourism services. There is no dispute that competing with massage parlours in Thailand and the Philippines could bring more immediate gains to lower economic layers. But then, how can Indian tourism simultaneously race with Manila masseurs? -- Cheers, Gabe Menezes. London, England