The objective of this contract was to support the Egyptian Ministry of tourism in formulating a comprehensive action plan aimed at promoting medical and therapeutic tourism in Egypt. In order to fulfil the said objective it was required to:

• Identify areas offering possibility for therapeutic tourism
• Establish a plan aiming at promoting those areas to investors
• Make a comparison between similar areas in the region and potential areas in Egypt in terms of investments, number of visitors, infrastructure, equipment etc
• Identify institutions in Europe capable of providing know how and experience to Egyptian counterparts and investors
• Establish a plan aiming at promoting Egypt among European medical and therapeutic institutions in order to encourage them to establish branches, joint ventures in Egypt or cooperation agreements with similar Egyptian institutions
• Identify contacts with potential investors
• Identify and assess the existing high standard medical infrastructure capable of attracting tourists seeking medical care in Egypt
• Establish a plan aiming at promoting medical care and services provided by the Egyptian hospitals and other medical institutions
• Organise a regional seminar in order to increase awareness among investors and operators on the importance of therapeutic and medical tourism in Egypt
• Identify human resources and training sessions needed in order to implement this action plan
• Establish the organizational chart for the team which will implement this action plan

Based on the (above-mentioned) identification phase a comprehensive action plan aimed at promoting medical and therapeutic tourism in Egypt was developed

• A working group established including selected members of Ministry of tourism staff, the team of consultants and other stakeholders (i.e. ministry of health, private investors, financial institutions and banks, representative of private hospitals, cosmetic surgery specialists, hotels and resorts capable of offering complete health holiday packages including patient escorts, medical associations, transport organizations specialized in medical evacuation, tourism agents as well as specialty and theme holiday organizers, etc...)
• An assessment methodology presented and elaborated to the members of the working group and a detailed work plan and schedule of activities developed
• Joint focus group discussions conducted with the private sector involved in the tourism and in the health sectors to clarify the issues and problems that might face the implementation of such a plan
• Potential investors identified in the region interested in such development schemes
• A communication and a marketing plan presented aiming at attracting visitors in the field of therapeutic and medical tourism.
• An assessment report completed on both medical and therapeutic tourism
• A promotion and marketing plan completed for therapeutic and medical care in Egypt

• Recommendations prepared on the human resources needed in order to implement the said strategy as well as building capacity needs