The Budapest Recipe

Another quarter of a year has passed, and another quarter yearly analysis has proven that Budapest is still the undisputed king of medical travel destinations on the European continent. Along with the Philippines, Malaysia and Turkey, it is among the world’s first destinations internationally for medical and specifically for dental tourism. What is the key to this success? Can other countries follow suit and make a lucrative industry their own? Read on to find out as we look at the recipe for success that makes Budapest the number one dental tourism destination in Europe.

Proximity and location

One of the things that put Hungary, and its capital, Budapest in a really good position is the geographical location of the country and the city. It is the gate to the Balkans, putting it as a bridge between East and West Europe, making it the closest country with affordable care to the West, but also roughly the geographical centre of Europe, making it easily accessible. This position also makes it so that every major airline, and more importantly for the medical tourism business, every budget airline makes stops almost on a daily basis in Budapest international airport. This puts Budapest in a very unique position that is hard to imitate.

 

Semmelweis and price

One of the best medical universities, the Semmelweis University is located in Budapest, and sees a lot of international attention, because it is one of the best places to learn medical science, and is one of the cheapest European cities. This combination of skills and an affordable price are also one of the main things that place Budapest at the very top of the dental tourism business.

Infrastructure

The third and also very important part of the equation is to have the infrastructure necessary to provide the care necessary to foreign patients. Facilities and offices also need to be available, and need to be up to par, and need to uphold an international standard. The patients who are going to travel to get medical treatment are going to have standards that they hold the dental clinic they visit to. Budapest used to have problems with this in the early days, but by now, every respectable establishment has changed their tune, and have made their offices good enough to be able to accept international patients.

Conclusions

While location and training are very important, these aspects are shadowed by the importance of infrastructure and price. Patients always want the best thing for the least amount of money, and in this business, if you can undercut the current prices without undercutting the quality, which you would be hard pressed to do, you would automatically be a leader in the arena.

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