Here are some reasons why we expect so many           participants in Barcelona:

• Spain is the most advanced and visited country in the Mediterranean for medical travel. Now this market can look to expand by capitalising on the trend towards free medical choice across European borders
• US healthcare reform will facilitate treatment abroad for US citizens. In Barcelona  we will have as a partner several organisations and networks from the US, engaged in bringing value to medical travellers and taking care of the important legal and logistic issues connected to it. The awareness is growing at different levels in health care industry that Medical Travel is becoming a real option to control the exploding healthcare cost.
• EU regulations are increasingly being adapted to the needs and wishes of patients, and with the EU presidency in Hungary, a country that enjoys a burgeoning medical travel industry, the EU Patient Mobility Directive will be in good hands. .
• China is growing as a potential market and EMTC has partnered with the Chinese Medical Tourism Association . It will be interesting how this  (not anymore) “sleeping giant” is going to enter the markets. They are interested in both importing and exporting  patients.

• Northern European countries provide high quality medical treatment, but at relatively high prices. This makes Spain’s high quality but more affordable care for European expatriates and pensioners highly attractive. Insurance companies from Germany for example are going to enter contractual relationships with hospital networks in Spain.
• Spa Resorts and Medical Wellness is a growth area. Privately owned Spa centers are looking to international markets and offer high standards also for the component “medical wellness” services.
• Spain is a searched for destination for In Vitro Fertitlity treament. Many Italian patinets are visiting the country for this purpose and IVF is at the moment a still accelerating hype
• International Centres for Medical Tourism will bring together key European decision makers and top  healthcare providers to develop markets, providing many more opportunities for patients to make their own arrangements for treatment. Infertility treatment is a special growth area  in Spain due to the liberal legislation of the country and attracts increasing numbers of patients from Italy, Russia, everywhere...
• Associations, accreditation bodies, governmental institutions can influence the creation of new markets and keep abreast of developments as they evolve during the conference