Ministry of Tourism releases 'Compendium on Guidelines for Ayush Facilities'

The Ministry of Tourism has released the 'Compendium on Guidelines for Ayush Facilities' here 29 June. The National Medical and Wellness Tourism Board under the chairmanship of Minister for Tourism Dr. Mahesh Sharma has been repeatedly stressing on the need for benchmarking of facilities offered by the various service providers in the field of Medical and Wellness Tourism on the basis of globally accepted standards.

The constant endeavor of the Ministry of Tourism has been to promote institutions and processes that have achieved such standards in order to provide excellence in service quality. On the demand from the industry and stakeholders including Ministry of Tourism; the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NABH) has brought out accreditation standards and guidelines for AYUSH facilities in the country including Wellness Centers and Panchkarma clinics that are used by tourists.

The Ministry of Tourism under the direction of the Minister of Tourism Dr. Mahesh Sharma has therefore compiled the accreditation standards for the various AYUSH facilities and urged the industry for wide acceptance of these standards. The compendium includes accreditation available for the following facilities:

I. Ayurveda Hospitals

II. Yoga and Naturopathy Hospitals

III. Unani Hospitals

IV. Sidha Hospitals

V. Homeopathy Hospitals

VI. Panchkarma Clinics

VII. Wellness Centres

The Minister mentioned that accreditation against globally benchmarked standards would help the industry in providing uniform level of service quality. The Ministry of Tourism provides Market Development Assistance (MDA) to Wellness Tourism Service Providers like Hospitals accredited by National Accreditation Board of Hospitals (NABH) and Medical Tourism facilitators (Travel Agents/Tour Operators engaged in Medical Tourism and approved by Ministry of Tourism, Government of India for participation in events related to promotion of Medical and Wellness Tourism outside India.

The accredited service providers are also listed on the Ministry of Tourism website and in the Incredible India campaign which has a global reach. This would help potential visitors to have knowledge about the institutions that have been accredited and would follow the quality standards. The details of the accreditation standard are available on Ministry of Tourism's website www.incredibleindia.org.

World over, holistic and alternative healthcare systems are gaining popularity due to the fact that many diseases are lifestyle related. India has a rich heritage of medical wisdom that prevailed as Ayurveda and Siddha coupled the practice of Yoga that provides well-being for the Body, Mind and Soul. Unani and Homeopathy with their roots outside India have also gained popularity here.

India has traditionally attracted visitors who want to rejuvenate their Body, Mind and Soul. India also attracts visitors for other alternative systems of medicines like Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy. Today, due to advancement in ease and speed of travel, more and more people are travelling in search of better quality, affordable and timely healthcare and wellness options.

The Wellness Tourism industry globally is expected to reach 678 billion US Dollars by 2017 and it is one of the most important tourism products for India.

-ANI