A report issued by the World Bank has revealed that the global medical tourism industry is set to expand from US $60 billion to around $100 billion over the next five years.
And recent research conducted by the author Josef Woodman suggests that the Middle East - and Saudi Arabia in particular - is one of the fastest growing markets for an industry that already attracts in excess of three million tourists a year.

"Saudi Arabia has a solid track record of growth in the outbound tourism sector, with medical travellers accounting for a significant portion of outbound tourists", said Ziyad Bin Mahfouz, president of Elaf Group of Companies, which operates in the Saudi travel, tourism and hotel industries. Mahfouz predicted that the Kingdom would play a major role in the global medical tourism boost.