Many bloggers and so-called experts who post on LinkedIn like to bring attention to the lack of statistics, the poor quality of statistical reporting in medical tourism and the overblown allegations of market size.
Waaaah! So what!
There is no way to “force” proprietary businesses and multiple governments to standardize to one reporting method, or to count or publicly report externally validated statistics. Neither the MTA, the GHTC or any one of a number of other associations and councils can bring this about. They lack the authority to deem themselves “The Exalted Ruler of All Things Medical Tourism.”
What if you can never get these? Will you be paralyzed? Of course not!
Peter Drucker, an iconic management expert, said that “the aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well that the product or service you offer fits him and sells himself”. You don’t really care about global market statistics if you are a provider. But you should care about addressable market statistics.
The only time you care about global market statistics is if you believe your audience is global. Conference organizers and medical tourism associations believe that their market for membership and conference event tickets and certifications is global, so they care about the whole market.
Conversely, if your addressable market is the market that resides within a 2000km radius around your destination, that’s the market to analyze and begin to learn the customer.
Everything else is just noise.
