center for health tourism strategy

Established in 2003, the Center for Health Tourism Strategy was created by Dr Maria Todd. Dr Todd believes that education and professional development has the power to enable, empower and change lives. She designed the CHTS Training Institute as a for profit social enterprise dedicated to making access possible for anyone, anywhere, at any time with free and paid online study at every level. Dr Todd is a catalyst for positive social change, creating opportunity, prosperity, and access for all interested in the business of health tourism and she has invested time, money and investment to fill a market need for authoritative guidance, training and insights on the business of health tourism and medical travel.

Look first to the Center for Health Tourism Strategy
for reliable and authoritative resources and recommended public policies for the business of health tourism

On this website you'll find an abundance of resources, including informative articles to read and exercises to complete that will help you plan, launch, market and operate a medical tourism business.
All free! All created or curated by Maria Todd.

Many of the resources available on The CHTS website are privately held and are open access as an industry resource to all visitors and users without cost.  There are some resources and materials and certification that are available for a modest fee. The contents of this website are mostly without charge - but it is still a business - one that is socially-focused. Materials found on the MedicalTourismStrategy.com website are not in the  public domain and are not authorized for duplication or posting on other websites without express written consent from Dr Maria Todd.  The site is a social enterprise and is sustained and supported by advertising, merchandise, training courses and Master Classes, and the sale of Certificates of Competency, should a website user choose to purchase one.

To the extent possible, Maria Todd is committed to equality and access to skills training and education. She has created and curated learning resources into this broad repository to meet the many diverse needs of the health tourism industry. Her commitment to learning and professional development is inspired by UN Article 26 of the 1946 Declaration of Human Rights, which states that "Education shall be free...". Maria believes in social impact and that one can build a business by focusing on meeting a global social need and providing skills and education training in health tourism business development widely accessible for all concerned. The better we are trained, the higher value to clients and patients we can provide for their safety, quality, and access to healthcare.

PAID TRAINING AND MASTER CLASS EVENTS

From time to time, CHTS offers training courses and Master Classes led by competent industry professionals with decades of experience in health tourism business development. Access to specialised courses is available to anyone by payment of the posted registration fee(s). Visa and invitation letters are provided after registration. If your visa is denied by the event destination immigration authorities, a full refund will be timely provided by the same method of payment, without administrative penalties or withholds. Start the process as early as possible!

Complete fee-based health tourism business development training and private one-on-one coaching is available from Maria Todd and other practicing experts through the Center for Health Tourism Strategy.  Please call or write for information on pricing and availability. Each consultant is a working professional. Consulting is offered on a limited availability basis subject to pre-existing commitments and client assignments. Fees and calendars are set individually by each expert.  None of the consultants offer time, travel or expertise without compensation for professional services, in advance or on a retained basis.

A new certification for Qualified Health Tourism Coordinator® (QHTC) for internal staffers and external contractors of hospitals, surgical centers, airlines and airports, hotels and resorts and covers competencies required for health tourism business success and patient care continuity and travel coordination became available in 2020.  The Certification Courses are available online after payment of registration fees and require testing for competency after each module is completed. Credit by exam is also available for practicing health and hospitality and travel professionals for each module. To learn more, contact the Center for Health Tourism Strategy at +1.800.727.4160 or send an email.

Educate. Advocate. Engage.

Health Tourism enhances overall traveler spending, generates tourism-related tax revenues, provides significant tax relief per household, creates jobs at every skill level, and attracts top medical talent and advanced technologies to the community for local healthcare.

Health Tourism Defined

Health tourism is an experiential product that offers an unforgettable visitor experience. It is produced by combining carefully coordinated travel to a destination, an opportunity to enjoy the hospitality of its people, its culture and its history, the rest and rejuvenation of its accommodations, the unique flavors and recipes of local and regional gastronomy, and the precision and compassion its health services providers working collaboratively. Together, they produce the elements to create a unique visitor experience and story-telling value that will be shared for generations.

9 Key Health Tourism Development Pillars

Design and Deploy Successful Health Tourism Clusters™

Learn from Maria Todd in this two-day hands-on Workshop designed to help government and public and private sector health tourism sector stakeholders design, organize and operate supporting health tourism cluster organizations for organized, transparent and successful economic development and jobs creation.

View course details
Private Class: Call for rates
On-site Class: Call for rates

Health Tourism Keynote Speaker

In 1983, prior to the use of the new neologism of "medical tourism", Maria Todd was hired as the lead consultant to manage a project to transform a blighted and abandoned beachfront hotel in South Florida to a chic, exclusive 90-room recovery and respite spa for plastic and cosmetic surgery patients and their travel companions. Her background and education in healthcare, tourism and travel made her the only candidate to manage the project for the physician investors. Maria managed the project from concept to commissioning, prepared for and passed state-required quality and safety accreditation, licensing, marketing, and operations.  The project was so successful that she repeated the process on three additional specialty health resorts for orthopedics, cardiac surgery, and general surgery.

Maria is the leading industry consultant in health tourism destination development with more experience in more destinations than any other subject matter expert. She blogs heavily, and speaks at events worldwide. She is the author of 7 internationally-published professional and trade books on health and wellness tourism business development.

Invite her to deliver the keynote address for your upcoming tourism industry event. She'll share practical advice and lessons learned and inspire your audience. She explain how to add health and/or wellness tourism to your destination to enhance overall traveler spending, generate tourism-related tax revenues, provide significant tax relief per household, create jobs at every skill level, and attract top medical talent and advanced technologies to the community for local healthcare.