Greetings, While major media seems to be focused on the big billion dollar opportunities and numbers that medical travelpromises, there are a few folks who are keeping their focus a little closer to the ground and home. In our first SPOTLIGHT we feature Part Two of our conversation with Dr. Simon Hudson of the Center of Economic Excellence in Tourism and Economic Development, University of South Carolina and learn what he thinks domestic facilities need to do to compete with global and local entities. He also has some interesting ideas about the role and necessity of facilitators when care stays in country. Finally, please note there are only a few weeks left until the Well-Being and Medical Travel Conference on June 20-21 in Scottsdale, Ariz. Sponsors and attendees from around the world promise to make for some robust discussions and offer new ways of think about market opportunities. Who knows? Maybe you’ll discover YOUR big-billion opportunity there. As always, we welcome your comments, story ideas, and press releases. Cheers, Amanda Haar, Editor [email protected]  

CORRECTION Editor’s Note: In our last issue we ran a release from TravelMarketReport.com that contained an error. We thank Ian Youngman, an MTT reader and author of the incorrectly attributed report, for calling it to our attention. Mr. Youngman wrote:

The most recent issue of Medical Travel Today carried a feature from Travel Market Report ‘Medical Travel Morphing into Niche Markets, Study Finds’ Unfortunately, the original feature badly mangled information on, and even got the title wrong, of my “Medical Tourism Facts and Figures 2012.” It wrongly stated that the International Medical Travel Journal (IMTJ) publishes the study. This is false, and ironically shows how easy it is for misinformation to spread. The report is one of many that I do on insurance, banking and medical travel. I am the publisher, editor, researcher, writer, tea boy and dispatcher. IMTJ, and the company behind it, has no input, editorial control or any other influence on the copy. They are one of five wholesalers of my reports in the USA, India, Ireland and the UK. None of these wholesalers even sees any copy as they do the sales and I send the report direct to customers. One organization recently accused my report of “stabbing medical tourism in the back by being gloomy.” Unlike many other report publishers I do not produce figures or make estimates to fill gaps in knowledge. I have spent five years collecting figures and information from round the globe. As a trained economist with professional insurance qualifications and 30 years of research experience, I analyze the available figures and comment on them. My “crime” is shooting down mythical projections such as one produced this week by a trade body – “it is a fact that medical tourism is growing by 35 percent a year” – no research, no proof, just rubbish to promote a conference. I am currently working on “The potential for US domestic medical tourism – a guide for employers, hospitals, insurers, brokers, travel and medical tourism agencies, and consultants.” Ian Youngman Norfolk, UK