Plastic Tourism

Belarusian government has always advised to make the country attractive for foreigners. It seems someone’s heard the call. Ulad Androsau, 24, from Minsk launched his medical tourism service two years ago.

The business scheme is unsophisticated: there is a client with missing teeth, crooked nose or small bust who lives in the US, Europe or some other country of total prosperity. The client has a medical insurance, but it does not cover the ‘want to’ operations unnecessary for person’s survival. Furthermore, the queues for the operation there simply enormous: the countries bath in total prosperity. This urges to seek for a doctor abroad.

However, the client needs a guide in order not to get lost among alien language, prices and public transportation. And here comes a medical tour operator — the mediator who will ‘seat’ the client in the chair of chosen clinic. The client will be met at airport, presented to a doctor and even bought a souvenir T-shirt.

Only then — business.

A kind of such a scheme arose in Ulad’s head on his way to the Ministry of Sport and Tourism to receive business certificate.

“I started mulling over the ideas during my third year at university. Frequent form-dusk-till-dawn parties grew into business brainstorming.

“Once I and my friend understood we had no ice production in Minsk. As a result, I phoned my dad at 8 AM saying ‘we’re launching our business.’

“It could have looked a bit strange, yet it had been the entrepreneur grip.”

We enter the office in an old Minsk house, make some tea.

“I’ve always dreamt about doing something new, amazing and connected with Belarus.

“And I did not manage to find a thing that might attract foreigners’ attention. I did not want to leave or to organize plain Eurotours and here, in Belarus, we have not many sights left.

”That is why I chose the medical tourism. I’ve got the idea out of the blue,” says Ulad.

“Once I was visiting my pals in the Netherlands. We talked about medical services costs — about dentistry. I found out that the prices were 3 or 4 times lower in Belarus while the quality remained the same.”

Every world’s region has its donor and recipient countries. Thus, in North America, people go from the USA and Canada to Mexico, Costa Rica or Cuba. Australians are waited for in Thailand and New Zealand. Germany and France are flooding Czech Republic and Hungary.

The globe’s leader in medical tourism is definitely Israel. Every year around 15,000 foreigners leave there around $40mln.

The international coordination is performed by Medical Tourism Association with its headquarters in New-York. It even has its own magazine.

“Initially, we made a big mistake: we considered only English-speaking target audience. Only then our website was translated into Russian.

“We begun to understand the medical tourism is a regional phenomenon with the flow of applications from Moscow, St. Petersburg, the Baltic Region, Poland and Scandinavia.

“The determining factor is ethnicity and mentality: people understand the language they speak the best.”

MedTravelBelarus has only two employees: Ulad and his associate, a lawyer. They have no secretary and they make tea themselves. Still, they have a website, a Facebook page and a bottle of Black Label in the drawer.

“I have no medical education,” Ulad continues.

“Actually, I sell medical services. I sell dentistry, plastic surgery, cardiology, neurology. Every area has its procedures, operations. You should understand them to make your client sure you are a professional. Once I held a silicone breast implants for self-education. Wait, a I’ve got a call from a plastic surgeon… ‘Hi, Alieh, Isn’t she coming? The woman who wanted labiaplasty?’”

The main channel for information dissemination is the Internet, direct marketing and professional catalogues.

“However, our main promotion means is ‘bush telegraph,’” Ulad concludes.

“We stay in touch with our clients as a satisfied client is the best ads.

“They all tell about their trips. At least they tell their relations, but usually — also their colleagues, social network friends.

“Thus, we offer a bonus system. We present people who find us through someone’s reference with, e.g., manicure, pedicure, SPA or something of the kind.

“Furthermore, we have our own shopping route around Minsk with the selection of most interesting Belarusian brands.”

In the end, Ulad tells us about his future plans of creating a university course on medical tourism, but it’s getting difficult to perceive anything as he is showing us ‘before’ and ‘after’ bust photos on his laptop…

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