TROPICANA Medical Centre Malaysia announced a partnership to cooperate on medical tourism with Cambodia’s Wonder World Travel & Tours.

“This is the first time we have opened a representative office here, but we know the Cambodian market has lots of potential,” said Tropicana Medical Centre acting marketing director Michael Chua on Wednesday.

He said Cambodian patients generally travelled to Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore, but touted Malaysia as a high quality, cheap location.

Wonder World Travel and Tours Managing Director Francis Anthony said Cambodians often go abroad to seek medical care.

“Doctors in Cambodia are good, but the cost can be high and service is not good,” he said.

Ho Vandy, co-chair of the tourism working group with the Government-Private Sector Forum, said yesterday that many local travel and tour firms were finding partners in countries such as Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia.

“Medical tourism services are now becoming very popular here,” he said yesterday. “All the travel agents are doing package tours for tourists’ medical check ups.” He reckoned Vietnam was the main destination for the Kingdom’s medical tourists.