Developing traditional medicine services integrated with health rehabilitation and medical tourism

Abstract

Health tourism and wellness tourism are rapidly expanding segments that create opportunities to integrate healthcare, well-being services and cultural experiences. Traditional medicine has distinctive potential in this field through therapeutic and rehabilitative practices, health-preserving exercises, herbal medicine and local knowledge. This review aims to clarify the position of traditional medicine within health-related tourism, synthesize implementation experience at Da Nang Traditional Medicine Hospital, and propose future development directions. The reviewed sources include international conceptual reports on health and wellness tourism, the World Health Organization Global Traditional Medicine Strategy, Vietnamese and Da Nang policy documents, and the hospital's practice report, with priority given to recent publications. Current hospital offerings include traditional medicine consultation, acupuncture, massage and acupressure, Fire dragon therapy, herbal medicines, herbal foot baths, traditional exercises and cultural experiences. Short service packages of 60-180 minutes are combined with medicinal-garden visits, herb identification and traditional medicine preparation activities. The hospital report recorded 1,648 foreign visitor/patient visits in 2025 and 1,646 visits in the first six months of 2026, indicating increasing utilization. These service counts, however, should not be interpreted as evidence of clinical effectiveness. Further development should focus on standardized pathways, a clear distinction between wellness tourism and medical tourism, safety governance, outcome and satisfaction measurement, digital access, and partnerships across the tourism ecosystem. Traditional medicine can become a distinctive component of Da Nang health tourism when professional quality, evidence and cultural identity are developed together.