In the land of beauty

LOS ANGELES – A vacation and a brand new nose for as little as $1,100?!

The buzzword in tourism is medical tourism and the Philippines is certainly joining the bandwagon.

Recently, a group of entrepreneurs, supported by the Department of Tourism held a press conference at the Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles to launch a program called "Beauty Holidays."

In a nutshell, it is an invitation to visit the Philippines to combine vacation and beauty enhancements such as surgery and other aesthetic procedures.

"Well, actually I’ve been receiving a lot of inquiries from my clients who are based abroad, or outside the Philippines. And they’ve been inquiring about who the best doctors are and who the best plastic surgeons are in the Philippines. And so I thought of creating this special tour package for them," said travel agent Cris Aquino of Travel Pros Inc.

Aquino, fondly referred to in the Philippine entertainment industry as "Mr. Cris Aquino," in reference to host/actress Kris Aquino, has been in the travel industry long enough to spot a trend. And according to him, medical tourism has actually been around in other Asian countries for some time now.

Director Annie Cuevas of Philippine Tourism in Los Angeles confirmed Aquino’s observation. In her presentation, Cuevas stressed that Thailand, India, Malaysia and Singapore have already started servicing foreign patients in recent years; and so far, the business has been lucrative.

In 2002 alone, Thailand has serviced 600,000 foreign patients. The income generated from this is expected to hit $2.5 billion within the next three years. And if other Asian countries are offering these kinds of services to foreigners, there’s no reason why the Pearl of the Pacific could not compete.

In the same presentation made by Cuevas, she explained that the boom in the beauty and wellness industry in the Philippines is consistently rising, logging a 7.9 percent growth per year. In 1991, there was a 71 percent increase in the number of spa establishments and all of them are earning from an average of 1,299 spa visits per day or 35 spa visits per establishment. This business generates 1,069 jobs or an average of 29 jobs per spa facility.

Because of its potential, the Department of Tourism offices in both the Philippines and abroad are beefing up their marketing and promotional activities – publication of brochures; organizing foreign trade and media invitational; and subscription to spa and medical travel expos. Just recently, Philippine Medical Tourism participated in the Golf and Spa Travel Show in Long Beach, California.

The primary strength of Beauty Holidays is its cost. Compared to other countries where hotel accommodations alone would cost at least $200/ night, the low standard of living in Manila makes it possible for members of the consortium of travel agents, hotels, surgeons and aestheticians of Beauty Holidays to offer their services at a lower cost.

"I want to make it clear that just because we’re cheaper, it doesn’t mean we’re not as good. The reason we’re cheaper is because the cost of living in the Philippines is really much lower, the rents are lower; the nurses. I pay my nurses well. They earn about $400-$500 a month. And here you’d have to pay your nurses $4,000 a month. So everything gets factored in," explained Vicki Belo of the Belo Medical Group.

The famous "Doctor the Stars" earned her nickname from the various procedures she and her staff have done to numerous actors and actresses in the Philippine showbiz industry. She stressed however, that she’d rather be known as "your best friend in beauty."

In the same press conference, Belo explained that what people actually find beautiful comes from human instinct. Quoting a Harvard anthropologist, she said that for instance, while most men find women with big breasts attractive, their instincts also tell them that ample-breasted women can feed their babies well.

According to Belo, this is only one of the many things she has picked up from her years of practice in cosmetic surgery. Also in these years of experience, the doctor said she has arrived at the conclusion that the Philippines is one of the best destinations for plastic surgery.

"In fact, I think the Philippines is really much better for plastic surgery because Asian skin is really much difficult to deal with, compared to Caucasian skin. Caucasian skin heals a lot better. Because of that, we’re forced to be more careful, hiding the scars, making sure the cuts are more precise. When you have a scar in Filipino skin, it’s so obvious," she said.

Belo also mentioned that in terms of technological advancement, cosmetic science in the Philippines is also competitive, at least as far as the Belo Medical Group is concerned. As an example, she stressed that the Belo Medical Group has done about 2,500 Aptos thread procedures, whereas doctors in the United States have only done 200. The hydro-gel buttock life from Japan is also already being used in the Philippines; while it has not been approved in the US.

"Of course, they are protecting their own doctors and their own procedures," said Belo. "But we in the Philippines are only looking out for the best technology for our patients."

Salon owner Ricky Reyes, who’s also part of the consortium, agrees with Belo on the skills and talents of our Philippine surgeons.

"I can personally say that our surgeons are very good. You can see that from all the actresses we have in Manila. Halos wala nang totoo. Lahat na yata ay enhanced. Even the beauty queens are starting to enhance," he said.

But aside from the know-how of well-educated surgeons and cosmetic enhancement experts in the Philippines, there are also other Filipino traits that make the Philippines a haven for cosmetic procedures.

"Of course, our patient care is the best. In any of the hospitals you go to here in the States, most of the nurses are Filipino because we’re really known for our caring for patients. You’ll be spoiled. You’ll be pampered. And that’s the best thing to do when you’re recovering from cosmetic surgery," said Belo. "And, of course, our hands are a lot smaller and so we are able to do a lot of stitches. And I noticed that when you do a lot more stitches, the skin heals faster."

"At ang nakakatuwa nito, once you go to a Filipino doctor, he knows that you are Asian. Iba ‘yung elasticity ng balat ng Asian at Caucasian. Alam niya na kailangan ang ilong mo, hindi masyadong mataas, dapat ‘yung katamtaman lamang," added Reyes.

A standard package include three days, two nights deluxe accommodations in either Hotel Intercontinental Manila in Makati or Holiday Inn Galleria Manila in Ortigas; medical fees and charges for use of medical facilities and land transfers. Some of the procedures offered are eye lift, eye bag reduction, nose lift, breast augmentation, tummy tuck, face lift, hair transplants an liposuction. There are optional tours to the beaches and other famous tourist attractions available to patients for their recuperation and relaxation after the treatment.

"Ang Pilipinas, as a destination, marami talagang attractions. If they want, they can come here to relax and if they feel na they want a new look, they can go to Beauty Holidays and they come back with a new look," said Tourism Secretary Joseph "Ace" Durano.