The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) has launched a medical tourism initiative targeting workers in Mongolia's mining sector and VIPs in the financial industry, generating an estimated revenue of 19.6 billion won.
KTO announced on September 7 that it held the '2026 Mongolia-Korea Medical Tourism Roadshow' from September 4 to 6 in Ulaanbaatar and Dalanzadgad.
Last year, the number of medical tourists visiting Korea surpassed 2 million for the first time, reaching 2.01 million. Among these, Mongolia is recognized as a key high-value market for medical tourism, with 35,586 Mongolian medical tourists accounting for 21.3% of all Mongolian visitors to Korea. The average growth rate over the past three years has been 27.4%, with per capita spending around 9.88 million won, 1.5 times higher than the average of 6.73 million won for all medical tourists.
KTO established its Ulaanbaatar office in 2017 and hired a dedicated medical tourism manager in 2019 to strengthen its local outreach. Last year, it also expanded into the mining city of Erdenet.
During the roadshow, KTO focused on the mining sector, which accounts for 94% of Mongolia's exports and 30% of its GDP, as well as the growing demand for medical tourism. KTO held discussions with the Mongolian National Mining Association, which employs around 90,000 workers, proposing tailored health check-ups and specialized wellness programs for employees. Additionally, KTO discussed introducing customized medical tourism products with the Genghis Khan National Wealth Fund and its 17 affiliated mining companies. Plans were also reviewed for developing medical and wellness packages that include employees and their families in collaboration with five key local medical tourism companies.
KTO also strengthened partnerships with local financial groups. On September 4, during the 'Korean Medical Tourism Night' event in Ulaanbaatar, KTO signed a memorandum of understanding with the Mandal Financial Group, which holds about 90% of Mongolia's asset management market, to promote medical tourism to Korea, leveraging its network of 260,000 customers for joint product development. Discussions with the Trade and Development Bank of Mongolia (TDB) included expanding the 'Britto Care' medical fee discount program and developing high-end wellness products for VIPs.
The roadshow featured both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) marketing efforts. A total of 59 representatives from 23 Korean medical institutions and tourism companies participated, conducting one-on-one consultations with over 200 Mandal VIP clients. The event then moved to Dalanzadgad in Umnugovi Province, home to the globally recognized Oyu Tolgoi mine, where a customized consultation booth was set up for around 800 employees and local residents.
KTO successfully facilitated 803 consultations during the roadshow, resulting in an estimated revenue of 19.6 billion won.
Park Sung-hyuk, president of KTO, stated, "Through this roadshow, we conducted relay meetings with key local institutions and financial sectors, including the Mongolian National Mining Association, medical tourism companies, TDB, Genghis Khan National Wealth Fund, and Mandal Financial Group. Currently, we are operating a 'Healthy Miner' product in collaboration with a prominent local travel agency and are proposing the 'Happy Miner Campaign,' a health promotion program targeting Mongolian miners, to attract more medical tourists from Mongolia."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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