On September 16–17, 2025, Dubai hosted the international conference Health Tourism & Medical Odyssey — one of the key events in medical and wellness tourism. Organised with the support of the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) and The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi), the event brought together global industry leaders, government representatives, and international buyers.
Health Tourism & Medical Odyssey is more than a congress — it’s a business platform that unites global players in the industry and creates space for strategic growth, partnerships, and new business opportunities. The programme featured plenary discussions, pre-arranged one-to-one meetings, and active professional networking. Key topics included the sustainable development of medical tourism, digital transformation of the sector, collaboration between governments and the private sector, and new approaches to patient safety and data protection.
Ivan Osotov, Co-Founder of Wellmap, spoke at the plenary session “Shaping the Future: Collaboration Across the Wellness Ecosystem.” In his speech, he emphasised that digital platforms are becoming system-forming players in the market, bringing together the interests of all stakeholders on a single platform.
Ivan paid particular attention to the issues of personal data protection and online transactions, presenting Wellmap’s concept for a smart contract for the medical sector. In the future, this technology would aim to let patients pay for services securely online, store and transfer medical data in a protected format, and sign documents and agreements remotely.
“Ideally, medical tourism should operate under unified quality standards. It should be as easy as using Booking.com: I open the platform, find a solution, upload my health data, and receive the best treatment plan. Today the market is far from this model, but this is the future direction we see,” said Ivan Osotov.
According to Ivan, the key to sustainable industry growth is transparency and digital infrastructure, which “unites patients, clinics, agents, and governments into one ecosystem and makes the process safe and clear for all sides.”
“Today, much of the medical tourism market operates in the grey zone: patients face non-transparent pricing, and governments deal with chaotic industry growth. Digital platforms are changing the rules of the game. At Wellmap, we are building a system where every participant benefits: patients gain safety and clear pricing, clinics access the global market without huge costs, agents get tools to work and earn remotely, and governments receive data and control to develop medical tourism as an export industry,” he added.