UK patients opting to travel overseas to undergo surgery would find the price of the package to Malta more expensive than Spain, Cyprus and Greece, according to a company that specialises in health tourism.

Mobilise Group director Kevin Plumpton maintained that it was local hotel rates that pumped up the prices and that hospitals and surgeons had agreed to reduce their costs.

Mr Plumpton was speaking about health tourism to industry stakeholders at the launch of the BOV Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association survey on Thursday.

Mr Plumpton said the average stay of a client was between 10 and 14 days and a good part of that was spent in hotels. However, apart from prices, other problems prevailed, including accessibility, and the overall fees needed to be limited to allow the niche market to grow.

Hotels complained that they were not reaping the benefits of the market but, on the other hand, he had not found much cooperation, he said, inviting interested parties to form part of its network.

Mr Plumpton said over 50,000 patients travelled from the UK last year on health tourism and substantial increases were projected for the coming years.

Mobilise Group itself had started from zero two years ago and, today, it has one patient landing in Malta every day. "We should close the year with over 300 patients," Mr Plumpton said. "I can see the figures growing substantially if we collaborate," he told hoteliers, expressing his belief in the possibility of trebling the numbers.

Mr Plumpton called for the drafting of a business plan for the market, which would result in the same growth other countries were experiencing, he said, adding that Cyprus recently hosted one of the largest health tourism conferences. He also called for synergy between the providers.