Mongolia emerges as big spender in Korean medical tourism

The Korea Tourism Organization is pushing deeper into Mongolia's mining and financial sectors in a bid to expand the high-value medical tourism market, targeting executives and wealthy individuals in the country's core industries to maximize spending by visitors to Korea.

The KTO held the 2026 Mongolia-Korea Medical Tourism Roadshow in Ulaanbaatar and Dalanzadgad from Friday through Sunday, aiming to attract more Mongolian medical tourists to Korea.

Last year, 35,586 Mongolian medical tourists visited Korea, accounting for 21.3 percent of all Mongolian visitors to the country. The segment has grown at an average annual rate of 27.4 percent over the past three years, with per-person spending of about 9.88 million won ($7,290) — roughly 1.5 times the 6.73 million won average for all inbound medical tourists. The KTO organized the roadshow in response to growing medical tourism demand and the outsized role of mining in Mongolia's economy, a sector that accounts for 94 percent of the country's exports and 30 percent of its GDP.

The KTO met with the Mongolian National Mining Association, which represents about 90,000 workers, and proposed tailored essential health checkups and specialized wellness programs for employees. It also held discussions on customized product offerings with Genghis Khan Sovereign Wealth Fund — the state holding company overseeing the country's strategic mines — and its 17 subsidiary mining companies, which together employ about 18,000 people. Separately, the KTO reviewed with five local inbound travel agencies a range of wellness product options covering employees and their families, including programs linked to regions outside the Greater Seoul area.

The KTO also moved to build ties with Mongolia's financial networks. At a "Korea Medical Tourism Night" event held in Ulaanbaatar on Friday evening, it signed an MOU with Mandal Financial Group — which controls 90 percent of Mongolia's asset management market — to promote medical tourism to Korea through the group's network of 260,000 customers. It then met with Trade and Development Bank of Mongolia to explore ways to expand medical fee discounts and VIP wellness products.

Marketing activities targeting consumers and industry players were also active. A total of 23 Korean medical institutions and inbound agencies, represented by 59 participants, offered one-on-one consultations to about 200 VIP customers of Mandal Financial Group, organized by preferred area of treatment. The roadshow also extended to Dalanzadgad in Ömnögovi, home to the world-scale Oyu Tolgoi mine, where a tailored consultation and promotional center served about 800 local employees and residents.

The KTO said the roadshow generated 803 consultations and an estimated 19.6 billion won in projected sales.

"Through this roadshow, we held a series of meetings with key local institutions and financial players, including the Mongolian National Mining Association, inbound travel agencies, Trade and Development Bank of Mongolia, Genghis Khan Sovereign Wealth Fund and Mandal Financial Group," KTO President Park Sung-hyuk said. "We are currently developing and operating a 'Healthy Miners' product in partnership with a leading local travel agency, and we will additionally propose a 'Happy Miners Campaign' — a multilateral health promotion program for Mongolian mining workers involving the KTO, travel agencies, the mining industry and financial institutions including card and insurance companies — as we make an all-out effort to attract medical tourists from Mongolia's mining sector."

The KTO has been working to develop the Mongolian medical tourism market since opening its Ulaanbaatar branch in 2017, including hiring a dedicated medical tourism manager in 2019.