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Viktorija Vlasenko, Managing Partner of Adore Digital – 23 September 2026
This morning, LSM published an article reporting that Latvia’s Minister of Health has been discussing health tourism with ambassadors from Middle Eastern countries, while local clinics remain sceptical: patients from these countries rarely come to Latvia for treatment. Following a conversation with the Egyptian ambassador, the minister himself acknowledged that there is not enough interest, partly because medical care in Egypt is less expensive than in Latvia.
Medical tourism in Latvia is a topic that is professionally close to me. We help our clients attract patients from different countries, and I have also seen this market from the other side. So here is my perspective, based on conversations at exhibitions and conferences and on communication with industry partners.
I have attended some of the largest annual international medical and healthcare exhibitions and congresses several times, including Arab Health – now World Health Expo – in Dubai, AMWC Dubai, and medical tourism exhibitions in the UK and Germany. At these events, I have met clinic owners, including representatives of Egyptian clinics.
Recently, I had discussions with a partner agency in Dubai. They are actively looking for new destinations, but they were very direct: attracting patients to Latvia would require a major awareness campaign.
Among European countries, their clients are familiar with the Czech Republic, Germany and the UK. Unfortunately, they do not know Latvia as a medical treatment destination.
This leads to a simple truth: patients will not choose a country they have never heard of. Until they have enough information about Latvia, advertising an individual clinic is unlikely to be effective.
According to our partners, the majority of patients travelling from Dubai for treatment choose Turkey. In their view, the country’s medical sector is significantly ahead of Latvia in this market, while its prices are also much more competitive.
The situation with Egypt is different. It operates in a completely different price segment, which the minister also acknowledges in the LSM article. Latvia will not be the low-cost alternative for Egyptian patients.
Latvia therefore has to compete with countries that are both better known and, in many cases, less expensive.
Competing on price in this situation is difficult. Instead, Latvia needs to make it clear what exactly patients receive and why travelling here is worth the additional cost.
I will be direct here. In my work, I see that many managers of Latvian clinics are very cautious and expect quick results without significant investment. Often, they are either unwilling or unable to compete on price.
This is understandable – budgets need to be managed carefully. But an international patient does not make a decision after seeing a single advertisement.
They compare countries, clinics, doctors and prices. They read reviews, ask questions and wait for answers. Building a patient journey like this does not happen in one month.
If a clinic cannot be the cheapest option, it needs to communicate clearly what the patient is paying more for.
My experience supports what clinics themselves are saying. At present, the main target markets from which Latvian clinics can realistically attract patients are:
Clinics quoted in the LSM article also mention the Latvian diaspora and residents of CIS countries who choose Latvian healthcare because of its combination of price and quality.
The most in-demand areas include dentistry, plastic surgery, bariatric surgery, fertility treatment, diagnostics and oncology treatment using CyberKnife.
The Middle East can become a market for Latvia, but this requires serious, long-term work – not just a single meeting with an ambassador.
The LSM article calls on clinics to invest more in marketing and notes that Latvia invests less in international marketing than Lithuania and Estonia. I agree that greater investment is needed.
However, an advertising budget alone is not enough.
International patient acquisition requires a complete funnel in which every stage is equally important.
Awareness campaigns in the target country, partnerships, exhibitions and content about Latvia as a destination all play a role.
Without this stage, the patient will not even consider searching for treatment in Latvia.
The clinic needs a website in the patient’s language, clear information about doctors and their experience, and an indication of expected price ranges.
Increasingly, patients first ask ChatGPT or Perplexity for information, so it is also important for clinics to be visible in AI-powered search.
A patient coordinator needs to respond quickly and in the patient’s language.
An enquiry that waits several days for a response can mean a lost patient – and wasted advertising budget.
As clinics themselves point out, initial examinations often need to be completed while the patient is still in their home country.
This process needs to be organised in advance and explained clearly.
Flights, transfers, accommodation and an interpreter, if required, all need to be considered.
The less the patient has to worry about logistics, the easier it becomes to make the decision to travel.
Follow-up consultations and communication with the doctor remain important after treatment.
A satisfied patient can become a valuable source of recommendations for future patients – provided, of course, that any testimonial or patient story is used with their written consent.
If the answer to any of these questions is “no” or “I don’t know,” that may be exactly where you are losing potential patients.
Adore Digital is a digital marketing agency specialising in healthcare, medical tourism, pharmaceuticals and professional cosmetics.
We work with clinics that treat international patients, including in areas where advertising is restricted or the subject is sensitive: plastic surgery, bariatric surgery, fertility treatment and oncology.
Our approach is compliance-first. Before launching a campaign, we review Meta and Google policies as well as the legal restrictions relevant to medical advertising. This helps reduce the risk of campaigns being interrupted and protects the clinic’s reputation.
We build the international patient acquisition funnel stage by stage:
We determine which countries and services offer realistic opportunities for the clinic and how it can position itself alongside destinations such as Turkey, Germany or the Czech Republic.
We create pages in the patient’s language, structure SEO and develop content explaining the doctors, treatment processes and the value patients receive for their money.
We check what ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini say about the clinic and optimise key pages so that AI-powered search systems can find and understand the clinic.
We activate Meta Ads and Google Ads in target countries while carefully following platform policies for medical topics.
We organise the CRM and communication process so that international enquiries receive a prompt response and are not lost.
We analyse how many enquiries come from each country and channel and identify the stages where prospective patients drop out.
We do not promise a predictable flow of patients from a minimal budget. The initial budget is always a test that shows which countries, services and channels actually work. Only then does it make sense to increase investment.
For international clinics that want to attract patients from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia without opening a local office, we also offer a dedicated solution: the Baltic Patient Acquisition System.
It can be, but only as a long-term project. Before attracting the first patients, Latvia needs broader destination awareness, while individual clinics need to be genuinely prepared and adapted to work with this market.
Based on my experience, the most accessible markets currently include the United Kingdom, Ireland, Scandinavia, Lithuania and Estonia.
No. Advertising only brings a prospective patient to the clinic. The rest of the funnel turns an enquiry into an actual patient: content in their language, fast communication, support with logistics and a high-quality consultation.
If your clinic wants to attract patients from other countries, start by reviewing the entire funnel.
Contact me, and together we can identify where prospective patients are currently being lost.
Source: LSM, “Veselības tūrisma nozare skeptiska par ministra sarunām ar Tuvo Austrumu vēstniekiem; aicina ieguldīt mārketingā”, 23 September 2026.
