Updated August 2026.
- The UAE medical tourism market exceeds AED 4 billion (2025) with 300,000+ international patients annually.
- Dubai Health Authority (DHA) issues the Health Tourism Facilitator License (AED 5,000–15,000); Dubai Healthcare City Authority (DHCCA) licenses within the free zone (AED 15,000–30,000).
- 22+ UAE hospitals hold Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation — the most JCI-accredited facilities in the MENA region.
- DHA-licensed facilitators must provide Arabic, English, and the patient’s native language support under the DHA Health Tourism Standard.
- Establishing a licensed medical tourism facilitation company in UAE costs AED 100,000–500,000 depending on structure, zone, and staffing requirements.
The United Arab Emirates has emerged as the foremost medical tourism destination in the Middle East and North Africa. The country’s investment in world-class healthcare infrastructure, its strategic location connecting East and West, and the strength of its regulatory frameworks — anchored by the Dubai Health Authority (DHA), the Department of Health Abu Dhabi (DoH), and Dubai Tourism Commerce Marketing (DTCM) — position it as an unmatched hub for international patient facilitation. For entrepreneurs, clinics, and healthcare companies considering entry into this sector, understanding the licensing landscape is the critical first step.
Dubai Health Authority (DHA) Health Tourism Framework
The DHA launched the “Dubai Health Tourism” strategy in 2023, formalising Dubai’s ambition to become a top-10 global medical tourism destination by 2026. Under this strategy, all patient facilitation companies operating in Dubai must hold a DHA Health Tourism Facilitator License. License fees range from AED 5,000 to AED 15,000 annually depending on the scope of services offered.
DHA-accredited facilitators gain the right to refer international patients to any DHA-licensed hospital or clinic. The license covers core facilitation activities: appointment coordination, pre-travel health consultations, insurance verification, hospital-liaison services, and post-treatment follow-up support. Companies wishing to offer additional medical services — such as in-house nursing or diagnostics — require separate DHA clinical facility licenses.
The DHA’s digital health infrastructure plays a central role. All patient records for Dubai residents and visiting patients managed by DHA-licensed facilitators must integrate with Salama, the DHA’s unified electronic health record (EHR) system. Non-compliance with Salama integration obligations can result in license suspension, making IT readiness a licensing prerequisite rather than a post-launch concern.
Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC): The Free Zone Advantage
Dubai Healthcare City is the UAE’s — and the world’s — largest healthcare free zone, spanning over 4.1 million square metres in the heart of Dubai. DHCC currently hosts more than 250 healthcare organisations, from tertiary hospitals to specialist clinics and diagnostic laboratories. The DHCC Authority (DHCCA) functions as the sole licensing body within the free zone, issuing medical tourism company licenses at AED 15,000–30,000.
Setting up within DHCC offers several structural advantages for medical tourism facilitators: 100% foreign ownership without a UAE national sponsor, proximity to flagship JCI-accredited hospitals (including Mediclinic City Hospital), a dedicated international patient reception infrastructure, and access to DHCC’s own accelerator programmes for health-tech and patient experience companies. Visa processing for international patients is streamlined through DHCC’s coordination with the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA).
Key DHCC-based hospitals regularly contracted by medical tourism facilitators include Mediclinic City Hospital, King’s College Hospital Dubai, and the American Hospital Dubai’s DHCC clinic. Each holds JCI accreditation and operates dedicated international patient departments.
DTCM: Medical Tourist Visa and Entry Coordination
The Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) plays an essential regulatory role in the medical tourism ecosystem by administering the Medical Tourist Visa — a dedicated entry category for international patients and their companions. DTCM coordinates with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MOFAIC) to issue medical visit visas, which grant 30-day stays extendable to 90 days in cases of ongoing treatment.
Licensed DHA facilitators may act as visa sponsors for international patients under the Medical Tourist Visa framework, provided they hold current DHA Health Tourism accreditation. This sponsorship capability is a significant commercial differentiator — facilitators can offer a fully integrated package covering visa, accommodation, hospital appointment, and post-treatment support without requiring patients to independently navigate UAE immigration.
DTCM also publishes the official “Dubai Health Experience” portal, which lists DHA-approved facilitators and DHCC-based service providers. Inclusion on this portal is contingent on DHA or DHCCA licensure and represents a meaningful source of inbound patient enquiries.
Department of Health Abu Dhabi (DoH): Abu Dhabi’s Medical Tourism Framework
Abu Dhabi’s equivalent regulatory authority — the Department of Health (DoH, formerly HAAD — Health Authority Abu Dhabi) — operates a parallel medical tourism licensing framework for the emirate. DoH-licensed patient facilitation companies operate under the Healthcare Facility Licensing (HFL) framework, with medical tourism facilitation categorised as a Category A health facility activity.
Abu Dhabi offers a compelling proposition for international patients, particularly those seeking cardiac, oncology, or orthopaedic procedures. The emirate hosts three internationally renowned JCI-accredited hospitals: Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi (part of the Cleveland Clinic global network), Burjeel Holdings facilities (including Burjeel Medical City in Abu Dhabi), and Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City (SSMC), managed by Mayo Clinic under a long-term operational agreement with the Abu Dhabi Government.
Abu Dhabi’s NABIDH (National Unified Medical Records) system — the DoH’s counterpart to Dubai’s Salama — mandates that all licensed healthcare and facilitation companies integrate patient records into the national EHR. Facilitators operating across both Dubai and Abu Dhabi must maintain compliance with both Salama and NABIDH simultaneously.
JCI Accreditation: The Quality Benchmark for UAE Hospitals
Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation is the globally recognised gold standard for hospital quality and patient safety. The UAE hosts 22+ JCI-accredited healthcare organisations — more than any other country in the MENA region. This density of internationally certified facilities is one of the UAE’s most compelling value propositions for medical tourism companies marketing UAE healthcare to overseas patients.
For a medical tourism facilitator, partnering with JCI-accredited hospitals provides critical marketing differentiation. International patients — particularly those from Europe, Russia, and East Asia — recognise JCI accreditation as equivalent to their home-country hospital quality standards. Key JCI-accredited UAE facilities include: American Hospital Dubai, Mediclinic City Hospital, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, Burjeel Medical City, Saudi German Hospital Dubai, and Al Zahra Hospital Dubai.
DHA does not mandate that facilitators exclusively refer to JCI-accredited hospitals, but DHA’s own quality audit framework requires facilitators to maintain documented quality agreements with partner hospitals — making JCI accreditation a de facto preference in hospital partnership selection.
Top Medical Procedures and Patient Source Markets
The UAE medical tourism market of AED 4 billion+ (2025) is driven by six primary procedure categories: cosmetic and aesthetic surgery (the largest segment), orthopaedic and sports medicine, cardiac procedures, oncology, dental and maxillofacial, and fertility (IVF and reproductive medicine). UAE IVF success rates at DHA-licensed clinics average 50–60% per cycle for patients under 35 — among the highest in the region.
The three largest source markets for UAE medical tourism are: GCC nationals (particularly Saudi Arabian and Kuwaiti patients seeking specialised procedures unavailable or longer-waitlisted in their home countries), Russian Federation nationals (historically Dubai’s second-largest medical tourism segment, particularly for cosmetic surgery and oncology), and South Asian nationals from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh (seeking cost-effective cardiac, orthopaedic, and cancer treatment).
Licensed DHA facilitators managing patients from non-Arabic, non-English speaking backgrounds must provide certified interpreter services or contract with MOHAP-approved medical interpretation agencies. DHA’s Health Tourism Standard explicitly mandates that patient consent forms, discharge summaries, and aftercare instructions be provided in both English/Arabic and the patient’s native language.
Patient Health Data and Digital Compliance
UAE health data regulations impose specific obligations on medical tourism facilitators. In Dubai, the DHA mandates that all patient health records generated within DHA-licensed facilities are integrated into Salama, the Dubai Health Authority’s Electronic Medical Records (EMR) system. Access to Salama requires an approved IT integration with DHA’s Health Information Exchange (HIE).
In Abu Dhabi, NABIDH (National Unified Medical Records) performs the equivalent function. NABIDH is managed by the DoH and connects all DoH-licensed healthcare facilities into a single patient health data network. Facilitators coordinating Abu Dhabi hospital appointments must ensure their partner hospitals are NABIDH-integrated — all DoH-licensed hospitals are mandatorily connected.
The UAE Federal Law No. 2 of 2019 (Cybercrime Law) and the DHA’s own data protection circulars impose strict obligations on health data storage, transfer, and access. Foreign medical tourism companies must ensure that patient records are not transferred outside the UAE without DHA/DoH consent, with narrow exceptions for continuity-of-care purposes (e.g., sending discharge summaries to the patient’s home-country physician).
Comparison: DHA vs DHCCA vs DoH Medical Tourism License
| Criterion | DHA (Dubai Mainland) | DHCCA (DHCC Free Zone) | DoH (Abu Dhabi) |
|---|---|---|---|
| License Cost | AED 5,000–15,000/yr | AED 15,000–30,000/yr | AED 5,000–15,000/yr |
| Ownership | 49% foreign (or via PRO) | 100% foreign | 49% foreign (or via PRO) |
| EHR System | Salama (DHA) | Salama (DHA) | NABIDH (DoH) |
| Visa Sponsorship | Yes (DHA accredited) | Yes (DHCC facilitated) | Yes (DoH coordinated) |
| JCI Hospital Access | All DHA-licensed | DHCC campus hospitals | All DoH-licensed |
| Setup Cost (Total) | AED 100k–300k | AED 200k–500k | AED 100k–300k |
Frequently Asked Questions
Who licenses medical tourism companies in Dubai?
In Dubai, medical tourism facilitation companies are licensed by the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) if operating on the mainland, or by the Dubai Healthcare City Authority (DHCCA) if establishing within Dubai Healthcare City free zone. Both licensing pathways require proof of professional qualifications, office space, and compliance with DHA Health Tourism Standards including multilingual patient support obligations.
What is the minimum capital required to start a medical tourism facilitation company in UAE?
There is no statutory minimum capital requirement specific to the DHA Health Tourism Facilitator License. However, practical setup costs — covering DED/DHA licensing, office lease, staff visas, IT compliance (Salama integration), and operational capital — typically total AED 100,000 to AED 500,000 for a functioning medical tourism facilitation business in the UAE.
Do UAE medical tourism companies need to hire doctors or nurses?
A DHA Health Tourism Facilitator License does not require in-house clinical staff. Facilitators coordinate with licensed hospitals and clinics rather than providing clinical services directly. However, if a facilitator offers any clinical service — including nursing assessment, health screening, or in-house consultation — those services require separate DHA clinical facility and professional licenses.
How many hospitals in the UAE are JCI accredited?
As of 2025, 22+ healthcare organisations in the UAE hold JCI (Joint Commission International) accreditation. Dubai leads the MENA region in the total number of JCI-accredited hospitals, with major names including American Hospital Dubai, Mediclinic City Hospital, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, and Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City (managed by Mayo Clinic).
What is the Medical Tourist Visa in UAE and who issues it?
The Medical Tourist Visa is a dedicated UAE entry visa category for international patients and their companions. It is administered by the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MOFAIC). DHA-licensed medical tourism facilitators may sponsor patients under this visa category, allowing a 30-day initial stay extendable up to 90 days for patients undergoing ongoing treatment.