Cyprus is much closer than ever before to reaching the target of becoming a medical tourism hub, but there is still a long way to go, according to Marianna Fortoma, Marketing & Business Development Manager at Ygia Polyclinic.
In an interview with CBN, she says the island must become more competitive in terms of its medical tourism package, suggesting for example campaigns that focus on Silver Tourism (50+ ages), who are more likely to combine their holidays with a check-up, or even surgery. She also talks about her role at Ygia Polyclinic, and explains how marketing is important in healthcare.
Can you tell us about yourself and your experience in the healthcare and marketing sectors?
I am in the Marketing sector since 1996, so for the last 28 years. I have a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and an MA in Media, Communication and PR from Leicester University. Back in 1996, I was lucky enough to join a Business Consultant company, INITIA SA, which was run by a person that became my mentor. He trusted me enough to authorise me to manage projects of substantial budgets and great responsibility, which helped me mature professionally and gain experience in many different fields, such as EU projects’ submission, implementation and coordination, transnational partnerships, budgeting and reporting, managing public sector projects, designing and implementing corporate marketing and communication strategies, as well as political marketing. Nevertheless, the big economic crisis in Greece, led me to leave this company and Greece and relocate permanently to Cyprus, in November, 2011, joining a Consultant’s company in Limassol, as Marketing, Communications and PR Manager.
From 2015 until now, I have been working in the Healthcare sector and the last three years, I am blessed to belong to the big family of YGIA Polyclinic, with 560 employees, as the Marketing and Business Development Manager.
I feel blessed, because YGIA is an equal employer, motivating employees to develop through training and experience gained in a continuous evolving environment.
Click the link for the full interview: