Korea showcases medical and beauty tourism at Kuwait Health & Beauty Festa

The 2025 Korea Health & Beauty Festa held at The Avenues in Kuwait from Thursday to Saturday. (Korea Tourism Organization)

The Korea Tourism Organization and South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism hosted the 2025 Korea Health & Beauty Festa in Kuwait from Thursday to Saturday, spotlighting Korean health care, beauty products and medical tourism to Middle Eastern audiences.

The event aimed to promote South Korea’s growing health and beauty tourism industry, particularly targeting high-income travelers in oil-producing nations like Kuwait. These travelers often take extended trips abroad and show increasing interest in wellness and cosmetic services.

According to the KTO, the number of Kuwaiti tourists visiting South Korea in 2024 rose 27 percent compared to prepandemic levels. Among them, many medical tourists sought treatment at dermatology clinics, Korean medicine clinics and plastic surgery centers.

The festival, held at The Avenues — the second-largest shopping mall in the Middle East— drew more than 400,000 visitors. Attendees experienced a wide array of offerings, including Korean beauty products, personal color consultations, AI skin diagnostics and nail art demonstrations.

On May 16-17, the festival's business-to-business consultation event took place at the Jumeirah Hotel Kuwait, bringing together more than 100 professionals from both countries' health care and tourism sectors. Discussions focused on expanding cooperation in the medical tourism industry.

The three-day event resulted in 2,481 on-site consultations and led to 189 contracts and memoranda of understanding, with projected revenue of approximately 3 billion won ($2.15 million).

“Middle Eastern visitors to Korea spend an average of $3,637 per person, more than 70 percent higher than the average international visitor. This makes the region a high-value, emerging market," a KTO official said.

The official added that the festival marked a turning point for medical tourism in the region, shifting the focus from treatment of serious illnesses to services like dermatology and cosmetic skin care, especially amid growing social openness and wellness interests among Middle Eastern women.