Medical tourism in Cyprus has the potential for further development and establishment as a sustainable lever for economic growth. This is the main finding of a small research report published in Health Management by Marios Georgiou of Karaiskakio Foundation, “Medical tourism in Cyprus: challenges and prospectives" which looks at the current state of medical tourism in Cyprus. It investigates what is happening plus associated problems and weaknesses. It suggests some solutions. The report is limited as it is a detailed study of the views and opinions of 23 people with local knowledge of the subject. The findings reveal a high degree of consensus (75%) in most of the questions answered by the experts. The promotion of medical tourism, the accreditation of medical facilities, the quality of the associated services, the generation of incentives and the active participation of the government through public-private ventures are among the proposals put forward for the development of medical tourism in Cyprus Proper analysis of the key aspects of medical tourism in Cyprus must entail the identification and assessment of many parameters that affect the organisation and prospects of the medical tourism product. Recent years have witnessed significant investments in the health industry. Beyond the public sector, a number of modern private hospitals and clinics as well as specialised medical centres and clinical laboratories have been established. The potential of Cyprus to establish itself as an important destination of medical tourism depends, in equal measure, on both the existing health infrastructure of the country as well as any economic and other advantages (in relation to its competitors) that it can offer. On the question on why should Cyprus be interested in developing medical tourism, the findings of the study highlight a number of primarily economic motivations. These include: • Increase of revenues of medical facilities and associated incomes of physicians and medical/paramedical staff.• Increase in the number of tourist accommodation units.• More effective and efficient utilisation of existing health infrastructure.• Improvement of provided health services.• Increase of state revenues. Among the principal advantages associated with the development of medical tourism in Cyprus are: • The extensive use of the English language. • The geographical position of Cyprus and the desirable climatic conditions.• The competence and experience of doctors as well as medical and paramedical personnel. On the other hand the main disadvantages include:• The absence of an organised public health system.• The shortage of accredited medical centres.• The absence of a strategic plan.• Limited levels of cooperation between the stakeholders.• The lack of an appropriate assessment study (by both the public and the private sectors) on the significance and development prospects of medical tourism in Cyprus. Government bodies (Cyprus Tourism Organisation, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Commerce,) should play a pivotal role since medical tourism is not an issue for private initiatives alone but depends critically on the active participation, collaboration and general endeavours of the public sector and associated services. But they have all significantly failed to do this. It was suggested that these government bodies should provide incentives to interested entrepreneurs and strive to promote Cyprus through a targeted advertisement campaign as an attractive destination for medical tourists with state-of-the-art infrastructure that offers high calibre medical services. Procedures for the issuance of licences should be made easier, planning and organisation issues should be made more flexible and there should be coordination between the various government bodies and with the private sector. The private sector has an important role to play in increasing investment in medical tourism, promoting Cyprus as an important destination, and drafting of agreements with foreign organisations to attract medical travellers. The private sector should target a significant improvement in the quality of services, upgrade the existing infrastructure, and develop attractive packages at affordable prices, by taking advantage of what Cyprus has to offer. Cyprus should target medical tourists who reside in countries with long waiting lists, countries in which the associated medical fees are higher than in Cyprus and, countries that have easy access to the island through direct short flights. These are mainly developed Western European countries since Cyprus has established itself as a well-known destination for their citizens. Cyprus could prove an attractive destination for medical tourists from many countries of the Middle East due to their proximity to Cyprus and because the quality of the provided medical services in many of these countries is not particularly high. Key to success is international accreditation of private medical facilities because it will contribute to the upgrading of the quality of the provided medical services. Accredited hospitals and clinics will naturally gain the trust and attract the interest of health insurance providers plus organised groups and individual health travellers. Quality assurance through accreditation is an element that will undoubtedly facilitate the promotion of Cyprus as a safe destination for health tourists, and will encourage the various insurance funds and private insurance companies to establish agreements with private healthcare facilities. The study highlights the importance and significant role of medical travel agents in the creation of attractive packages offering security and promoting targeted specialised services. A successful implementation plan should include: • Advertisement and promotion of the medical tourism product in Cyprus.• Accreditation of healthcare facilities.• Quality of services with targeted endorsement and sustained upgrading of the services in the health and tourism industries. The results of the current study represent an initial approach with the objective of establishing Cyprus as a modern and quality destination able to command a share of the ever-increasing market of medical tourism. It is urgent to have a medium- to long-term strategic plan for the development of medical tourism in Cyprus. To do this there needs to be active participation of the government through private-public ventures. Cyprus, due to its significant comparative advantages, can increase its market share and be established as a modern and quality destination of medical tourism in the area through coordinated and targeted activities that should be implemented under the umbrella of a strategic plan. Effectively the report repeats various reports and initiatives over the last five years that mostly faded to nothing. A key problem that the report did not answer is the country is bankrupt after the banking crisis that is still having a major impact on the local economy and financial sector. With neither government nor private companies have money to promote or invest, where is the money coming from?