South America: "Medical" tourists set off a "boom"

Editor's Note: A $15,000 rapoperation in the U.Scosts about $5,000 in Argentina, and a breast-thoracic liposuction combination costs just $3,700With attractive exchange rates and cheap plastic surgery, South America is attracting thousands of visitors from the United States, Europe and CanadaThe "boom wave" in Buenos Aires, Argentina's capital, has been around since 2002, when a financial collapse and currency devaluation made it easy for foreigners to travel there, Reuters reportedSince then, travel companies offering packaged travel services, including surgery, accommodation and sightseeing, have sprung upA $15,000-spent lapicoma in the U.Scosts about $5,000 in Argentina, and a breast-thoracic liposuction combination costs just $3,700Argentina's well-known plastic surgery revenue tourism company, Plenitas, earns about $4 million a year and has received more than 1,500 visitors since it opened in 2003Other parts of South America, such as Brazil and Colombia, are also attracting more and more "medical" visitorsIn Colombia, 40 new clinics have opened, mostly in the city of Cali, serving the tens of thousands of foreign tourists who arrive every yearGladys Ballena, director of the National Business Federation of Colombia, says they have the best experts in plastic surgery, the latest scientific advances and competitive prices in CaliTherefore, we receive more than 100,000 customers every year(Lu Wei)