Travel becomes passport to a new look

An X-ray checks a patient's facial bone structure before she undergoes plastic surgery in Seoul. Xinhua

Better changes

"Negative reports on some failed plastic surgery in recent years also scared away some customers and reduced people's confidence in the industry in China. People would rather spend more to undergo the surgery in South Korea," Liu said.

"Currently, we have a batch of middle-aged customers who underwent plastic surgery operations several years ago in China who plan to come to South Korea for recovery operations," he added.

"Our website was established in 2009 and our customer numbers have steadily increased during the past four years, with an annual increase of between 70 and 80 percent.

"So far, a considerable number of our customers look very pretty to me, but still hope to have small operations to make them look better and become more confident," he said.

"Besides, seeking beauty is not the sole preserve of young people. We have customers of different age groups with different plastic-surgery demands," Liu added.

He said college students, especially those at art schools, will mainly have nose and eye surgery, while white-collar workers opt for facial improvement, such as changing the shape of the face. Customers who are more than 40 years old choose surgery to make them appear younger.

Two years ago, March and April saw a slump in the number of customers. However, with improved technology and operating skills, and with the recovery period greatly reduced, this decline has disappeared, he added.

More things to learn

To attract more customers, the Korea Tourism Organization set up 30 offices in 19 major countries to supervise promotional activities, including conferences and inviting inspection teams to South Korea to establish medical-care cooperation.

Kim said: "Take Busan, the second-largest city in South Korea, for example. We will hand out pamphlets to visitors in different languages with a detailed introduction to local medical institutes and tourist resorts."

He said that for foreign customers' convenience, the tourism organization website has versions in different languages. Visitors to the site can click on their own language to search for detailed information about hospitals and representative agencies.

Customers can choose suitable hospitals and agencies to handle other issues such as visas, travel and accommodation. They can also have a video chat with doctors to obtain more advice, he said.

Woo Take-ki, director of the strategic planning department at Seoul National University Hospital Healthcare System's Gangnam Center, said: "The number of overseas customers in our hospital has increased a lot in the past four years, with Chinese accounting for the most.

"Plastic surgery with prices between $2,500 and $3,000 is the most popular for Chinese. We will design an individual plan for patients before, during and after surgery and have translators to accompany foreign patients throughout the process," he said.

Many people still consider plastic surgery to be highly confidential, and several domestic websites that organize plastic surgery for Chinese in South Korea also provide one-stop services so these customers don't need to worry about anything.

Liu said: "We will design a guaranteed pleasant trip for customers - from applying for a visa to ordering air tickets, the trip to the airport, from hospital and doctor selection to the surgery, care after the operation and the trip back to China. We also handle meals, accommodation and sightseeing in South Korea. Hospitals will also provide surgery certificates in case customers encounter trouble with the immigration department."