In an article in Travel & Tourism News promoting Germany to GCC international patients, Sigrid de Mazieres, Director for the Gulf Countries at the German National Tourist Office claims that Germany attracts significant numbers of patients from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman. She cites a 2016 study suggesting Germany received 126,000 medical travellers, but admits that it is hard to source reliable data on inbound international patients.
In the article, Sigrid de Mazieres, repeated numbers from a survey by the University Bonn-Rhein-Sieg that stated that 253,000 international patients from 181 countries underwent medical treatment in 2016 in German clinics, and that it can be estimated that around 50% (126,000) travelled intentionally to seek medical treatment.
She also claimed that studies show that Germany ranks in a top five position according to its medical tourism value generated, and great investments are being undertaken to further attract overseas patients. She gave no source for this ranking.