The Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC) would like to entice high spending overseas tourists to Australia who seek medical services.

ATEC managing director Matt Hingerty uses Singapore and Dubai as a prime example, saying that they are already investing billions in new hospitals and facilities to cater for the boom in medical tourism, and believes Australia should too.

Those who attended a tourism conference this week were told that Australia was well-positioned to become a major player in medical tourism for the Asian market as well as America.

The value of medical tourism is still difficult to determine but is estimated in the billions of dollars.

Medical tourism entrepreneurs told the conference that Australian health care has a strong reputation that would attract Asian clients seeking many medical opinions or willing to spend large sums of money on treatments for cancer to IVF.

Attendees were also told that the high cost of the US system and low rates of medical coverage makes Australia a good option for people who cannot afford treatments in their own country.

However the Australian Medical Association (AMA) believes this could lead to a price rise that could affect the price of medical costs for Australians.

Steve Hambleton from the AMA said that it raises alarm bells if the services are only available to the highest bidder, and that it could compromise medical opinion.

Over 60 representatives from the health, medical, tourism and government sectors have issued a joint declaration to push into the untapped market.