International Travel — Pharmacy Opportunities

Travel health can be a great way to serve your patient population, practice at the top of your license, and bring in additional revenue for your pharmacy.

Where in the world are your patients traveling? According to the United Nations Tourism Data Dashboard, by the end of 2024, international travel will return to pre-pandemic levels, plus exceed 2019 levels by 2%. International arrivals will exceed 1.3 billion people across the globe. While European locations are still the top international destinations for U.S. citizens, CNN reports that Indonesia, Angola, Turkey, Taiwan, Albania, Chile, and Morocco are prime travel locations for 2024. These seven countries traverse every continent except Australia and Antarctica.

Global travel expansion creates a significant increase in the need for travel vaccines and prophylactic medications for addressing location-dependent travel health risks. With increased travel, pharmacists should expect an increase in requests for early refills and increased quantities of existing prescriptions, as well as questions about travel health supplies.

The pandemic may have negatively impacted international travel; however, it catapulted local pharmacies into becoming primary providers of screenings, vaccinations, and routine healthcare needs. Local pharmacies are equipped to move into international travel support with existing technology or minimal expansion of website content. Revenue opportunity exists through travel health consultation services, vaccines, antibiotics and prescription treatments for endemic and local diseases, and associated healthcare supplies.