QUO, a branding agency specialising in hospitality and tourism with offices in Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, and Singapore is expanding into
the healthcare and wellness sector and has appointed industry veteran Ruben Toral as its new Director of Healthcare + Wellness. Toral is a highly respected executive with over 25 years of experience developing healthcare businesses, brands, and physician networks in Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. He is best known for his seminal work as Marketing Director of Bumrungrad International Hospital, Bangkok, from 2001–2007, which he transformed into an icon of medical tourism—an industry now valued at approximately USD 115.6 billion¹ worldwide. While at Bumrungrad, Toral selected QUO to rebrand and reposition the hospital as an international medical centre offering patients ‘A World of Care’. He later co-founded two companies: Medeguide, a portal to find and connect with doctors, and Intermedia Consulting, an advisory firm specialising in business and marketing strategy for hospitals, healthcare investors, and medical tourism promotion boards. In his new role, Toral will lead a new health-focused vertical for QUO, offering branding solutions for hospitality companies and hospitals seeking to enhance competitiveness in an increasingly crowded marketplace. Asia Pacific is already the largest global market for medical tourism and is expected to spur the industry’s growth, which is set to expand at an annual rate of 11.6%, reaching USD 346.1 billion by 2032. QUO CEO David Keen says the convergence of healthcare, hospitality, and tourism is a defining industry trend. QUO will now be able to pair its own experience of branding hotels and destinations with Toral’s expertise in the healthcare sector. “Health and wellness are future-forward, growth categories, and QUO wants to spearhead this sector by becoming the branding agency of choice at the intersection of health, hospitality, and tourism,” Keen stated. Toral sees branding as a value creator for healthcare providers and investors. “Consumers naturally gravitate to brands. They trust them, and no industry is more trust-driven than healthcare. Anything we can do to build trust and create value,” he explained.
