[...] Tourist numbers have increased year on year by around 20% since 2003, with Bolivia proving particularly popular with American visitors.
The number of US tourists is up by more than a quarter (29%) on last year, with an increasing number of North Americans coming for plastic surgery.

Bolivia has two major benefits, other than cost. First and foremost, its cosmetic surgeons are among some of the best in the world.
The majority of the Bolivian plastic surgeons are Double Board Certified by The "Bolivian Society of Plastic & Cosmetic Surgery" and "Brazilian Society of Plastic & Cosmetic Surgery". Some of them are also member of the The American Board of Plastic Surgery.

Bolivian plastic surgeons have good reason to be so skilled: domestic demand for breast implants, liposuction, laser surgery and nip-and-tuck treatments is sky high in this style-obsessed country.

From the middle class to upper class, one in 7 Bolivian women is estimated to have gone under the plastic surgeon's knife!

The second big draw is the country's reputation as an exotic tourist destination.

Makeover Travel is typical of the medical organisation specialized in health tourism that have opened in Santa Cruz de la Sierra -the economic capital of Bolivia- over recent years to cater for the medical tourism boom. Based in a smart three-storey office in the city's exclusive Equipetrol district, the company employs a dozen surgeons to work with its client base of foreign patients.

"We offer tailor-made services from beginning to end," explains the clinic's marketing coordinator, Monica Chavez. "We meet our patients at the airport, book their accommodation, arrange for them to meet the surgeon beforehand and then follow up with them once they return home."

Launched in 2003, MakeoverTravel has expanded on its initial Total Makeover packages with a wide range of different surgical procedures. Abdomen liposuction will set you back $1,000. Nose surgery or breast augmentation are  priced at 1500 US$ and 2990 US$ with an All Inclusive package - Surgery and accommodation in a 5five stars hotel.

All the prices include hotel accommodation, airport transfers and travel advice. In addition, patients are assigned an English or French-speaking personal assistant for the length of their stay.

The strategy is working. Makeover Travel attracts around 400 patients a year from all over the world. The majority come from the US, where the notion of medical tourism is more familiar than it is in Europe. The company also has a "significant number" of British patients, as well as clients from Spain, France and Canada.

Sonia Rivers, a Miami resident, admits to having been "very surprised" at the prices when she first inquired about nose procedure five months ago.

"If I went to a normal plastic surgeon in Miami it would cost me around $7,000, so I decided to do some research into other options," she says. [...]

Medical tourists should also be advised against planning physical activities after plastic surgery: doctors recommend being out of the sun for at least two months after invasive cosmetic surgery.

Most patients choose to fit in their travelling before their operation and then use the tail end of their holiday to rest and recuperate.