Success factors of health tourism: cases of Asian tourism cities

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to delineate a clear definition of health tourism, and to explain it in two sub-categories, namely, medical tourism, and wellness tourism.

Design/methodology/approach

Grounded theory approach through an in-depth literature review and practical data from three different cities were researched to support the study.

Findings

Determinants of travelers’ decision making for the destination of health tourism, such as distance, cost, language, economy, competency of medical technology, and culture, in each classification of health tourism, were identified.

Originality/value

This study suggests an inductive research model to synthesize and structure a logical relationship of determinants that affect health tourists’ decision to visit specific health tourism destinations. The results of this study are quite revealing to governments, industrial practitioners, and potential customers of health tourism in terms of the context of health tourism and the behavior of health tourists.

Citation

Lee, J. and Kim, H.-b. (2015), "Success factors of health tourism: cases of Asian tourism cities", International Journal of Tourism Cities, Vol. 1 No. 3, pp. 216-233. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJTC-08-2014-0014