Bruno Miguel Sousa and Gisela Maria Alves
This paper entails a reflection on medical tourism services and guest experiences. The purpose of this paper is to analyze how relationship marketing relates to other relevant…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper entails a reflection on medical tourism services and guest experiences. The purpose of this paper is to analyze how relationship marketing relates to other relevant variables in consumer’s behavior applied to medical tourism contexts and guest experiences. This study aims at discussing the customer behavior in healthcare management and medical tourism contexts and addresses the predisposition for the destination and the influence of relationship marketing on behavioral intentions.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper starts from a conceptual framework based on relationship marketing theory. From this theoretical base, the concepts of trust, commitment and cooperation and behavioral intentions are derived. A theoretical model is developed specifying antecedents of satisfaction and loyalty in healthcare management and medical tourism contexts.
Findings
The conceptual model shows that tourist destinations in the context of healthcare and medical tourism can be managed together with the study of the tourist consumer behavior and should focus on aspects that reinforce relationship marketing to the site, as planning services excellence, communication strategies, promotion services, integrated experiences and combating seasonality.
Originality/value
This study has already identified that the global movement of tourism is seemingly showing an increased focus on the niche product or niche service. In this case, the question seems to be whether the further growth in demand for healthcare management and medical tourism – as a niche tourism example – products will continue until they take a form of mass tourism. The new vogue of medical tourism forces to challenge and re-visit the power relationships that exist within contemporary tourism and the host–guest relationship.
Details
Keywords
Recognising the literature of a field is vital for advancement in that field. Yet, there has not been a systematic analysis of recent publications published in the Journal of…
Abstract
Purpose
Recognising the literature of a field is vital for advancement in that field. Yet, there has not been a systematic analysis of recent publications published in the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights (JHTI). Therefore, this research aims to do a bibliometric analysis of articles published in JHTI during the previous five years.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used bibliometric techniques and indicators to analyse JHTI publications from 2018 to 2022. The data utilised in the study were obtained from Scopus and subsequently subjected to analysis through the Bibliometrix software.
Findings
The findings show good collaboration between the production components (country, institution and author) in JHTI. The co-occurrence analysis of keywords comprises five clusters; the co-citation analysis comprises six; and a group of articles connected with psychological aspects and areas such as motivation, attitude, customer engagement, place attachment and behavioural intention was the most remarkable cluster. Sharing economy, destination marketing, destination image and some, to an extent, social media and revenue management are just a few of the niche themes that have the potential to come up.
Research limitations/implications
This study will be helpful as a roadmap for researchers in different fields who are interested in such studies, as well as for editorial board members and those who work in JHTI.
Practical implications
Scholars and practitioners may benefit the most from this research by obtaining insight into the development of JHTI's research and the areas of the hospitality and tourism industries that need more study.
Originality/value
The current study is both necessary and valuable because it is the first to provide insight into the effectiveness and intellectual framework of the hospitality and tourism literature selected by the JHTI.