Forecasting the demand for health tourism in Asian countries using a GM(1,1)-alpha model

2012 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-181
Author(s):  
Ya-Ling Huang

The purpose – Accurately forecasting the demand for international health tourism is important to newly-emerging markets in the world. The aim of this study was presents a more suitable and accurate model for forecasting the demand for health tourism that should be more theoretically useful. Design – Applying GM(1,1) with adaptive levels of α (hereafter GM(1,1)-α model) to provide a concise prediction model that will improve the ability to forecast the demand for health tourism in Asian countries. Methodology – In order to verify the feasibility of the proposed approach, using available secondary and primary data covering the period from 2002 through 2009 obtained from the RNCOS “Opportunities in Asian Health tourism” report. Based on a unique and characteristics database for the health tourism industry, this study applies the adaptive α in a Grey forecasting model (GM(1,1)-α) to predict the demand for health tourism in Asian countries. Approach – Implementation of demand forecasting in health tourism is examined on the short-term and limited dataset, due to importance of a minimum the predicated error on underlying basis for the econometric model for health tourism markets. Findings – Key findings present that the optimal value of α in GM(1,1) can minimize the predicted error. Finally, in the case of the demand for health tourism in Asian countries, using GM(1,1)-α to predict error is clearly better than the use of the original GM(1,1) and time series models. The originality of this research – The originality comes from the analysis of the demand forecasting in health tourism of Asian countries, which provides an easy and accurate method to predict the demand for health medical tourism and ideas for further improvements in the sector of health tourism.

Introduction. Health tourism is considered a kind of tourism which is carried out for the purpose of prevention of various diseases and the recreation and provides for guests accommodation in sanatorium-and-spa establishments. This is a special form of tourism, which includes providing medical treatment (often non-drug) or health improvement services. Problem formulation. Health tourism takes one of the leading places in the tourism industry. This is mostly caused by the increase in the population wellbeing. Analysis of recent research and publications. Studies of the development of health tourism in general and in the Lviv region in particular are presented in the works of many Ukrainian and foreign scientists. The article fulfilled the analysis of foreign and domestic sources, which allowed to identify the following ideas that are of interest for the study of health tourism in Lviv region and many other regions of Ukraine Highlighting previously unsolved parts of the overall problem. The fulfilled study allowed us to assess approaches to the analysis of the current state of health tourism in general and in the Lviv region in particular. The literature is dominated by the opinion that the resort sphere of Lviv region attracts tourists with both favorable prices and a wide range of available services. The issues of estimating the tourist flows coming into the territory of Lviv region were also considered. At the same time, insufficient attention was paid to the study of the status of medical tourism, to the substantiation of proposals aimed at optimizing the development and the improvement of functioning of spa resorts in Lviv region. Formulating the purpose of the paper. The focus of this paper will be set on an objective assessment of the current conditions of the tourism industry based on a quantitative analysis of available statistical data with cartographic and modern statistical methods. Presentation of the main research material. The main directions of formation and development of health tourism in the world are outlined. Cheap health care and leisure services are provided mainly in the resorts of Asia, Latin America and Australia, as well as in some European countries. This is due to the cost of labor, as well as global pricing mechanisms. The main stages in the development of health tourism in Lviv region are distinguished. The description of Lviv region as an arena for the development of health tourism is given. Spa resorts of Lviv region are attractive first of all by the prices, and also by the wide range of available services. The resort sphere of Lviv region has been studied. Tourist flows in the region are being characterized. Conclusions. The main means of popularizing spa resorts of Lviv region have been identified, including advertising, Internet sources, exhibitions, forums and conferences. The proposals have been worked out directed on optimization of development and improvement of functioning of spa resorts of the Lviv region.


Author(s):  
Oğuz Doğan

The number of travels around the world to benefit from health services provided abroad is increasing every year. The high level of global demand for health services has influenced the rapid development of the medical tourism industry. Due to these developments in the industry, a global market has emerged, the medical tourism market. Countries operating in the industry are also striving to gain share from this large market or to increase their existing market shares. In this study, different perspective on global phenomenon, medical tourism, medical tourism market, and leader destinations in the industry are examined in detail.


2018 ◽  
Vol 169 ◽  
pp. 01024
Author(s):  
Ying-Hsun Hung ◽  
Jerome Chih-Lung Chou ◽  
Jung Ma ◽  
Ching-pei Lin

Medical tourism has become an investment focus for many Asian countries. For example, India, Singapore, Thailand, South Korea, and Malaysia have governmental projects to foster this emerging industry, and successfully attract millions of medical tourists each year. Medical tourism consists of diverse industries that can provide abundant opportunities of new businesses. Currently Taiwan is trying to catch up in this trend by making national development policies, setting up institutions, modifying laws and regulations, and encouraging investment of private sector. The purpose of this study is to analyze the status quo of international medical tourism in Taiwan, and identify several opportunities for small businesses to catch and to participate in forming a solid medical tourism industry for Taiwan.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 222-227 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dr Padmasani ◽  
V. Remya

Health/Medical tourism is a booming niche tourism market in the tourism industry. The main reason for the increasing trend is the high cost of treatment, long waiting time, less insurance coverage in developed countries and the attitude of people to spend holidays in a quality manner with the aim of improving health. In India, Kerala is emerging as a prime health tourism hub for its Ayurveda packages. The state attracts millions of foreign and domestic tourists to visit the state’s incredible heritage and experience the traditional nature based treatment therapies. The volume of tourist arrivals in Kerala had experienced a stupendous growth of 7.7 per cent in 2014 from 4.3 per cent in 2001 (Annual report of Tourism Statistics, Department of Tourism, Government of Kerala). This study aims to profile the tourists visiting Kerala for Ayurvedic treatment and to identify the destination image factors making Kerala an attractive place for Ayurveda health tourism. For this purpose, 150 domestic tourists availing Ayurvedic treatment in Kerala were selected on the convenience of the researcher. In order to analyse the objectives, the Descriptive Statistics, Factor Analysis and One-way ANOVA were employed and the results revealed that service quality, attraction, opportunity, benefits and promotion were the destination image factors making Kerala an attractive place for Ayurvedic Health Tourism. The present study identifies the strength of Kerala for Ayurveda health tourism which helps the destination managers and the service providers witha better understanding of the market for elevating Kerala and its Ayurveda in this niche market.Int. J. Soc. Sci. Manage. Vol-2, issue-3: 222-227 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ijssm.v2i3.12755 


2021 ◽  
Vol In Press (In Press) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatemeh Hosseini ◽  
Abasat Mirzaei

Context: One of the most important sciences in the tourism industry, which has numerous financial and social benefits, is health and medical tourism. The health tourism industry is an organized trip out of the living environment to maintain, promote, or restore the health of the mind and body of an individual through medical intervention. Evidence Acquisition: Firstly, 80 articles were identified in different sources. After removing duplicate copies, the number of articles relevant to the study title reached 58. After reviewing the abstracts or full-texts, 35 articles were included in the study based on defined criteria. Results: The gradual growth of medical tourism has numerous economic and social benefits for both the host community and guests. If medical tourism grows, numerous economic sectors will be directly and indirectly affected, providing ground for social cohesion and integration. The health sector is a critical sector for the development of countries in terms of income and employment, including numerous sub-departments, such as hospitals, medical devices, and clinical trials. Coastal tourism and natural resources are also crucial in terms of income and employment. Conclusions: Factors affecting medical and health tourism include medical travel agencies, the Internet and social media, political and economic conditions, commitment to post discharge services, regulatory standards, price transparency, confidentiality of patient medical records, and care costs. Medical issues are related to travel legal issues, residence and flight visas, quality and credibility of health care, and specialty of physician’s credentials.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 296-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilhan Sag ◽  
Ferhat Devrim Zengul

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine the relationships between the health tourists’ perceptions on decisive factors (i.e. experience, technological infrastructure, flight distance, legal and moral restrictions, touristic attractions, religious similarity, waiting time and price of health tourism) and Turkey as their choice of healthcare tourism destination. Design/methodology/approach The data for this empirical study were collected from 288 patients in Turkey, all of whom being health tourists from various countries. Descriptive statistics and Kruskal–Wallis difference tests were utilized for analyses. Findings Statistically significant differences were found among health tourists in regards to the geographical regions of their residence. These finding suggest that differences among health tourists in regards to the geographical regions of their residence contributed to the healthcare tourists’ behaviors and health tourism market segmentations in Turkey. Research limitations/implications Among the constraints of the study are the time and funding limitations coupled with the limitations on the scale development attempts in the health tourism literature and limitation and biases related to primary data collection. Despite all these limitations, by being the first study exploring the health tourism market segmentations in Turkey, this study contributes to the literature about the perceptions of health tourists and their reasons in choosing Turkey as a health tourism destination. Practical implications Determining the Turkey’s health tourism market segmentations will generate the positive effect on the target market which is currently heterogeneous for health tourism operators and intermediary institutions. Moreover, this knowledge would allow the target market to be divided into homogeneous groups, with different marketing mixes for each group. Homogenized groups exhibit unified purchasing behaviors for their needs. Therefore, it is very important for health tourism operators and intermediary institutions to know how the preferences of health tourists from different geographical regions vary. Originality/value The paper fulfills a need for advancing the knowledge on the decisive factors in determining Turkey as the health tourism destination by revealing perceptions of health tourists from various geographical regions. This information is very valuable for the Turkey’s healthcare tourism marketing managers who desire to implement the strategies to achieve competitive advantage in the global health tourism market.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-83
Author(s):  
Binoy T A ◽  
Monisha A

Medical Tourism in India has emerged as one of the fastest growing segments of the tourism industry despite the global economic downturn.  High cost of treatments in the developed counties, particularly the USA and UK, have been forcing patients from such regions to look for alternative and cost-effective destinations to get their treatments done. The Indian medical tourism industry is presently at a nascent stage, but has enormous potential for future growth and development.  As a significant component of the colossal medical tourism,   Dental Tourism is emerging in the Third World countries, especially in India.  Dental tourists are mainly generated from developed countries such as USA and European countries as theya re looking for developing countries to get their dental treatment coupled with participating in tourism activities.  The lower cost of treatment and availability are the most significant reasons for choosing developing countries as dental tourism destinations.  Dental tourism forms 10 percent of the total Indian medical tourism which is projected to grow at 30 percent to Rs 9,500 crore by 2015.  India produces over 18,000 dentists annually from 238 dental colleges.  The country has around 1,500 oral and maxillofacial surgeons.  A few studies were carried out on various problems faced by the dental tourism industry in India.  The dental  tourist’s perception towards Indian dental tourism industry and their satisfaction level after getting treatment are a few concerns.  This research paper is prepared based on primary and secondary data collected from various sources.  The primary data have been collected from dentists, staff and dental tourists from two famous internationally recognised dental hospitals located in Bangalore, Karnataka.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorian Aliu

This study aims to analyze inter-stakeholders’ interactions, destination governance, reverse innovation and the tasks of central government within Turkish medical tourism market. The investigation’s objective is to shed lights on scientists and practitioners regarding to what extent medical tourism is affected by stakeholders. Likewise, the originality of this investigation is that this study is the first attempt that links up reverse innovation and stakeholder approach as a holistic strategy and competitive advantage tool in medical tourism. The statistical evidences of Turkey also support the fact that the incline of medical tourism incomes and benefits is tightly bound on key inter-stakeholders’ collaborations, marketing tools, specific strategies, effective governance mechanism and cooperation with civil society organizations. This study is a thematic case that comprises particular research fields and formulates advanced arguments that are embedded in enriched relevant literature review and the highlights of the 7th International Health Tourism Congress.


Author(s):  
Mark Anthony Camilleri

This chapter introduces its readers to the concept of tourism. It sheds light on the rationale for tourism, as it explains the tourists' inherent motivations to travel. It also describes different aspects that together make up the tourism industry. Tourists travel to destinations that are accessible to them. They require accommodation if they are visiting a place for more than 24 hours. Leisure and business travelers may also visit attractions and engage themselves in recreational activities. Hence, the tourist destinations should have the right amenities and facilities. In this light, this chapter clarifies how destinations may offer different products to satisfy a wide array of tourists. Tourism products can include urban (or city) tourism, seaside tourism, rural tourism, ecotourism, wine tourism, culinary tourism, health tourism, medical tourism, religious tourism, cultural (or heritage) tourism, sports tourism, educational tourism, business tourism (including meetings, incentives, conferences, and events), among others.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-78
Author(s):  
Farooq Muhammad Haq ◽  
Anita Medhekar

Globalization and digitization are motivating organizations around the world to manage and internationalize their products and services. Adaptively, most Asian companies are internationalizing their businesses with respect to various industries; one obvious example is the tourism industry. The global tourism industry can be segmented into niche types such as heritage tourism, dark tourism, medical tourism, including spiritual tourism. The objective of this paper is to analyze the rise of spiritual tourism in South Asian countries and discusses its operations that are internationalized rather than being region-centric or locally focused. It is argued that that public and private tourism operators in South Asia have realized that spiritual tourism presents an attractive product to invest and market based on people, places, and events. However, the challenge is to internationalize multi-faith spiritual tourism in the context of people, places, and events that would be the only way to develop and sustain this niche segment of the tourism business. It is argued that there are various factors that could enable South Asian countries to effectively internationalize their spiritual tourism destinations. The paper concludes that business internationalization of South Asian spiritual tourism, will not only achieve economic development objectives, but also social and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and bi-lateral diplomatic goals for regional peace and prosperity


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