COASTAL CITIES AS HEALTH TOURISM DESTINATIONS: PROMOTING ACTIVITIES IN PRACTICE

Brand equity of health tourism is the set of assets (or liabilities) of the brand in relation to the name and symbol of the tourism destination that cause changes in the value of services and experiences that are determined there. Considering the characteristics and cultural, social and economic capacities of Iranian tourism destinations, this study tends to develop a model for brand equity in health tourism, derived from the Acker model, according to Iran's conditions and studies conducted. First, previous studies in this regard were carefully reviewed by meta-synthesis. Then the mixed method including qualitative and quantitative methods was applied. The data were analyzed using grounded theory and MAXQDA18 software and then using structural equation method and fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (Fuzzy AHP). Statistical population included experts including professors in the field of marketing and health tourism specialists for qualitative part, and foreign users of health tourism services of Iran for quantitative part. The results showed that hospital brand equity is directly affected by brand awareness, brand association, perceived quality, brand loyalty, social responsibility, firm value and customer value. As a result, at the national level, investing in this sector and branding and paying attention to brand equity of health tourism can make Iran one of the best health tourism destinations in the world.

Download Full-text

Assessing coastal vulnerability index of tourism site: the case of Mataram Coast

E3S Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/e3sconf/202015303002 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 153 ◽

pp. 03002

Author(s):

Aninda W. Rudiastuti ◽

Ati Rahadiati ◽

Ratna S. Dewi ◽

Dewayany Soetrisno ◽

Erwin Maulana

Keyword(s):

Green Infrastructure ◽

Critical Issue ◽

Vulnerability Index ◽

Coastal Areas ◽

Risk Level ◽

Coastal Vulnerability ◽

Coastal Vulnerability Index ◽

Coastal Cities ◽

Tourism Destinations

Many coastal areas and infrastructure suffered from unprecedented hazards such as storms, flooding, and erosion. Thus, it is increasing the vulnerability of urban coastal areas aggravated with the absence of coastal green infrastructure. Given the state of coastal environments, there is a genuine need to appraise the vulnerability of coastal cities on the basis of the latest projected climate scenarios and existing condition. Hence, to asses, the vulnerability level of Mataram coastal, the Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI) accompanied by pre-assessment of readiness to climate disruption. The CVI used to map coastal into five classes of using GIS. As a case study, this approach applied to Mataram City: one of the tourism destinations in Lombok. Two of sub-districts in Mataram City, Ampenan and Sekarbela, laying in the shorelines have undergone coastal flooding and erosion. One of them, Ampenan sub-district, experienced flooding due to river-discharge and became the most severe location during inundation. Results indicated that along ±9000 meters of Mataram coast possess vulnerability level in moderate to very high-risk level. The assessment also showed that sea-level rise is not the only critical issue but also geomorphology and shoreline changes, the existence of green infrastructure, also human activity parameters took important part to be assessed.

Download Full-text

ASSESSİNG THE ATTRACTİVENESS AND ABİLİTY OF THE COMPETİTİVESS OF MEDİCAL TOURİSM DESTİNATİONS İN AZERBAİJAN (ON THE EXAMPLE OF NAFTALAN)

GEOGRAPHY AND TOURISM ◽

10.17721/2308-135x.2020.58.25-29 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 25-29

Author(s):

Rashad Ahmadov

Keyword(s):

Medical Tourism ◽

Health Tourism ◽

Leisure Services ◽

Scientific Innovation ◽

Tourism Destinations ◽

Alternative Service ◽

First Time ◽

The City

Purpose: The main goal of the article is to identify the prospects for the improvement of health tourism, which is a priority field of tourism in Azerbaijan, and the application of unique treatment opportunities in Naftalan. The main methodological basis of the article is the existing theories and new approaches in health tourism. Health is a theoretical-methodology from tourism to medical, spa-health, thermal and third age group, as an alternative service area for disabled people . In addition, the TDRC model was studied in assessing the competitiveness of the destination in terms of economic, social and physical benefits. Result: The socio-economic efects of the improvement of Naftalan treatment and health destination, the role of organisation of employment of the population, the conducting the international certification to boost the attractiveness were mentioned. The marketing strategy of the destination was analyzed, the directions of social media marketing were indicated, the arrangement of manufacture and sale of cosmetic products belonging to the Naftalan brand were investigated. At the same time, the preparation, marketing and sales opportunities of short, medium and long-term packages belonging to the Naftalan destination were analyzed. In order to increase the competitiveness of Naftalan as a health tourism destination, it is essential to gain international certificates, the city should be a member of the International SPA and the European Association of Thermal Cities. Scientific innovation: For the first time, the article evaluates the competitiveness of Naftalan, the international certification of medical services, and analyzes the main attractive advantages. At the same time, the preparation of short, medium and long-term tourism packages, the organization of leisure services are among the scientific innovations of the article.

Download Full-text

PR OF A TOURISM ORGANIZATION UNDER CONDITIONS OF CRISIS

Anniversary Scientific Conference with International Participation TOURISM AND CONNECTIVITY ◽

10.36997/tc2020.303 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Mariana Ianeva ◽

◽

Stiliyana Basmadzhieva ◽

Keyword(s):

External Information ◽

Health Tourism ◽

Health Crisis ◽

Good Practices ◽

Healthy Environment ◽

Tourism Product ◽

The Media ◽

Tourism Destinations ◽

Tourism Organization ◽

Current Report

Nowadays, the issues related to the goals that the tourism organization should set and the new policy to which it needs to focus is especially relevant. In order to achieve them, it is necessary to develop and conduct various events that are within the competence not only of marketing managers, but also of those of PR specialists in companies and tourism destinations. The tasks set in the current report are related to external information, which is used by the media to create a story, which must fully reflect the credibility of the situation in a particular problem environment. Good practices have been identified in order to promote the opportunities for providing a healthy tourism product in a global health crisis in tourism destinations. In such global conditions, in which markets are shrinking and the rules for tourist services related to the provision of a healthy environment are changing, health tourism finds an increasingly sustainable place among the product offerings of destinations, which in turn leads to the need for its professional promotion and competent communication with different audiences.

Download Full-text

Destination brand equity and tourist's revisit intention towards health tourism: an empirical study

Benchmarking An International Journal ◽

10.1108/bij-03-2021-0173 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Muhammad Sabbir Rahman ◽

Surajit Bag ◽

Hasliza Hassan ◽

Md Afnan Hossain ◽

Rajesh Kumar Singh

Keyword(s):

Brand Equity ◽

Medical Tourism ◽

Tourism Destination ◽

Health Tourism ◽

Content Type ◽

Brand Association ◽

Revisit Intention ◽

Tourism Destinations ◽

Destination Brand ◽

The Relationship

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the relationship between destination brand equity and tourist's revisit intention towards health tourism destinations. The study also examines the mediating effect of destination brand association between destination-based brand equity and travellers' revisit intention for health tourism destinations.Design/methodology/approachA survey instrument is used to examine the relationships in the proposed model using the co-variance-based structural equation modelling (SEM) technique. The collected primary data from two hundred forty-six respondents (n = 246) are analysed to test the relationship amongst exogenous, mediating, moderating and endogenous constructs articulated in the proposed structural model.FindingsEmpirical findings reveal that destination brand equity influences the revisit intention of a traveller for health tourism via destination brand association. The perceived trust, reliability and soft issues of a traveller moderate the relationship between destination brand equity and destination brand association. Enduring travel involvement also proves a significant moderation effect on the relationship between destination brand association and the revisit intention of a traveller for a health tourism destination.Practical implicationsThis paper is an initial attempt to develop and empirically examine a conceptual model of the intention of a traveller to revisit a health tourism destination in a dynamic process of information search using the data collected from current travellers after medical tourism-related trips. Results suggest that stakeholders must focus on hedonic and utilitarian factors of the destination that are recognised by travellers to encourage revisit for medical tourism.Originality/valueAlthough there have been numerous studies on health tourism. However, to the best of the authors' knowledge, this research is a pioneer in the healthcare tourism literature that links destination brand equity, brand association and revisit intention of a traveller for health tourism. These findings extend the knowledge of how healthcare tourism that is embedded with destination brand equity and destination brand association. The study findings potentially benefit the marketers for gaining competitive advantages through considering the experience of a traveller.

Download Full-text

The Process of Constructing a Health Tourism Destination Index

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph16224579 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 16 (22) ◽

pp. 4579 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Chia-Wen Lee ◽

Ching Li

Keyword(s):

Natural Environment ◽

Planning Process ◽

Leisure Activities ◽

Evaluation Criteria ◽

Three Dimensions ◽

Primary Concern ◽

Tourism Destination ◽

Ahp Method ◽

Health Tourism ◽

Tourism Destinations

The purpose of the study is to identify a set of key indicators with weightings for health tourism destinations by using an advanced analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method, derived from the official, academic, and professional opinions of the experts. The AHP method allocated weightings to the evaluation criteria selected by the fifteen experts. After expert evaluations were conducted, the three dimensions and eleven sub-dimensions of the initial health tourism destination were obtained as follows: (1) special demands and indications—medical care, health promotion, and tourism and leisure; (2) natural environment—climate, air, water, and light; (3) leisure activities and general demands—sports, therapeutic activities, interactions with animals and plants, and diet. The results revealed that the dimensions of special demands and indications were given the most attention and that the sub-dimensions of sports promotion were the highest ranked by expert groups. The official and academic opinions suggested that health tourism destinations should focus on special demands and indications, while professionals tended to consider the natural environment as a primary concern. In particular, they considered that good air quality can help people release pressure, relax, activate lymphocytes, improve immune function, and enhance disease immunity. The health tourism destination index can contribute to the overall strategic planning process by identifying improvements in activities and enhancing competitiveness in health tourism management by using benchmarking to further improve tourists’ experience and satisfaction.

Download Full-text

Analysis of demand for wellness and medical tourism in Hungary

Applied Studies in Agribusiness and Commerce ◽

10.19041/apstract/2012/5/9 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 6 (5) ◽

pp. 57-62

Author(s):

Katalin Kiss

Keyword(s):

Medical Tourism ◽

Competitive Environment ◽

Tourism Destination ◽

Health Tourism ◽

Quality Aspects ◽

Health Related ◽

Hungarian Population ◽

Tourism Destinations ◽

Tourism Services ◽

Further Development

Health tourism in Hungary holds major opportunities. When analysing medical and wellness accommodation data, it can be stated that the Hungarian population is keenly interested in health-related tourism services. From the aspect of further development, health tourism based on medical services can be a take-off point for Hungarian tourism. In my opinion, the next few years will be crucial for Hungary’s ranking among health tourism destinations. The country’s initial circumstances are rather favourable, whereas the revaluation of the quality aspects of these services and the fact that the surrounding countries have also recognised the opportunities in health tourism led to an intensified competitive environment. Consequently, if Hungary does not take advantage of its current opportunities, there will be even less chance to develop the country into the primary thermal and medicinal waterbased health tourism destination of Europe in ten years. Yet, this is one of the foci of the objectives set out in the New Széchenyi Plan.

Download Full-text

Segmentation by push motives in health tourism destinations: A case study of Polish spa resorts

Journal of Destination Marketing & Management ◽

10.1016/j.jdmm.2018.01.008 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

pp. 234-246 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Diana Dryglas ◽

Marcin Salamaga

Keyword(s):

Health Tourism ◽

Tourism Destinations

Download Full-text

Natural Resources in Health Tourism: A Systematic Literature Review

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13052661 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (5) ◽

pp. 2661

Author(s):

Elena Pessot ◽

Daniele Spoladore ◽

Andrea Zangiacomi ◽

Marco Sacco

Keyword(s):

Natural Resources ◽

Cultural Issues ◽

Multidisciplinary Research ◽

Health Tourism ◽

Future Directions ◽

Policy Makers ◽

Main Research ◽

Key Issues ◽

Tourism Destinations ◽

Research Stream

Natural resources are recognized among the key determinants for the improvement of wellness, and thus the development and sustainability of health tourism destinations. This study applied a systematic review to investigate the contributions mapping and analyzing under different perspectives the value of the natural resources of a destination and related activities for health tourism. The main research topics identified from a review of 52 papers include the analysis and exploitation of natural resources in health tourism, the nature-based factors considered in clustering of tourists and their motivations, the development of value offer and marketing, as well as the cultural issues. Research gaps and future directions are summarized in a research agenda laying the foundations for the development of a multidisciplinary research stream focused on nature-based health tourism. Results also represent a key reference for managers and policy makers to identify key issues, areas of intervention and practices for industry development in the health tourism destinations through an effective and sustainable exploitation of natural resources.

Download Full-text