Competitive advantages of the Czech Republic for the development of medical tourism

Medical tourism is one of the forms of tourism with dynamic development in recent years. To determine the strategic development of the area, it is necessary to determine the strengths of the destination with regard to trends and opportunities that the market offers. The aim of this paper is to identify the competitive advantages of the Czech Republic in terms of medical tourism and answer the key question whether the Czech Republic has the prerequisites for future development. The evaluation was performed on the basis of a comparison of research reports of the Czech Tourist Board (CzechTourism) with international reports evaluating the competitiveness and position of the Czech Republic, namely the country reports of the International Medical Travel Journal, Euro Health Consumer Index, Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index. Furthermore, the services offered for foreign tourists were evaluated. A price comparison of selected procedures was also included. Based on the analysis, the competitive advantages of the Czech Republic were determined. The identified competitive advantages show that the Czech Republic has good potential for the development of medical tourism. Based on a comparison of the main final reports of foreign and domestic organizations, it follows that the main competitive advantages of the Czech Republic in the field of medical tourism are almost zero waiting times and low cost of quality medical procedures and quality medical care.