Analysis of Factors Affecting Health Tourism Performance Using Fuzzy DEMATEL Method

Abstract

In health tourism, an important sub-branch of the tourism sector, the increase in the number of organizations in the service industry in response to increasing demand has led institutions to transform in line with global standards to gain a competitive advantage. Today, due to the steady increase in its share in the sector, it is necessary to establish an assessment infrastructure to measure health tourism performance. This study suggests an infrastructure for determining the factors affecting health tourism. There is no widely accepted standard assessment methodology in determining criteria affecting tourism performance in the literature. However, with a standard assessment structure, it can be possible to rank the achievement of the organizations serving health tourism. Therefore, the Fuzzy DEMATEL method is used as a multi-criteria decisionmaking approach based on fuzzy logic to determine the factors affecting health tourism performance. This study contributes to the literature in terms of presenting the criteria for the assessment of the health tourism performance in a standard structure for researchers, and in which dimensions the organizations should consider their performance.

Sustainable Mountain-Based Health and Wellness Tourist Destinations: The Interrelationships between Tourists’ Satisfaction, Behavioral Intentions, and Competitiveness

“…The COVID-19 pandemic has raised consumer concerns about health [10]. The number of tourists that are interested in enhancing their mental, physical, or spiritual well-being, or even in obtaining specific healing treatments, is increasing, causing the health and wellness tourism sector to thrive [11,12]. Popular destinations for such tourists often include attractions such as mountains, lakes, rivers, beaches, and forests, all of which are natural resources that promote the improvement of wellness and are, therefore, ideal for the development and sustainability of health and wellness tourism [13].…”