Grey System Theory in the Study of Medical Tourism Industry and Its Economic Impact

Abstract

The Asia-Pacific region is known as a favorite destination for global medical travelers due to its medical expertise, innovative technology, safety, attractive tourism destination and cost advantage in the recent decade. This study contributes to propose an approach which effectively assesses performance of medical tourism industry based on considering the economic impact factors as well as provides a conceptual framework for the industry analysis. Grey system theory is utilized as a major analyzing approach. According to that, factors impact on the sustainable development of medical tourism in Asia-Pacific region could be identified. The performance of each destination in this region was simultaneously revealed. The results presented an overall perspective of the medical tourism industry in the scope of the Asia-Pacific region, and in Taiwan particularly. Data was collected on six major destinations including Singapore, Thailand, India, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan. The results proved that tourism sources and healthcare medical infrastructures play a crucial role in promoting the healthcare travel industry, while cost advantage and marketing effectiveness were less considered. In addition, performance analyse indicated that Thailand has a good performance and stands in the top ranking, followed by Malaysia, India, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan, respectively. The revenue of Taiwan has increased slowly in the last six years, with a market worth approximately NT$20.5 billion, and the number of medical travelers is expected to increase to 777,523 by 2025. The findings of this study are expected to provide useful information for the medical tourism industry and related key players in strategic planning.

A bilingual systematic review of South Korean medical tourism: a need to rethink policy and priorities for public health?

“…After review, seven articles were excluded based on a review of the focus of the paper after reviewing the abstract and then reviewing the full text. The major themes identified in the literature focused on: (a) formal policy reviews of South Korea's medical tourism industry [20]; (b) analysis of current barriers, challenges and successes experienced by the South Korean medical tourism industry [21][22][23][24][25]; (c) proposals to assess the performance of the South Korean medical tourism industry [26]; (d) assessment of utilizing the healthcare worker education system to support further development of the medical tourism industry [27]; (e) examining the relationship between employee satisfaction and performance of medical tourism facilitators [28]; (f) analysis of the effects of price and health consciousness and satisfaction associated with the South Korean medical tourism experience [29,30]; and (g) factors associated with why certain patients choose to participate in medical tourism in South Korea [31][32][33].…”

The Positive Impacts of Exhibition-Driven Tourism on Sustainable Tourism, Economics, and Population: The Case of the Echigo–Tsumari Art Triennale in Japan

“…Han and Hwang investigated international medical travelers' post-purchase decision-making process by utilizing key concepts in medical tourism (e.g., first-time vs. repeat experiences) [21]. The present study also proposes a relationship between healthcare and tourism [11]. Medical tourism is largely believed to be a service that combines tourism activities (even exhibition-driven medical tourism) with medical services [34].…”

“…First, previous studies have suggested that temporary exhibitions of modern art have a positive impact on tourism [8]. Therefore, if we want to quantitatively analyze the impact of exhibitions on sustainable tourism (i.e., exhibition-driven tourism), then the number of tourists is a clear and direct indicator [9][10][11]. Second, the tourism industry has emerged as a key force for sustainable (socioeconomic) development globally [12].…”

“…Second, sustainable economic growth involves economic development that attempts to satisfy the needs of humans but in a manner that sustains natural resources and the environment for future generations [11,35]. Vasylieva et al [41] investigated the relationships between the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development.…”

The Barriers Against the Entrepreneurship Development of Medical and Healthcare Tourism Industry: Evidence From Kermanshah, Iran

“…According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNTWO, 2019), the global medical tourism market was valued at USD 16,761 million in 2018 and is expected to grow to approximately USD 27,247.6 million by 2024 according to the report of Mordor Intelligence. In addition, the reports by VISA and Oxford Economics have denoted that approximately 11 million medical tourists create worth of USD 100 billion market value annually, which offers a huge market with the growth rate at 25% per year (24). Today, a reverse phenomenon is observed in medical and healthcare tourism throughout the world, so that traveling to developing countries (e.g., India, Brazil, and Thailand) is increasing more noticeably compared to developed countries.…”