The identity and role of stakeholders in the medical tourism industry: state of the art

Nguyen

2020

JPBM

Purpose This paper aims to examine the relationships between brand equity, customer satisfaction and cultural distance for a tourism destination. The mediating role of customer satisfaction and the moderating effect of cultural distance in these relationships are assessed. Design/methodology/approach The direct–indirect–moderating relationships were assessed by applying covariance-based SEM (CB-SEM), mediating and multi-group analysis. A paper survey was used to collect data from 618 tourists (domestic and international tourists) visiting a destination in Vietnam. Findings The findings support direct positive links between the dimensions of brand equity and customer satisfaction, except for the effect of destination brand awareness on destination brand loyalty. This work further demonstrates the mediating effect of customer satisfaction on the indirect relationships between the dimensions of brand equity. Cultural distance was found to moderate the connections between the research concepts. Research limitations/implications Future research should explore the model’s relationships based on comparisons in different destinations, to better understand the impact of cultural factors. Originality/value This study identifies specific factors to increase branding efficiency by developing and testing the relationship between brand equity and customer satisfaction. Using moderating variables through the lens of cultural distance, it proposes a mediated model. This work contributes to practice by informing destination managers on how to improve brand equity and satisfaction based on the cultural characteristics of international and domestic visitors.

Section: Literature Review and Hypothesis Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Brand equity and customer satisfaction: a comparative analysis of international and domestic tourists in Vietnam

Nguyen

2020

JPBM

“…The growing acceptance of this multidimensional approach to wellness has been tied to a change in the popular conception of health and wellness (Medina-Mun ˜oz and Medina-Mun ˜oz, 2013), the stressful nature of modern society (Frow and Payne, 2009), the prospects of social tourism (Diekmann and McCabe, 2016;Morgan et al, 2015;McCabe et al, 2010), the relationship between co-creation and well-being (Dekhili and Hallem, 2020) and to the well-being of workers through tourism experience (Lee et al, 2018). As the conceptual paradigm of wellness tourism is gradually being modified, the concept is evolving from a traditional view of health (Kamassi et al, 2020;Heung and Kucukusta, 2013;Smith and Puczk o, 2008) to a holistic wellness orientation (Kazakov and Oyner, 2020;Dillette et al, 2020;GWI, 2018;Star a and Peterson, 2017;Pyke et al, 2016;Smith and Kelly, 2006).…”

Section: Background Of the Wellness Tourism Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Wellness tourism and the components of its offer system: a holistic perspective

Dini

Pencarelli

2021

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to conceptually examine the phenomenon of wellness tourism under a holistic and systemic lens, focusing on the offer system and the main components necessary for the staging of wellness experiences. This approach to holistic wellbeing within the tourism sector has led to a broadening of the type of services and experiences that make up the value propositions that can positively contribute to people’s wellbeing. Design/methodology/approach This study identifies and defines the components of wellness tourism (including sectors not traditionally associated with it) through a review and analysis of the extant literature on “wellness tourism” and “wellbeing tourism” of the past two decades; the components were classified through an open coding process. Findings Wellness tourism, as a broad multidimensional concept, is composed by ten different components of the offer system: hot springs, spas, medical tourism, care of the body and mind, enogastronomy, sports, nature and environment, culture, spirituality and events. Each of these categories may represent a single touristic offer targeted to specific market segments, but they may also be one of several components within an integrated mix of tourism products proposed. Originality/value A holistic view of wellness tourism has implications for strategic marketing processes. Destination Management Organizations and company managers should segment their demand according to more innovative criteria than what has traditionally been adopted for wellness in terms of health care and medical procedures. Value propositions for tourists should be wellness-driven to satisfy the growing demand for wellness/well-being and should involve the participation of all the various actors and producers within the wellness tourism offer system at wellness destinations.

“…The UAE is working extremely hard to ensure that all hospitals will get international accreditation by 2021 [39][40][41][42]. It is important to emphasize the fact that Kamassi [43] raised a question about nonexistent international Islamic accreditation that can positively impact international Muslim patients. The Dubai Healthcare City Survey showed that patients chose Dubai because of the medical service quality [44].…”

Section: Healthcare Service Quality and International Accreditationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, Skountridaki [57] suggests that improved communication and cooperation between medical professionals and medical travel facilitators are required. Other studies confirm that lack of collaboration and networking among medical tourism suppliers and medical tourism facilitators is one of the key issues in medical tourism development [29,31,32,43,[58][59][60][61][62][63]. Frederick and Gan [64] identified differences between Western and Eastern medical tourism facilitators.…”

Section: Medical Tourism Facilitators and Marketingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Tham [29] concluded that stakeholders, including medical tourism facilitators, should be more involved in planning and developing medical tourism destinations. On the other side, Kamassi [43] mentioned that above 50% of foreign patients have come to the UAE for medical treatment through medical tourism facilitators.…”

Section: Medical Tourism Facilitators and Marketingmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Barriers to Medical Tourism Development in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Bulatović

Iankova

2021

IJERPH

Medical tourism is a thriving industry. Many destinations now seek to attract more medical tourists. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is no exception. As one of the most important pillars of the UAE’s economy, tourism is considered a high priority. However, medical tourism in the UAE is still developing. This paper addresses the main challenges for medical tourism in the UAE and proposes methods to enhance its development. This research utilized qualitative analysis. Twelve professionals in medical tourism were interviewed to provide data. The data were then analyzed using NVivo 12 software. Our results indicate that the key barriers to medical tourism development in the UAE are high costs of medical tourism services, lack of marketing activities, lack of collaboration between medical and tourism service providers, and so forth. Although initiatives from the UAE government are very encouraging, more efficient medical care supply networks, tourism suppliers and intermediaries should be established to ensure its growth. This research could influence national tourism policies in the UAE as well as regional alliances in all Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries.