This article highlights the strong potential and growing popularity of the Asian medical tourism industry focusing on South Korea and presents an overview of the background of the industry, the current situation, issues of concern, and directions to pursue for the systematic development of the medical tourism industry in that country. It examines the difficulties encountered given that the current medical tourism market in Korea is under constant attention but still at the beginning stages. The study a) examines the recognition and attitudes of hospitals towards medical tourism, b) investigates networking involvement of the medical tourism-related institutions, and c) suggests recommendations for strategic implementation of medical tourism in Korea. The study provides useful strategic analysis for the sustainable development of the medical tourism industry in a country where medical tourism is receiving rapidly growing attention.

Economic impact studies are used widely either to secure financial support for an event or to promote an organization or an event. The very nature of impact studies tends to lead to an overestimation of the impact. Discussed in this article are such issues as: types of economic impact, ticketed events versus open-gate events, short-term events such as festivals versus long-term attractions such as parks and museums, offsetting impact within the jurisdiction, treatment of nonwage expenditures, appropriate use of multipliers, especially in short-term or one-time events, and daily expenditures per visitor based on survey of visitors to two festivals in Alabama and Mississippi. The main conclusion is that public sector subsidy to short-term events should be based more on their role in enhancing the area's quality of life than on their estimated economic impact.