A decade of medical tourism research: looking back to moving forward

Abstract

PurposeThis article aims to know the direction of current research based on the previous research in the last ten years (2012–2021).Design/methodology/approachText mining was integrated with a network and content analysis as part of the mix methodological approach. The scientific articles, on the other hand, were assembled on Litmaps through web scraping. This process selected 86 articles about medical tourism published between 2012 and 2021. This study employed AntConc, RStudio and Gephi tools for data analysis and visualization.FindingsA total of 138 articles were identified through Litmaps using web scraping and 86 studies met the criteria. The trend of medical tourism research is a positive sign for tourism and health industries; this is the beginning to recognize the importance of elaborating on these two topics. Several researchers have frequently studied issues of destination, hospital, development, quality, stakeholders, surgery, service, economics and policy. Policymakers must establish a medical tourism ecosystem to accommodate all stakeholders in this industry. This study also recommends focusing on supply and institution for medical tourism future research.Research limitations/implicationsThis literature review presents research trends on medical tourism in 2012–2021 based solely on articles available on the Litmaps search engine. If the time span is extended and the sources of articles are expanded there will be more literature available for analysis. The articles obtained are also only articles published in English due to the language limitations of the author.Practical implicationsPolicymakers must establish a medical tourism ecosystem to accommodate all stakeholders in this industry. Stakeholders must work together to provide medical tourism package therefore people can get their health services while visiting available tourist areas.Originality/valueThe literary study of medical tourism over 10 years is considered the most recent systematic literature review.

Mapping of Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights themes: a retrospective overview

“…A total of 1,178 keywords were used between 2018 and 2022 by the authors in JHTI to compose their research articles. For instance, previous studies published in JHTI have addressed medical tourism (Ediansyah et al ., 2022), Covid-19 (Khawaja et al ., 2022; Shukla et al ., 2022; Şengel et al ., 2023), satisfaction (Feng et al ., 2021; Genc and Gulertekin Genc, 2022), trust (Boğan and Dedeoğlu, 2019; Ahn and Kwon, 2020), motivation (Shi et al ., 2019; Omo-Obas and Anning-Dorson, 2022), attitude (Wan et al ., 2022), perceived value (Duong et al ., 2022) behavioural intention (Çelik and Dedeoğlu, 2019), social media (Ampountolas et al ., 2019), destination marketing (Nakayama, 2022), destination image (Karri and Dogra, 2022; Uner et al ., 2022) and authenticity (Genc and Gulertekin Genc, 2022). In the meantime, Pang and Zhang (2019) argue that keywords appearing over four times reflect the overall scope well.…”

“…Cluster 1 (Red) – This cluster comprises a group of articles connected with psychological aspects and areas such as motivation (Shi et al , 2019), attitude (Wan et al , 2022), customer engagement (Thomas-Francois et al , 2021), place attachment (Soonsan and Somkai, 2021), behavioural intention (Çelik and Dedeoğlu, 2019), perceived value (Duong et al , 2022) and to some extent sustainability and development (Karamustafa et al , 2022; Das and Chatterjee, 2022). In addition, in this cluster, issues such as corporate social responsibility (Palermo et al , 2022), medical tourism (Ediansyah et al , 2022), social media (Ampountolas et al , 2019), destination marketing (Nakayama, 2022) and authenticity (Genc and Gulertekin Genc, 2022) have also been considered.…”

Egypt as a Destination for Health Tourism: Opportunities and Obstacles

“…• Promotion and Marketing: The tourist destination should be promoted and marketed as a health tourism destination through various mediums such as social media, advertising, websites, and appropriate promotional campaigns (Morrison, 2018). • Collaboration with Medical and Healthcare Institutions: The tourist destination must collaborate with local and international medical and healthcare institutions specialized in healthcare to enhance and improve healthcare services, as well as to streamline treatment and rehabilitation procedures for tourists visiting the destination (Arief et al, 2022).…”

Aesthetic medical tourism in Colombia: opportunity for the economic development of the country

“…Como se pudo comprobar en las fuentes, este efecto multiplicador no solo enriquece la experiencia del visitante, sino que también promueve el desarrollo de infraestructuras complementarias y mejora el acceso a servicios esenciales para las comunidades locales. (62,63,64,65) El turismo médico estético también ha impulsado la creación de empleo, desde posiciones especializadas en el sector salud hasta oportunidades en la industria del turismo y servicios. (66) La demanda creciente por profesionales cualificados ha fomentado la especialización y formación en campos relacionados con la gestión hospitalaria, la turismología del bienestar y la gastronomía orientada a la salud, contribuyendo así al desarrollo de una fuerza laboral diversificada y competente.…”