Strategic Marketing Development of Hospitals Participating in Medical Tourism: A Case of South Korea

Abstract

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.

Medical Tourism and Egypt's Strategic Vision 2030: Pull Motivations That Trigger the International Patients' Intention to Visit Egypt as a Medical Tourism Hub

“…The service provider needs greater information regarding competitive strategies which will target offering the simplest possible service quality an d at t he identical time ensuring customer satisfaction (Ogorlec & Snoj, 1998). The patient's perceived quality of service is that the main determinant of the hospital's success and reputation because of its role in achieving patient satisfaction (Choi,et al,2004;Guiry & Vequist, 2011) . The literature within the field of medical tourism in dicates t hat t he standard of service for the health care provider includes various dimensions like services and physical facilities (Aziz, Samden, Awang, and Adaballah, 2015;Dangor, et al, 2015), quality of care , specialized services provided (Beladi,et al, & Hollas, 2015), use of state-of-the-art medical technology (Dangor et al, 2015;Jun & Oh , 2015).…”

Relationships between the motivation of medical tourists and the quality of medical services

“…Despite the risks of being a late comer in the field of medical tourism and the many social concerns expressed in its early stages, within a short period of time Korea has achieved consistent development in this field. Choi, Lee, and Kim (2015) describes Korean medical care as technologically advanced and as having the ability to provide the best care worldwide. He suggests that this success in Korean healthcare has been brought about by the modernization, industrialization, and technological advancement of the country's economy.…”

“…Market growth can be attributed to factors such as technologically advanced treatments and medical procedures, plastic/cosmetic surgery, competitive medical practitioners and medical facilities, affordable medical costs, and strong government support and initiatives (Korea Tourism Organization, 2018). To expand this level of business, there is a growing need for in‐depth empirical research on medical tourism and the quality of medical services (An, 2014; Asan & Emeksiz, 2018; Choi, Lee, & Kim, 2015; Lovelock, Lovelock, & Lyons, 2018). Specifically, there is a need to understand what motivates medical tourists to decide to travel overseas to obtain medical treatment, and what quality of medical services they think are important (Cooper, Vafadari, & Hieda, 2015; Enderwick & Nagar, 2011; Kim & Lee, 2019; Wongkit & McKercher, 2013; Yu, Lee, & Noh, 2011).…”

China’s Health Tourism and Marketing

“…It was found medical tourism impacted the justice in low-and middle-income destination countries [20]. Ii was reviewed the policies and background of the growingly popular South Korea medical tourism industry [21]. It was concerned on the legal climate of other medical tourism, psychology, tourism, health and wealth, ethic challenges [22].…”