Identification of Factors for the Development of Medical Tourism in the World

Abstract

The overall objective of the given paper was to study the relationship of inbound medical tourism destinations with international tourism, economic development of recipient countries, the development of national healthcare systems and the institutional features of their environment, in terms of protection of the rights and freedoms of both business and citizens. In order to achieve this objective, the authors used methods of grouping, as well as correlation and regression analysis. The conducted study revealed that the formation of medical tourism destinations in countries with high social and economic development occurs in a balanced and unidirectional manner; simultaneously, one can see that the countries with "new economic development" form a sufficiently powerful and competitive market for medical tourism. All these countries have one thing in common: namely, there is a link between medical tourism and healthcare funding, international tourism and development of political and civil freedoms. Nevertheless, the noted aspects are not dominant enough, and this indicates that there are other internal factors and their configurations which shape a positive image of countries for medical tourism development. This finding leads to the necessity of further analysis in this field with a breakdown into separate countries or destinations.

Keywords: economic growth; healthcare service; healthcare system; institutional environment; international tourism; medical tourism.

Figure 1

Mega-destinations for Medical Tourism According to MTI, 2016. Legend: 1—American region, 2—European region, 3—Arab and Middle Eastern region, 4—African region, 5—Asian region.

Figure 2

Scattering of Countries According to MTI and GDP per capita. Symbols of countries: Ar—Argentina, Bahr—Bahrain, Can—Canada, Ger—Germany, In—India, Ir—Iran, Isr—Israel, Jam—Jamaica, Kuw—Kuwait, Leb—Lebanon, Mal—Malta, Ph—Philippines, Qat—Qatar, SAr—Saudi Arabia, Sin—Singapore, UK—United Kingdom.

Figure 3

Scattering of Countries According to MTI and TTCI Indicators. Symbols of countries: Ar—Argentina, Bahr—Bahrain, Ca—Canada, CR—Costa Rica, DR—Dominican Repub-lic, Eg—Egypt, Fr—France, Ger—Germany, In—India, Ir—Iran, Isr—Israel, It—Italy, Ja –Jamaica, Jap—Japan, Jor—Jordan, Kuw—Kuwait, Leb—Lebanon, Mal—Malta, Mex—Mexico, Mor—Morocco, Om—Oman, Ph—Philippines, Po—Poland, Qat—Qatar, SAr—Saudi Arabia, Sin—Singapore, Sp –Spain, Th—Thailand, Tun—Tunisia, Tu—Turkey, UK—United Kingdom.

Figure 4

Scattering of Countries by Indicators of MTI and (a) international Corruption Perceptions Indices (CPI), (b) Doing Business (DB), (c) the International Property Right Indices (IPRI), (d) Political Rights Indices (PRI) and (e) Civil Liberties Indices (CLI).