Barriers of Developing Medical Tourism in a Destination: A Case of South Korea
Abstract
Background: This study aimed to determine the efficient factors that potentially lead to the barriers of developing medical tourism in South Korea.
Methods: To explore the current medical tourism trend, a qualitative procedure was adopted. Besides analyzing the current situation of medical tourism in Korea through a systematic searching on the available information and publications, in-depth-interviews were conducted to collect data from relevant authorities and representatives of medical tourism associations in this country.
Results: The result revealed, although government have supported this industry, that lack of specialty and expertise among the health care practitioners in the scope of cross cultural communication, seems to be the core barrier to development of medical tourism in Korea. Demands for convenient promotional activities, policy making and action regulation are the other effective factors.
Discussion: Several strategies are required in order to address and combat these barriers, such as governmental support for cultural training, cooperative efforts to encourage health practitioners involved to enhance their cultural and linguistic competence in international scale.
Ormond M (2014). Medical tourism. In: The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Tourism. Ed(s), Alan A. Lew CMHaAW: John Wiley & Sons.
Connell J (2013). Contemporary medical tourism: Conceptualisation, culture and commodification. Tourism Management, 34:1-13.
MTQA (2017). Medical Travel Quality Alliance. Avaiable at: https://www.mtqua.org/
Ormond M (2012). Claiming ‘cultural competence’: The promotion of multi-ethnic Malaysia as a medical tourism destination. In: Medical Tourism: The Ethics, Regulation, and Marketing of Health Mobility. Ed(s), Hall CMe. London: Routledge.
Singh PK (2008). Medical tourism: global outlook and Indian scenario. ed. Kanishka publishers.
Bookman M (2007). Medical tourism in developing countries. ed. Springer.
Awadzi W, Panda D (2006). Medical tourism: Globalization and the marketing of medical services. Consort J Hosp Tour, 11 (1):75-81.
Kim S, Lee J, Jung J (2013). Assessment of medical tourism development in Korea for the achievement of competitive advantages. Asia Pac J Tour Res, 18:421-445.
Yu J, Lee TJ, Noh H (2011). Characteristics of a medical tourism industry: The case of South Korea. J Travel Tour Mark, 28:856-872.
Ormond M (2011). Medical tourism, medical exile. Real tourism: Practice, care, and politics in contemporary travel culture, 26:143.
Sobo EJ, Herlihy E, Bicker M (2011). Selling medical travel to US patient-consumers: the cultural appeal of website marketing messages. Anthropol Med, 18:119-136.
Cohen ECE (2008). Medical tourism in Thailand. AU-GSB e-Journal, 1.
Hamzah A (2004). Policy and planning of the tourism industry in Malaysia. Policy and Planning of Tourism Product Development in Asian Countries, Conference proceedings, The Sixth Asian Development Research Forum (ADRF) General Meeting, Bangkok
Jin K (2016). Analysis of Korean Competitiveness in the Global Healthcare Market. Conference proceedings , Medical Korea and K-Hospitals Seoul, Korea
Jun J (2016). Framing Service, Benefit, and Credibility Through Images and Texts: A Content Analysis of Online Promotional Messages of Korean Medical Tourism Industry. Health Commun, 31:845-852.
Jun J, Oh KM (2015). Framing risks and benefits of medical tourism: a content analysis of medical tourism coverage in Korean American community newspapers. J Health Commun, 20:720-727.
Junio MMV, Kim JH, Lee TJ (2017). Competitiveness attributes of a medical tourism destination: The case of South Korea with importance-performance analysis. J Travel Tour Mark, 34:444-460.
Fetscherin M, Stephano R-M (2016). The medical tourism index: Scale development and validation. Tourism Manage, 52:539-556.
Crooks VA, Kingsbury P, Snyder J, Johnston R (2010). What is known about the patient's experience of medical tourism? A scoping review. BMC Health Serv Res, 10:266.
Kim HJ, Yang NY (2015). The Correlation between Medical Tourism Coordinators' Job Characteristics, Job Burnout and Job Satisfaction. Adv Sci Technol Lett, 116:88-92.
Ye B, Yuen P, Qiu H, Zhang V (2008). Motivation of medical tourists: An exploratory case study of Hong Kong medical tourists. Asia Pacific Tourism Association (APTA) Annual Conference, Bangkok, Thailand.
Smith PC, Forgione DA (2007). Global outsourcing of healthcare: a medical tourism decision model. J Inform Technol Case Appl Res, 9:19-30.
Caballero-Danell SM, Chipo (2007). Medical tourism and its entrepreneurial opportunities: A conceptual framework for entry into the industry. Master thesis, Goteborg University, Sweden.
Heung VC, Kucukusta D, Song H (2010). A conceptual model of medical tourism: Implications for future research. J Travel Tour Mark, 27:236-251.
Heung VC, Kucukusta D, Song H (2011). Medical tourism development in Hong Kong: An assessment of the barriers. Tourism Manage, 32:995-1005.
Juliet C (1990). Basics of qualitative research: grounded theory procedures and techniques. Sage Publications, London.
Denzin NK, Lincoln YS (2011). The Sage handbook of qualitative research. ed. Sage.
Strauss A, Corbin J (1990). Basics of qualitative research. ed. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Mehmetoglu M, Altinay L (2006). Examination of grounded theory analysis with an application to hospitality research. Int J Hosp Manag, 25:12-33.
Alizadeh S, Chavan M (2015). Cultural competence dimensions and outcomes: a systematic review of the literature. Health Soc Care Community, 24(6), e117–e130.
Campinha-Bacote J (2002). The process of cultural competence in the delivery of healthcare services: A model of care. J Transcult Nurs, 13:181-184.
Geva I (2016). Is medical tourism a business? Conference proceedings, Medical Korea and K-Hospitals, Seoul, Korea.
| Files | ||
| Issue | Vol 46 No 7 (2017) | |
| Section | Original Article(s) | |
| Keywords | ||
| Medical tourism Cultural competence Linguistic proficiency International healthcare Korea | ||
| Rights and permissions | |
|
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. |
