The Post Pandemic Revitalization Plan for the Medical Tourism Sector in South Korea: A Brief Review

Abstract

The significant impacts of recent infectious diseases (MERS, COVID-19) demand fundamental changes and alternatives in different markets, such as tourism and the medical tourism industry. In this study, we aimed to have a historical investigation on how infectious diseases have affected the tourism industry in Korea, to reach practical implications for managing the medical tourism sector. The impact of global infectious diseases, including MERS, and COVID-19, on the tourism industry was studied in South Korea. First, the available information was collected to clarify how these two outbreaks have impacted the tourism market in South Korea, and then the government's countermeasures were studied. Investigating among the policies resulted in practical implications for the post-pandemic revitalizing plan for the medical tourism market. The infectious outbreak caused a significant decrease in the number of inbound tourists to South Korea, moreover, the crisis response system of the government has been useful so far. Hence, several practical implications can be achieved for the medical tourism market. A framework is suggested which involves 5 stages of strategies to revitalize medical tourism market. It presents remedies to revitalize the medical tourism industry and to enter the global market again. Korea's quarantine model, which succeeded in preventing COVID-19, can be a preemptive response to another pandemic in the future. The medical tourism industry policy based on Korea's quarantine model will contribute to the revitalization of the international medical tourism industry after COVID-19.