Identifying and prioritizing strategies for Iran’s medical tourism development

Considering Iran’s potential in medical tourism and being located in one of the world’s most competitive health tourism regions, the present study aims to Identify and prioritize strategies for developing medical tourism in the country. The study relied on a mixed research method. In the qualitative part, solutions for Iran’s medical tourism development were identified by interviewing activists and experts. The collected data were analyzed through the thematic analysis method. This process revealed four dimensions and 18 strategies. In the quantitative part, a  questionnaire was developed, and experts in the Iranian medical tourism industry prioritized the identified dimensions and strategies. The analysis of the data through the best-worst method clarified that, from the perspective of the practitioners, dimensions of medical tourism development in Iran were: “marketing,” “applying information and communication technologies,” “human resources development,” and “reinforcing infrastructures.”