Author/Authors :
Momeni ، Khalil Department of Public Health - School of Health - Ilam University of Medical Sciences , Jannati ، Ali Department of Health Policy and Management - School of Management and Medical Informatics - Tabriz University of Medical Sciences , Khodayari-Zarnaq ، Rahim Department of Health Policy and Management - School of Management and Medical Informatics - Tabriz University of Medical Sciences , Ghasemyani ، Shabnam Department of Health Service Management - School of Health Management and Information Sciences - Iran University of Medical Sciences , Havasian ، Mohamadreza Student Research Committee - Alborz University of Medical Sciences
Abstract :
Background: Today, medical tourism is a growingphenomenonin the healthcare industry, especiallyamongdeveloping countries. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to compare the Iranian medical tourism industry with selected countries. Methods: This comparative study was conducted in 2020. Data were gathered from databases, including PubMed, Web of Knowledge, Scopus, Magiran, SID, and websites of theWorld Tourism Association, the Ministry of Tourism, and the Ministry of Health of the selected countries from 2000 to 2020. A researcher-made checklist was used to collect data. Selected countries were compared in terms of the status of tourism and travel competitiveness, governance and policy-making status, the status of the medical tourism industry, and medical tourism infrastructure Results: The main difference between the selected countries and Iran lies in the organizational structure of the main stakeholders of the tourism industry. In other countries, this industry is organized and supervised by specific coordination bodies. In terms of tourism and travel competitiveness, Singapore, with a global rank of 17, was better than other countries. Based on the status of the medical tourism industry, Costa Rica ranked 7th in the world, and Singapore, the UAE (Dubai), Turkey, UAE (Abu Dhabi), Jordan, and Iran ranked 15, 22, 27, 31 35, and 41, respectively. In Iran, all indicators of medical tourism infrastructure were lower than those of other countries except for competitive prices. Conclusions: Considering a low rank of Iran in all the studied components, the organizational integration structure of the medical tourism industry and increasing competitiveness can help the development of this industry in Iran.
Keywords :
Tourism , Medical , Health Tourism , Countries , Developing , Comparative Study
