A Supply Side Investigation of Medical Tourism and ICT Use in Greece

Abstract

Greece is experiencing a deep economic crisis while seeking for new sources of revenues. Nowadays, medical tourism seems to be an effective mean of economic growth, which could facilitate the way out of the crisis. The aim of this paper is to investigate tourism companies’ readiness to invest in medical tourism in Greece and the ICT infrastructure underlying it. For this purpose, a nationwide survey was carried out in 2012. The target population consisted of all the 337 5-star hotels across the country and 28 companies-members of the Hellenic Association of Professional Congress Organizers (HAPCO). Data was gathered by emailing a structured questionnaire to the executives of the abovementioned companies, which investigated the executives’ opinion and experience regarding the characteristics of the tourism facilities of their company, their evaluation of the existing medical tourist infrastructure in Greece and perspectives for future investment in the field. Descriptive and econometric analyses have been performed and logistic regression was applied. According to our findings, high class hotels seem to be willing to invest in medical tourism, since they have the ability and the relevant infrastructure to develop it. Obviously, medical tourism in Greece could constitute an important source of national income and consequently, an alternative for the country to exit the economic crisis, provided care is given to ICT infrastructure and legislation procedures.