Development Of Medical Tourism Research Articles

A qualitative analysis of Turkish stakeholders perspective for improving medical tourism

AbstractThis qualitative study explores from Turkish medical tourism stakeholders' perspective the supply‐side driving factors for improving medical tourism services in Turkey and provides positive healthcare experience to medical travelers. Five groups of stakeholders (27 participants) were interviewed: hospitals/medical centers, medical travel‐agencies, medical‐legal regulators, government, and non‐government organizations. Findings show that Turkey has a dual‐sector public and private model of medical tourism service providers. Four interrelated themes with policy implications were generated: medical tourism promotion, logistics and development initiatives, medical cost, hospital quality accreditation, and other issues related to medical‐legal, government incentives for Turkish diaspora, and promoting Turkish medical tourism overseas.

Determining public’s attitude toward medical tourism development: a scale proposal

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the public’s attitude toward medical tourism activities by developing a measurement instrument in Turkey, an emerging medical tourism destination.Design/methodology/approachDuring the development phase of the scale, 24 question pools were created. After the pilot study, data from a 20-question survey were collected from a study group consisting of Turkish citizens who received services from hospitals in the city of Ankara. Data were collected through convenience sampling of 221 study participants as they were walking in the Square of Kızılay, one of the most important centers and junction points in Turkey, between November 25, 2017, and December 27, 2017.FindingsThe content validity of the scale was assessed by expert opinion. The scale reliability is high with Cronbach’s α (0.908). A factor analysis was performed to assess the factor structure of the scale. The Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin measure of sampling adequacy (0.895) and Bartlett’s test (χ2 = 2,020.967; p = 0.001) were applied to determine the conformity of the scale of factor analysis. Exploratory factor analysis with Varimax rotation was performed to determine the factor structure of the scale. The 20 questions loaded under three factors: “contribution to the country,” “anxiety in getting services” and “service justice”. These factors explained approximately 55% of the total variance. Confirmatory factor analysis was performed with goodness-of-fit index (0.877), Bentler comparative fit index (0.909) and root mean square error of approximation index (0.069) to determine the validity of the factor structure, and the results indicated that the three-factor model is an acceptable level. All the results show that this new scale is valid and reliable in measuring the public’s attitude toward the development of medical tourism in Turkey.Originality/valueThe public’s attitudes on the medical tourism scale show that, as a measurement tool, it can be used validly and reliably in determining the public’s attitudes toward medical tourism.

The History, Culture and Architecture as a Potential of Urban Tourism Development: Evidence from Armenia

The article presents a brief history of the founding of the capital Yerevan, some examples of the history and architecture of Armenia, which has a tourist attraction. Yerevan is rich in historical, cultural and scientific monuments, which together with hotels, restaurants, clubs, and various places of entertainment are tourist resources․ The paper is dedicated to urban tourism development issues. The main purpose of the research is to explore urban tourism development opportunities and main challenges in Yerevan, the capital of Republic of Armenia. Investigation of the topic is carried out in the following logical sequence: presentation of historical-cultural monuments, museums of scientific, and cultural interest visited by tourists, the main touristic assets, the main social-economic indicators and tourism infrastructures of Yerevan are discussed, then the main obstacles are analyzed. Yerevan is 2803 years old; it is rich with cultural-historical monuments. Yerevan has all the opportunities for historical, cultural, religious, gastronomic, entertainment, adventure, educational, medical, festival, and MICE tourism development. The methodological tools of the research methods are historical description, historical analysis, statistical methods, also SWOT analysis. The object of the research is Yerevan city and the subject of the research is tourism development issues in Yerevan. The results of the analysis shows that correlation coefficient is high in Yerevan between volume of tourism services and GDP, volume of tourism services and GDP per capita, volume of tourism services and employment. Also, SWOT analysis reveals the main strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of tourism development in Yerevan. The research theoretically proves and empirically confirms that tourism has a significance role for sustainable development of the city. Based on the main analysis, some recommendations are carried out towards creating sustainable tourism development plans, improving marketing, statistical recording, increasing touristic information in the city, developing infrastructures, investing in more sustainable and smart solutions in city development. The main sustainable solutions should be connected with the transport system, water and waste recycling mechanisms, energy efficiency, construction, increasing green areas, and-so-on. The results of the research can be useful for municipalities for elaborating urban tourism development plans which will lead to sustainable development.

International Demand for Medical Tourism in Malaysia: Evidence from Panel Data

The present paper attempts to investigate the significance influence of some selected economic variables on the international demand for medical tourism in Malaysia by utilizing Pooled Mean Group (PMG)/Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model based on panel data set of ASEAN-4 countries spanning from 2001 to 2017. Findings of the study indicate that the price of medical tourism, travelling cost, real per capita income, exchange rate and health expenditure are statistically significant in influencing international demand for medical tourism in Malaysia for both long run and short run. Moreover, price of tourism in the substitute destination (Indonesia) and inflation are also statistically significant in determining international demand for medical tourism in Malaysia in the short run. The findings are in line with the economic theory. Therefore, to attract more international medical tourists, Malaysia needs to maintain it price competitiveness relative to other substitute destinations in the region, reduce the transport cost as well as improve the quality of medical services provided. Besides, private operators and market participants should influence necessary changes in medical tourism framework to ensure that services are effective and efficient. Ultimately, market players in medical tourism sector should practice Sustainable Responsible Investment (SRI) with aim to stabilize between medical tourism development and social responsibility.

Benefits And Limitations of Medical Tourism Development In Hong Kong: Local residents’ perspective

OBJECTIVES: Promoting medical tourism has been discussed by various stakeholders of its destination. High-quality medical products and services is addressed, especially in the Asia Pacific region. This study aims to (1) explore major criteria to establish medical tourism in Hong Kong from the local residents’ perspective and (2) examine the benefits and limitations in developing medical tourism in Hong Kong by the local residents’ age groups. DESIGN: Target samples were local residents with different age groups who had experienced receiving medical treatment or service in Hong Kong. The self-administered survey with 38 questions was created to explore the local residents’ perceptions on various issues of medical tourism development in Hong Kong. Data was collected in April 2021 with the total response rate of 153 respondents. A descriptive analysis and ANOVA test were applied for objective testing. RESULTS: To answer the objectives, the important criteria for medical tourism development in Hong Kong were physician expertise, infrastructure of hospitals, and healthcare quality. The least important criteria were the political and economic condition of that destination and language. The ANOVA results have shown significant differences on the benefits and limitations of developing medical tourism by age groups of local residents. Younger respondents perceived a benefit of medical tourism, rather than elderly respondents in terms of gaining more medical experience. Elderly respondents perceived the limitations of medical tourism development compared to younger respondents in the areas with lacking private sector interest and high cost. CONCLUSION: There are numerous factors for consideration on establishing medical tourism destination in Hong Kong. Local residents perceive an opportunity for Hong Kong as a medical tourism destination. Although some limitations should be closely monitored, local residents would be confident with medical tourism development. (*The paper was presented at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University’s College of Professional and Continuing Education (CPCE) Conference “Post-pandemic health and long-term care: A new paradigm”. September 2021)

Organizational and Economic Aspects of the Development of Medical and Health Tourism for Children of Primary School Age

Due to the modern economic situation shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic, entrepreneurial activity significantly depleted in all spheres of the economy not only in Russia but across the world. However, there are some industrial spheres the development of which did not stop completely despite being restrained by the COVID-19 pandemic. The industry of children’s tourism having suffered certain understandable changes continues to function since the industry of children’s recreation is directly connected to a child’s development and adaptation in society, their socialization which generates the need for the development of this industry, as well as the need of society and parents for the organization of children’s recreation, leisure, and tourism. The article presents a study of organizational and economic factors of the development of tourism for primary school children in Russia both before the COVID-19 pandemic and in the post-pandemic conditions. The need and demand of society for the development of these services – the children’s recreation industry – is revealed.

MEDICAL TOURISM NEW DIRECTIONS AND OPPORTUNITIES: MACROECONOMIC AND REGIONAL ASPECTS

Introduction. Medical tourism involves obtaining medical services on an affordable basis outside the country of residence of the potential consumer of such services with maximum efficiency. For Ukraine, medical tourism has not been institutionalized, this area of health care is insufficiently monitored at the macroeconomic level, there are no state programs to support the development of medical tourism, no system of accounting for revenues from foreign consumers of medical tourism services, while the latter low prices and fairly high quality. Moreover, the prospects of medical tourism for Ukraine can best be realized in the regions of Ukraine. Goal. substantiation of prospects for the development of medical tourism as a priority area for public policy in the field of health care. Research methods. Methods of comparative, systematic, structural analysis, and generalization are used. Results. Scientific, organizational, and legal bases of medical tourism development as a tool of competitive positioning of the domestic health care system in the global environment are substantiated. The traditional and newest components of medical tourism are identified and analyzed: diagnostics, treatment, rehabilitation, and rehabilitation. Prospects for the development of the domestic system of medical tourism based on regional recreational potential, international standards of quality of medical services, institutional framework, based program mechanisms of state support for individual actors in the medical tourism market, and regional clusters working in this sphere. The domestic and international potential of medical tourism is analyzed, and the advantages and prospects in the formation and development of medical tourism at the regional level are substantiated under the conditions of appropriate legal support and program support. The conditions for obtaining international quality certificates by medical tourism entities as a prerequisite for their competitive positioning in the international market of medical services are substantiated. The main provisions of the scientific article will contribute to the formation of an organizational, legal, marketing, and logistical basis for the development of an inclusive-oriented, competitive model of the market of medical tourism services.

REGIONAL OPPORTUNITIES AND ETHICAL RISKS OF MEDICAL TOURISM (ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE VOLGOGRAD REGION)

Abstract. The article examines medical tourism as a promising area of modern health care within the framework of the federal project "Development of the export of medical services", part of the national project "Health". The authors examine the possibilities of regional health care within the framework of the project "Development of medical services export in the Volgograd region". The data on the number and geography of visitors, financial revenues to the regional budget for the ensuring, paid medical services are presented. The risks of regional health care that hinder the development of medical tourism are described and the ways to avoid them are indicated. At the present stage of the development of Russian healthcare, the provision of medical tourism services is not legally formalized, so more attention should be paid to ethical regulation in this area.

Economic, Cultural, and Political Requirements for Medical Tourism Development in Iran: Insights from a Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process Method.

Background: According to the World Bank, the medical tourism industry in 2016 generated more than $100 billion revenue turnover for the destination countries. This study aims to investigate the developmental requirements of medical tourism industry in Iran to identify sustainable development strategies within this sector. Methods: The present study was an applied-analytical study performed in a cross-sectional manner. A total of 25 experts, including policy experts, decision-makers, and managers with over 10 years of experience in the health system and familiar with the process of attracting medical tourists from foreign countries were asked to compare options for the development of the medical tourism. Expert opinions were analyzed using a fuzzy analytical hierarchy process using the open-source R Studio software. Results: Out of the 5 items included in the questionnaire, the criterion of "government policy making and related entities" was ranked the first in terms of importance and prioritization for medical tourism development (0.249) through attracting domestic and foreign investments followed by advertising and marketing (0.241). Also, the criteria of "destination characteristics" and "facilities and status of service capacities with 0.111 and 0.185 weights had the lowest weight among the 5 items, respectively. Conclusion: In general, governments play a key role in marketing and promoting the nascent medical tourism industry. Experts in the field believe that the role of government, policy and decision-makers in medical tourism can be an advantage for its prosperity and development.

Identification of Factors for the Development of Medical Tourism in the World.

The overall objective of the given paper was to study the relationship of inbound medical tourism destinations with international tourism, economic development of recipient countries, the development of national healthcare systems and the institutional features of their environment, in terms of protection of the rights and freedoms of both business and citizens. In order to achieve this objective, the authors used methods of grouping, as well as correlation and regression analysis. The conducted study revealed that the formation of medical tourism destinations in countries with high social and economic development occurs in a balanced and unidirectional manner; simultaneously, one can see that the countries with “new economic development” form a sufficiently powerful and competitive market for medical tourism. All these countries have one thing in common: namely, there is a link between medical tourism and healthcare funding, international tourism and development of political and civil freedoms. Nevertheless, the noted aspects are not dominant enough, and this indicates that there are other internal factors and their configurations which shape a positive image of countries for medical tourism development. This finding leads to the necessity of further analysis in this field with a breakdown into separate countries or destinations.

СТРАТЕГІЧНІ ПРІОРИТЕТИ РОЗВИТКУ СФЕРИ МЕДИЧНОГО ТУРИЗМУ В КОНТЕКСТІ ЕКОНОМІЧНОГО РОЗВИТКУ

The article is devoted to deepening the theoretical foundations of medical tourism development in Ukraine and substantiation of the multiplier effect of medical tourism. To this end, the four main motives of medical tourism in the world are considered (lower cost of treatment and diagnosis in another country; more modern medical technologies abroad; highly qualified medical care and service; time factor (with a long wait for medical treatment in their country)) main directions of medical tourism (inbound medical tourism and outbound medical tourism). It is established that at this stage of development of our country there is no regulatory regulation of medical tourism. There are only certain non-governmental organizations whose activities are aimed at: 1) development of medical tourism and involvement in the field of medical tourism of doctors interested in its development: Medical Tourism Association (UAMT) (established in 2013); 2) search for a clinic for a potential patient and provide such clinics with proposals to attract the best price experience and conditions to solve a problem (Medical Tourism Exchange, established in 2015). The reasons for the rapid development of the medical tourism industry in Ukraine are presented, the structure of outbound tourism in Ukraine by service providers is studied. Trends in the development of inbound medical tourism are analyzed. The analysis of the state of outbound and inbound medical tourism helped to generalize and highlight the main trends in the medical tourism market in Ukraine and the prerequisites for further development of its own segment of medical tourism, as well as to identify existing limitations and issues. Identification of existing restrictions in the development of medical tourism contributes to the search for tools to eliminate them and identify important areas of regional economic development of Ukrainian cities, based on the manifestation of the multiplier effect of medical tourism, in particular: communication services and informat

DETERMINANTS AND STRATEGIES OF MEDICAL TOURISM DEVELOPMENT BY TAKING THE SERVICE INTEGRATION AND TOURISM DESTINATION COMPETITIVENESS APPROACH (A Case Study Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran)

Introduction: Considering the significant position of medical tourism industry in global economy as well as Iran’s capabilities in this industry, the present research was conducted so as to compile the determinants of medical tourism development and present its respective strategies taking the approach of health village expansion and integrated service provision in Health Region No. 9 (Razavi Khorasan province). Methodology: This research was conducted by combining the qualitative and quantitative techniques. Data collection was done by content analysis followed by an interview and a survey administered to a number of key experts. Data were analyzed by MAXQDA-18, Expert Choice11 and Excel software and SOWT, fuzzy DEMATEL and AHP techniques. Findings: In this study, a framework of indexes was compiled and evaluated selected from different aspects taking the approach of service integration and destination competitiveness in the form of health villages. In the next phase, the status quo of Mashhad was categorized into 38 internal and 31 external factors to be prioritized. In the end, considering the identified factors and their interrelationships, the most important strategies were extracted and prioritized. Conclusions: To create a sustainable competitive market and attract more medical tourists, revealed that the respective authorities need to pay due attention to this issue proportionate to the indexes and strategies envisaged in the compilation, designing and implementation of policies and plans related to Mashhad’s medical tourism development in moving towards the creation of competitive advantage in an integrated way and promotion of medical tourism by focusing on the prioritization performed for the healthcare system.

A Survey of Perspectives and Factors in the Development of Medical Tourism in the Middle East

Context: One of the most important sciences in the tourism industry, which has numerous financial and social benefits, is health and medical tourism. The health tourism industry is an organized trip out of the living environment to maintain, promote, or restore the health of the mind and body of an individual through medical intervention. Evidence Acquisition: Firstly, 80 articles were identified in different sources. After removing duplicate copies, the number of articles relevant to the study title reached 58. After reviewing the abstracts or full-texts, 35 articles were included in the study based on defined criteria. Results: The gradual growth of medical tourism has numerous economic and social benefits for both the host community and guests. If medical tourism grows, numerous economic sectors will be directly and indirectly affected, providing ground for social cohesion and integration. The health sector is a critical sector for the development of countries in terms of income and employment, including numerous sub-departments, such as hospitals, medical devices, and clinical trials. Coastal tourism and natural resources are also crucial in terms of income and employment. Conclusions: Factors affecting medical and health tourism include medical travel agencies, the Internet and social media, political and economic conditions, commitment to post discharge services, regulatory standards, price transparency, confidentiality of patient medical records, and care costs. Medical issues are related to travel legal issues, residence and flight visas, quality and credibility of health care, and specialty of physician’s credentials.

Evaluating medical travelers’ satisfaction through online review analysis

Medical tourism is increasing quickly since it contributes to both the health and tourism sectors. The use of big social data has been effective in the development of medical tourism as a huge amount of data is produced and shared by travelers about the services through different social media platforms. Indeed, communicative information and knowledge can be mined from a large amount of information provided by travelers about medical tourism services. It is important to analyze such data to understand the customers' satisfaction level and their demands. Although several studies have been conducted to find the factors influencing customer satisfaction in medical tourism, there is a lack of studies about big social data and online behavioral analysis of medical travelers. In addition, the analysis of customers' online reviews is fairly unexplored by machine learning techniques in the context of medical tourism. Hence, this research aims to fill this gap and develop a new method to reveal travelers' choice preferences and satisfaction with medical tourism services through the analysis of the online review. Text mining and ontology approaches are used in the proposed method. The method can mine data from medical tourism websites, discover the satisfaction dimensions, and reveal the satisfaction level of medical tourists through textual reviews. We rely on the demographic information of medical tourists and ontological semantic filtering approaches to better detect the travelers’ preferences in medical tourism websites. The proposed method is evaluated through the numerical and textual reviews obtained from medical tourism websites. The results of data analysis showed that the proposed method is effective for big data analysis in the medical tourism context and may help medical tourism organizers to improve their medical tourism services to obtain a high level of medical travelers' satisfaction.

Feasibility of implementing pranic healing as a complementary service: A case study at Sanglah General Hospital, Denpasar

Background and purpose: WHO supports the implementation of complementary therapy services in health facilities to increase comprehensive health services coverage. Sanglah Hospital is developing the pranic healing service as part of the development of Indonesia’s medical tourism and traditional health. This study aims to determine the extent to which the feasibility, obstacles, challenges, and opportunities of the pranic healing service implemented at Sanglah Hospital.Methods: This study employed a mixed-methods design with a case study approach. The data were collected from March to April 2020 using in-depth interview with 23 informants by collecting information on acceptance, readiness, requests, and service management. Documents and archival records were also collected. The survey data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire from 40 respondents by collecting information on patients’ requests and acceptance aspects. The qualitative data analysis was performed thematically and presented in a narrative form. The survey data were analyzed using univariate analysis.Results: The pranic healing service received support from the Ministry of Health and the hospital management, had a good acceptance from health workers and patients, was the only complementary service of its kind in health facilities throughout Indonesia and had the potential for the development of medical tourism. Obstacles and challenges found were related to workforce management, regulatory readiness, referral systems, and the development of inpatient services.Conclusion: Pranic healing service could be implemented at Sanglah Hospital because they had substantial support and because of demand and acceptance aspects. However, obstacles and challenges on the implementation and practicality aspects should be overcome for the sustainability of this service. The pranic healing has a good potency since to date, it is the only one available in Indonesia which is also potential for the development of medical tourism.

MEDICAL TOURISM: WORLD TRENDS AND DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENT PRIORITIES

Medical tourism is a rapidly growing industry on a global scale. There is a growing tendency for citizens of more developed countries to seek medical services in developing countries. This is connected not only with the pricing policy, which is more loyal, but also with the insurance system, with the presence of waiting lists, with the legislative framework, and religion. The high level of service delivery and the competitiveness of the state is the result of an effective state policy. The article gives the definition of the concept, the terminology of medical tourism, considers the types and directions of medical tourism development, the legislative framework of Ukraine for the provision of certain types of medical services. Risks and negative sides, problems faced by tourists, global challenges of the industry and prospects for overcoming them are considered.

“Dialysis and medical tourism. Investigating patients’ perceptions in Greece”

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the possibilities and the growth prospects of medical tourism in Greece, while particularly focusing on the dialysis process. Patients with end-stage renal failure have the right to any treatment deemed necessary during their journey to another city or country away from the place where their treatment normally takes place. Design/methodology/approach The survey has been conducted among 193 kidney disease patients that underwent extra-renal dialysis in two public and three private artificial kidney units in Thessaloniki. The study population consists of patients with end-stage chronic renal failure (CRF) that undergo dialysis. For the purpose of this study, quantitative research was carried out via a structured and anonymous questionnaire. The design and structure of the study were based upon questionnaires from two relevant questionnaires. The questionnaires were modified appropriately to respond to the subject in question. Finally, for the analysis of the data, the SPSS software has been used. Findings One of the most obvious results is that patients on dialysis treatment have limited both the frequency and the duration of their vacation. The 8.3% of patients that did not use to travel increased to 37.8%, whereas only 22.3% continue to travel 2–4 times a year. Patients that keep on going on vacation frequently claim that a break from the daily routine improves their quality of life. Most of the participants (up to 36.3%) claim they feel healthier, while 34.2% stated they experience a normal life when they escape their everyday life and travel far from home. The 69.9% claim that Greece has the potentials to be a popular medical tourism destination. However, a well-structured and government-financed assistance programme is absent. The processing of data has revealed a positive correlation between age and tourism behaviour. Additionally, according to the research results, younger patients tend to be better informed regarding medical tourism in comparison with older ones. Social implications Considering the patients to be potential travellers facilitates the development, realization and promotion of medical tourism. Originality/value This study attempts to investigate, for the first time, the tourism behaviour of chronic kidney disease patients. The study highlights a sensitive issue, patients’ right to treatment without geographical or distance-related obstacles.

The values, perception and attitudes of potential domestic tourists regarding the medical tourism offer of Romania

Introduction. Apparently medicine and tourism have represented for a while distinct domains, both in terms of research and even in popular culture. While medicine is widely known as dedicated exclusively to healing and treating patients suffering from various diseases, tourism, popular since ancient times in relation to healing, is based on a person’s motivation towards obtaining a pleasant experience in optimal conditions that already require the existence of a good state of health. Considering the emergence of new challenges in medicine, mostly in terms of demand, there is a phenomenon of directing preferences or needs in order to obtain medical services in a relaxing touristic environment. Due to the rapid development of medical tourism, we consider opportune to study this phenomenon, both from the perspective of a social and economic impact and from the need to reorganize the tourism activity, emphasized with new forms and modern concepts. Material and method. As a limited number of research can be found related to medical tourism, and generally covers travelling for medical treatments or interventions, and also a few publications are dealing with theoretical aspects of this form of tourism, the main purpose of the article is to bring a scientific contribution to the global field of medical tourism, especially regarding the tourist expectations and attitudes towards an internal medical tourism offer. Using a quantitative research methodology, we aimed to achieve the following secondary objectives: identifying the interest, intention and reasons of respondents to practice medical tourism, establishing the level of confidence in the medical specialization of certain cities, assessing the level of knowledge and general perception on a treatment specifics in spa resorts structured in galaxy clusters. Results and discussions. Focusing on both national and international research, we have reached the conclusion that there is a lack of specific statistical indicators to analyze or compare the phenomenon of medical tourism. The shortcomings that are considered in the research may be caused mainly by inconsistencies of defining different concepts related to medical tourism or the confusion generated by the use of terms specific to medical or health tourism. Thus, the main objective of our research is to identify relevant aspects regarding the values, perception and attitudes of potential domestic medical tourists towards Romania’s medical tourism offer. Conclusions. There are certain limitations to our research, but it can surely become a basis for further developments regarding galaxy clusters and their impact in relation to a tourist’s needs. Keywords: medical tourism, spa resorts, medical providers, medical services demand, balneary tourism,

Sustainable development and management of medical tourism companies in Poland

Abstract The aim of the paper is to analyze the macroeconomic sector of medical tourism and to demonstrate through empirical research the possibilities of using business opportunities for the development of medical tourism in Poland. The thesis is to point out that development of companies in medical tourism is one of the components of metropolises’ sustainable development. Methodology A study with a sample of 214 individuals was conducted in 2018–2019 using the PAPI and CAWI techniques and a survey questionnaire was the research tool. Medical tourism companies located in the voivodship of the Upper Silesia, Warsaw, Cracow, and Szczecin metropolises took party in the study. Participation in the research was determined by the possibility to reach the companies and obtain results. Results The study has shown that development of companies in medical tourism is an inevitable component of metropolises’ sustainable development. It has been demonstrated that a dynamic development of companies occurs in the investigated period, which encourages expansion of medical tourism services among residents of the said metropolises.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF DEVELOPMENT OF INTERNATIONAL TOURISM ARE UNDER ACT OF FACTORS OF GLOBALIZATION

The impact of globalization on the socio-economic development of the world and Ukraine is traced. The negative consequences of the process of globalization have been that it has become a huge challenge for humanity. According to the author, the biggest threats to the modern world include: the flow of excessive information, which often turns into information attacks; international terrorism, which threatens international tourism and the safe socio-economic development of many countries; negative natural phenomena in the form of climatic cataclysms and others. It has been studied that, in addition to the negative economic consequences, globalization can have an antisocial character. Globalization is actually destroying space and widening distances. Today, the key factor in overcoming the epidemic is social distance, the isolation of the individual. Quarantine is diametrically opposed to the «open society» that globalization and integration advocated at the time. It is determined that international tourism is a consequence of globalization processes is a form of international movement of human resources, has a mass character and is one of the leading highly profitable and most dynamic sectors of the world economy. It is revealed that globalization provides an opportunity for the development of various types of tourism, including professional and business, cultural, sports, medical, health tourism. In particular, health tourism is one of the important factors in shaping the country’s social security by strengthening the health of the population, replenishing the state budget, and attracting foreign investment in joint medical projects. To create a positive medical image of the country, the governments of many countries develop national programs for the development of medical tourism and allocate funds for its establishment. An important goal of international tourism is professional and business travel and «business tourism», among which the leading place is occupied by trips to international fairs and exhibitions. In the process of analysis on these issues used general scientific methods: historical and logical, analysis and synthesis, comparative, grouping, etc.