Tourism Facilitators Research Articles

Parameters Identification Related to Design of Customer Relationship Management Structure for Health Tourism Facilitators in Iran: A Case Study of Iran

The Health Tourism Industry is burgeoning within Iran, presenting promising opportunities. Despite its relative infancy in the country, this sector predominantly comprises Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). These entities encounter a spectrum of challenges as they navigate the path to growth, with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) emerging as a prominent concern. Effective management of customer relations necessitates a comprehensive understanding of their diverse needs and challenges, spanning from initial engagement to the culmination of the relationship. Designing an effective CRM structure requires a meticulous exploration of these facets throughout the customer journey. In our study, we conducted a literature review to explore these challenges and employed a qualitative approach, conducting semi-structured interviews with seven Iranian health tourism facilitators. Through framework analysis, we identified key insights into CRM challenges and strategies. Our thematic analysis revealed seven pivotal themes germane to CRM within Iranian health tourism facilitation: Initial customer engagement; Transformation of information between customers and health tourism facilitator; Data assessment and Challenges in information exchange; Perception of service quality factors; Cultural and national considerations; Monitoring and oversight; and Stress mitigation strategies Keywords: customer relationship management, health tourism, health tourism facilitators, health care, customer journey

Medical tourism facilitators walk a tightrope between ethics and business

Medical tourism facilitators walk a tightrope between ethics and business

Companion Skills for Local Food Tourism Village Facilitators to Improve the Family Economy of Ngemplak Dusun, Sumber Suko Village, Wagir District, Malang

Ngemplak Hamlet is one of the hamlets in Sumbersuko village in Wagir District, especially located on the slopes of Mount Kawi. Wagir District is located between the slopes of Mount Kawi. This hamlet is one of the hamlets in Sumbersuko village that has physical potential in terms of abundant natural resources, especially in the food sector. The people of Ngemplak Hamlet are able to make various food preparations that come from local food ingredients. Nowadays, tourists are starting to like tourist attractions that not only provide natural beauty but also community interaction. The local food village tourism facilitator has the role of providing information to tourists about the local culinary specialties that exist and the typical dishes of the people in Sumbersuko Village that are served to tourists. The concept of local food tourism villages will indirectly require the community, especially village youth, to act as facilitators of local food. However, the lack of information regarding the potential of villages in Ngemplak hamlet by the community, especially teenagers, especially regarding local food, is one of the obstacles when tourists come to their area. There is a need for assistance to prepare teenagers in Ngemplak Hamlet to be trained to increase their knowledge and skills as local food facilitators, which can be an added value for visiting tourists. The objectives of community service are as follows: (1) Empowering teenagers as facilitators of local food tourism villages in increasing their knowledge and skills in processing local food in Ngempalk Village Hamlet; (2) Provide assistance to the management and members of the local food tourism village in Ngemplak Hamlet, Sumbersuko Village in introducing the tourism village through social media; (3) Provide assistance to local food education tourism village administrators in managing the tourism village so that it can run and survive as one of the tourist village destinations in Malang Regency.

Role of Facilitators in the Medical Tourism Industry - A Study of Medical Tourism Facilitators in an Emerging Market

Established scholars encourage academics from different fields to make a contribution to the service research to advance, maintain relevance, and promote diversity in the service discipline. This study focuses on a novel type of intermediaries called medical tourism facilitators that assume a vital function in the medical tourism industry. Applying the case study method, the researchers collected qualitative data from three medical tourism facilitators in the Philippines. The study presents a model that includes six supplementary services, namely: information dissemination, consultation, booking, providing hospitality, network development, and support industry development.

Bouncing from the Covid-19 Pandemic: Response of an Online Medical Tourism Facilitator Platform

People have increasingly engaged in medical tourism to find effective medical treatments but more economical overseas. These travellers use the service of online Medical Tourism Facilitators (MTFs) in choosing and arranging medical trips. However, the Covid-19 pandemic and the ban on international travelling disrupted travel and thus seriously affected the tourism businesses, including MTFs. Businesses need to be resilient and pivot their business models to survive and bounce back from the crisis. However, it is less clear how MTFs navigate this Covid-19 pandemic. This paper adopts a case study to explain how an online MTF platform (Dental Departures) responds to the opportunities and challenges and examines how it pivots business models.

Measurement of Visitors’ Satisfaction towards Health Tourism: Structural Equation Modeling Analysis

Health tourism is an emerging concept in the tourism industry. Health tourism is the act of traveling to obtain medical care. Health tourism is also a unique thought in the travel and tourism industry. It plays a vital role in the tourism sector. A large number of people travel for treatment every year. Health tourism helps to develop the economy and living standards of human civilization. Health tourism is a market combination of the healthcare and tourism sectors. Health tourism is growing day by day internationally as well as nationally. When people travel to a foreign region to get medical treatment, many issues and challenges arise. Health tourism facilitators play a crucial role in the health tourism sector. Health tourism facilitators also play a significant role in making the medical travel easy and comfortable. In the country of destination, health tourism encourages economic development and raises the quality of healthcare provided. In many of these developing countries, health tourism represents a lucrative and growing source of economic revenue. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to use partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to measure the visitors’ satisfaction towards health tourism in the perspectives of Bangladesh. This research used both quantitative and descriptive analysis methods. A standardized questionnaire was used to collect 205 data points from Bangladeshi visitors using a purposive sampling technique. A partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach was used to measure the data and test the hypotheses. The results of the PLS-SEM method revealed that product, place and process had a significant and positive influence on visitors’ satisfaction towards health tourism in the perspectives of Bangladesh. The results of the research can offer value insights for academicians to do future authorizations. It can be also helped for practitioners to design suitable marketing strategies for visitors’ satisfaction towards health tourism as a destination in Bangladesh.

Cooperator or supporter: how can cross-boundary Macau–Zhuhai metropolis promote regional tourism together?

PurposeThis study initiated an investigation of how the Macau–Zhuhai tourism cooperated and discussed how Macau and Zhuhai could join hands to develop tourism in the region. The study demonstrated an approach for destination marketing organizations to explore online tourist-generated content and to understand tourists' perceptions of the destination image (DI).Design/methodology/approachA total of 1,291,057 reviews (535,317 for Macau and 755,740 for Zhuhai) were collected, analyzed and examined to determine how the DI s of Macau and Zhuhai changed during the period of 2015–2019 based on tourist-generated content on travel websites (TripAdvisor, Ctrip.com and Qyer.com) through a text-mining approach.FindingsThe result revealed that Macau and Zhuhai were in a hybrid of competition and collaboration on tourism DI s. First, Macau and Zhuhai competed in hotel and catering industry. Macau was appealing to international tourists and provided high-end and prestigious offerings; while Zhuhai was impressed by cost-effective accommodation and food. Second, Macau diversified industrial structure with diverse “Tourism, Leisure and Recreation” and “Culture, History and Art” more than Zhuhai did. Meanwhile, Macau should balance the different demands of international and Chinese tourists. Third, complementary potentials were found in natural resources, urbanization technology and tourism innovation and related projects.Practical implicationsThe research provides valuable insights for policymakers and industrial managers on their endeavors to develop DIs. Policymakers should be able to develop supportive mechanisms and tourism facilitators to promote industrial collaboration and mutual DIs. Managers could refer to the components in the changing DIs and identify the developmental gaps and cooperation potentials in their targeted areas.Originality/valueThe research fulfills the gap in regional tourism studies on Macau, in which the evaluation on synergetic influence and neighbor effect from Zhuhai has been underexplored. Facilitated by up-to-date data mining techniques, the study contributes to both DI and coopetition literature in tourism marketing; and this should inspire further studies on the antecedences of DI changes, resolutions to the competing interests and DIs of different stakeholders in different forms of strategic cooperation in regional tourism. The employment of DIs is an explicit demonstration of tourists' immersion and values attached to the destination, providing effective cues on the status of coopetition.

Potential of Saman Dance in Tourism Development in Gayo Lues Regency, Aceh Province

The Saman dance or better known as the thousand-hand dance is one of the cultural heritages of the Indonesian nation which has been passed down from generation to generation as the pride of the Gayo people. This Saman Gayo dance has been recognized and confirmed by the United Nations Educational and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as an intangible world cultural heritage on November 24, 2011 in Bali. Saman Dance is one of the tourism attractions in Gayo Lues Regency. The Government of Gayo Lues Regency incorporates Saman Dance into the school curriculum, forms a guided Saman group and becomes a facilitator for increasing the development of cultural arts so that it develops into a cultural icon and can be used as a source of local revenue. Community involvement makes Saman Dance a cultural icon is that people love this art and it has become a hereditary tradition that should not be left behind or lost altogether. This art can be witnessed in the context of performances as entertainment at the time of celebration of national holidays, religious and grand guest banquets. The data were interviewed, and the research method used was descriptive with qualitative analysis. The results showed that Saman Dance and tourism development contributed to regional development in Gayo Lues Regency. The way to make it happen is to become a tourism facilitator who creates a conducive climate, build an airport or other infrastructure to make it easier for tourists to travel and promote existing tourism potential through a tagline. The efforts of the Gayo Lues Regency Government and the community to support the implementation of the Saman Dance conservation policy as a tourism potential are to directly involve competent people in the preparation of the program so that the results are of high quality. Keywords: Saman Dance Potential, Development, Society.

Mexico's medical tourism healthcare service quality: a content analysis of international patients' online testimonials

This research analyses medical tourists' perceptions of Mexico's medical tourism healthcare service quality. A content analysis of international cosmetic surgery patients' online testimonials from a medical tourism facilitator's website shows that medical tourists have distinct perceptions of Mexico's medical tourism healthcare service quality, with the HEALTHQUAL dimensions safety and empathy being mentioned most frequently. Healthcare service quality perceptions varied depending on the testimonial format (handwritten versus typed), whether a post-procedure photo was included with the testimonial, gender, type of cosmetic surgery procedure received, whether hospital satisfaction was explicitly expressed by medical tourists and if medical staff were referred to in the testimonials. Marketing communication implications of the results are discussed, including using safety and empathy cues to reduce the perceived risk and uncertainty associated with traveling abroad for medical care. Future research ideas are also submitted.

Infrastructure Management of Medical tourism facilitator firms in Iran

Infrastructure Management of Medical tourism facilitator firms in Iran

Disintermediation in medical tourism through blockchain technology: an analysis using value-focused thinking approach

Medical tourism (MT) is a promising industry that has shown significant growth in the past few decades. Patients often travel abroad to seek treatment, conventional and otherwise due to a myriad of reasons. The reasons include but are not limited to rising costs in their home country, experimental treatments only available abroad or better standards of care. However, MT has also created room for intermediaries to grow. These intermediaries are known as medical tourism facilitators (MTF), and as the name suggests, they provide patients services to make their experience easier and more convenient. MTFs often under deliver on their claims to the detriment of the patient. Given the varying legal jurisdiction, the sensitive nature of the healthcare process, and the arduous process of seeking and claiming settlements, most medical tourists are unlikely to pursue cases where they have been cheated. To understand the system of MT and the key issues faced by stakeholders, we used Value Focussed Thinking (VFT). VFT assists to arrive at the fundamental objectives that need to be addressed for mitigating these problems of MT. Based on the findings of VFT; we present a linkage or equivalence between the fundamental objectives for mitigating the problems of MT through Blockchain Technology. We present our findings on how Blockchain Technology can assist to increase disintermediation, transparency, and trust by bringing in aspects of optimizing time and efforts; optimizing expense required to settle disputes, automating disbursement of payments and enforcing mutually accepted agreements among other benefits.

Exploring Internal Benefits of Medical Tourism Facilitators' Satisfaction: Customer Orientation, Job Satisfaction, and Work Performance.

This study examined the impact of employee satisfaction with management and coworkers on their performance as medical tourism facilitators. The proposed hypotheses were tested with structural equation modeling based on data collected from major hospitals in South Korea. Results supported assumptions that satisfaction with management is positively correlated with customer orientation and job satisfaction of medical tourism facilitators, as well as with the assumption that satisfaction with coworkers has a direct impact on customer orientation. This study has practical implications as organizations develop effective internal marketing (i.e., communication) strategies to improve the performance of medical tourism facilitators.

The salient place brand factor(s) influencing medical tourism to South Africa

Regardless of its importance to the global tourism economy, there is still limited academic inquiry relating to Africa within the context of non-traditional tourism typologies, such as medical tourism. This article contributes to the broader understanding of the potential factors influencing medical tourism by extending place branding theory to the decision-making process of tourists within the South African medical tourism context. The present study examines the place brand - medical tourism nexus using data generated from a sample of n=233 conveniently sampled inbound tourists. Exploratory Factor and Multiple Regression Analyses were applied to the data. It emerged that South Africa's socio-cultural place brand was found to be a statistically significant heuristic cue, positively influencing medical tourism to the country, pivoting aspects such as the country's cultural practices and colonial heritage, as some of the key considerations in the decision making the process of tourists when considering South Africa as a medical tourism destination. Critically, the results associate medical tourism with the socio-cultural profile of South Africa, through the place brand as a heuristic cue for information symmetry. The study enriches both place branding and medical tourism discourse by providing empirical evidence of the nexus between the two constructs. Practically, destination marketers are provided with critical insights into tourist perspectives, and it is recommended that African governments and medical tourism facilitators collaborate to develop a nation branding theory-based framework as a decision support model for proactively managing and communicating the image of South Africa as a medical tourism destination

Mexico’s medical tourism healthcare service quality: a content analysis of international patients’ online testimonials

This research analyses medical tourists' perceptions of Mexico's medical tourism healthcare service quality. A content analysis of international cosmetic surgery patients' online testimonials from a medical tourism facilitator's website shows that medical tourists have distinct perceptions of Mexico's medical tourism healthcare service quality, with the HEALTHQUAL dimensions safety and empathy being mentioned most frequently. Healthcare service quality perceptions varied depending on the testimonial format (handwritten versus typed), whether a post-procedure photo was included with the testimonial, gender, type of cosmetic surgery procedure received, whether hospital satisfaction was explicitly expressed by medical tourists and if medical staff were referred to in the testimonials. Marketing communication implications of the results are discussed, including using safety and empathy cues to reduce the perceived risk and uncertainty associated with traveling abroad for medical care. Future research ideas are also submitted.

Medical Tourism:-A New Paradigm Shift in the Recent Times a Special Reference with Medigo Gmbh India

The process of medical tourism is defined as the various steps involved in the facilitation of medical treatment for the overseas patients. This process stretches from point of first contact or initial patient acquisition to follow up treatment and consultation on completion of a treatment plan. The medical tourism process comprises of the various stages of travelling for medical and healthcare-based activities that are all handled by a good and reliable medical tourism facilitator. The study aims and intends to comprehend what precisely do patients need to do to get treatment in nations with a less expensive and subjective therapeutic framework and whether restorative visitor organizations or facilitators are assuming a colossal job in this procedure or that there may be sure zones in which they may need to improve whether it be in the presentation of new innovation based systems or in the visa and travel record application process or in certain different regions where patients need help with request to be treated in the most ideal way. The study is undertaken by collecting the primary data of medical tourists/patients destined for treatment in India for a period of 1 year (2016-2017).

Understanding the wine tourism experience: The roles of facilitators, constraints, and involvement

Understanding the wine tourism experience is indispensable to the development of a wine tourism destination. This study tested an integrated model to obtain a better understanding of the wine tourism experience. The proposed model included both perceived wine tourism facilitators and constraints to examine their effects on wine tourism experience and tested the moderating role of involvement in these effects. Using Chinese outbound wine tourists in Australia as the study sample, this study identified that winery fame, interpersonal facilitators, and local attractions are three facilitating factors, while personal language and transportation barriers and time and information barriers were the perceived constraining factors. Both interpersonal facilitators and local attractions positively affected wine tourism experience; however, winery fame negatively influenced wine tourism experience. The study found that involvement moderated the effects of facilitators/constraints on wine tourism experience. For high-involvement wine tourists, the effect of local attractions is pronounced, while interpersonal facilitator negatively influences their wine tourism experience. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Comparing the Content of Medical Tourism Facilitator Websites in Iran And Other Countries: A Correspondence Analysis

Introduction: Medical tourism is the most important aspect of health tourism. The responsibilities of this industry are mostly undertaken by agencies and facilitators acting as intermediaries between patients and service providers. As a key factor, websites provide extensive services to patients for a better presence in medical tourism market. The present study aimed to compare medical tourism websites and facilitators in Iran and other countries using correspondence analysis.Method: Websites were selected based on the specified criteria such as content of websites which were examined using content analysis technique. The data belonging to website content were classified into two groups including medical and tourism services and information and communication issues. Correspondence analysis was done using two R packages (FactoMineR for analysis and fact extra for data visualization).Results: Of 42 selected websites, 19 was belonged to Iran, 11 to North America, 7 to South and Central America, and 5 to Asia. Medical tourism facilitators in North America and Asia tend to provide modern contact and legal information. Against Iranians' facilitators tend to show traditional contact and general information. South American websites provide more information about hospital accreditation. Iranian websites emphasized tourism-related information. Whereas, North American’s are emphasized on cost-comparison lists.Conclusion: Results of the present study provide a snapshot of status of data provided on websites in terms of medical, tourist and communication services available in the studied websites and clearly showed that Iranian medical tourism facilitator websites act differently from those of other countries. Websites play important roles for guiding customers to make decisions regarding the medical journey. Therefore, Iranian medical tourism facilitator websites must reduce their differences with those of other countries in order to be more actively participate and earn more profit in this competitive market.

Exploring Informal Caregivers’ Roles in Medical Tourism through Qualitative Data Triangulation

When Canadian medical tourists go abroad, they are often accompanied by friends and family, referred to as caregiver-companions, who provide informal care. These individuals play a role in patient decision-making and are stakeholders in medical tourism, yet little is known about their participation in this consumer health practice. To examine the roles that Canadian caregiver-companions play while accompanying medical tourists abroad, and to identify how multi-perspective qualitative data can augment our understanding of these roles, primary and secondary analysis was undertaken on datasets generated from multiple qualitative studies: semi-structured interviews with medical tourists, caregiver-companions, and international patient coordinators, and a survey with medical tourism facilitators. The findings from the triangulated analysis of these qualitative datasets serve to better understand the multiple, overlapping perspectives of different stakeholders in medical tourism. Results show that medical tourism caregivers act as companions, providing physical and emotional care; navigators, providing logistical assistance; and knowledge brokers, participating in decision-making and information exchange between medical tourists and professionals. Using data triangulation to examine the narratives of multiple stakeholders confirmed, altered, and augmented our knowledge of caregiver-companion roles. The unique perspectives offered by each participant group augment our understanding of caregiver roles and the practice of medical tourism.

Challenges for Entrepreneurs of ‘Religious Tourism Circuits’: A Study of ‘Holy City’ Kurukshetra

Government of India launched a ‘Swadesh Darshan Scheme’ in January 2015 that pinpoints 13 designated circuits including Ramayana circuit, Krishna Circuit, Buddhist Circuit, and Spiritual Circuit to promote religious and cultural tourism in the country. Kurukshetra is a ‘Holy City’ of State of Haryana that is recently been added in ‘Krishna Religious Tourism Circuit’. ‘Krishna Circuit’ embraces inherent mythology and beliefs pertaining to Lord Krishna and includes different place of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujrat, and Odisha for tourism facilitation. This scheme is alleged to contribute significantly in increasing the attractiveness of certain religious tourist destinations. Tourism entrepreneurs like hoteliers, restaurant owners, tour operators, travel agencies as well as religious entrepreneurs (Shinde, 2010) such as religious gurus, priests and managers of temples and ashrams are expected to get benefited from the initiatives proposed in the scheme in varied ways. Given the significant role of this scheme for growth of entrepreneurs, the present study aims to highlight the challenges faced by entrepreneurs that deserve attention of policy makers.

Disaster communication

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to understand the crisis communication strategies used by the Caribbean medical tourism industry in the 2017 hurricane season, and also evaluate the quality of the disaster communication messages delivered via digital mediums.Design/methodology/approachThis study includes a comprehensive, qualitative content analysis of 149 risk and crisis messages from 51 healthcare organizations distributed through digital media. The medical tourism providers (MTPs) include hospitals, medical tourism facilitators, practitioners/private physicians, specialty clinics, and dental and cosmetic providers.FindingsNearly half of the MTPs included in the data set delivered no post-disaster information to external audiences. The most prominent post-disaster message strategy utilized was conveying operational messages. Furthermore, an unexpected finding was the sheer magnitude of unrelated health-oriented and promotional destination marketing content disseminated before, during and after these events.Research limitations/implicationsThis analysis excludes internal organizational channels of communication which may have been used to communicate risk and crisis messages during these events (i.e. employee e-mails, announcements made through intercom systems, etc.). Our analysis does not include content disseminated through medical tourism forums (i.e. Realself.com, Health Traveler’s Forum, FlyerTalk Forum).Practical implicationsSmall-scale MTPs can improve on any weaknesses through proactive planning and preparation by creating organizational goals to complete basic crisis communication training courses and in doing so support the applied professional development of disaster and crisis responders in the Caribbean region. Second, MTPs exposed to similar risks of natural disasters may use these findings for comparative analysis purposes to support their own organizational planning. Finally, this study supports the continued utility of the National Center for Food Protection & Defense guidelines for analyzing and evaluating organizational performance.Originality/valueCurrently much of the academic scholarship of applied disaster communication narrowly focuses on the response strategies of one organization, or analyzes one social media platform at a time (i.e. Twitter). A strength of this analysis is the inclusion of an organizational sector (i.e. Caribbean medical tourism providers) and the range of platforms from which the content was captured (e.g. websites, org. blogs and social media networks).