Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Florența Larisa Vasile (Ile)
Author-Name-First: Florența Larisa
Author-Name-Last: Vasile (Ile)
Author-Email: larisa.ile@gmail.com
Author-Workplace-Name: Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania
Title: Traveling for Medical Tourism - The Diaspora' s Motivation
Journal: CACTUS - The Tourism Journal for Research, Education, Culture and Soul
Abstract: Medical tourism, considered the newest phenomena but, as well, an old activity of travelling on health purposes, is increasingly more often the subject of articles, seminars or conferences. Considering the factors that determine the motivation for medical tourism (investments in the health system infrastructure, the international certification and accreditation for medical services and suppliers, lower costs or better quality of medical procedures, political and social stability, excellent tourism infrastructure, good reputation regarding clinical excellence, implementation of the newest medical technologies, highly educated medical personnel, the insurance policies portability) and taking into account the conclusions of previous exploratory researches in health behavior, one of the possible segments of medical tourists is Diaspora. This paper highlights the decision process and preferences of tourists from Diasporas related to medical tourism in Romania. It uses data from a pilot survey that emphasis the medical travel motivations of Romanian patients resident in EU, Canada and USA. The first determinant is the cost, but there are several other motivations driving the decision to choose Romania as a medical tourism destination, such as confidence or cultural affinity.
Keywords: Medical tourism, Tourism, Health, Travel
Classification-JEL: I150, Z300, Z320
Creation-Date: 2017
Year: 2017
Volume: 15
Issue: 1
File-URL: https://cactus-journal-of-tourism.ase.ro/Pdf/vol15/1.Vasile%20Florenta.pdf
File-Format: Application/pdf
Handle: RePEc:bum:cactus:cactus-2017-2