• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.78-90
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• 2009

The purpose of this study is to propose ways of promoting medical tourism in Busan. For the purpose, this researcher made a questionnaire survey of Japanese tourists who used in Busan International Ferry Terminal between January and April 30, 2008. Findings of the study can be summarized as follows. 86.3% of all respondents had never experienced any medical service in Korea. 57.3% said that the most important thing is the level of medical technology. Most of respondents preferred massage treatment using spa and sea water, followed by Oriental medical services. To make medical conditions(price competitiveness, high-level medical technology, high-quality medical facilities) of Busan properly informed to the outside, it is required to make the city itself more internationally recognized through public relations and strengthening individual medical services provided in the city. It is also required to build up a non-stop service system that helps foreign tourists not only easily use medical institutions, but also better cope with a variety of problems that they might face during stay in the city. To be more trustable to foreign patients, medical services of Busan should be certified by JCI. Furthermore, it is very much needed to develop products which connect medicine with tourism, for example, such programs that combine medical services, tourism, recreation and leisure.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.78-97
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• 2011

The purpose of this study is to analyze activating factors of medical tourism at Busan, and then decide on priority on the factors. As research methods, this study deduced priority of specialists' opinions by AHP analysis technique through structuralized questionnaire on the medical tourism's factors having been suggested from existing prior studies. The analysis results were same as followings. First, as a result of analysis on the main criteria, relative levels of importance were appeared high such as 'competitiveness', 'policy assistances from the government', 'medical care's infrastructure', and 'connectedness with regions' in order. Second, as a result of integrated results analyzing detailed criteria on the main evaluation standards, relative levels of importance were appeared high such as 'medical quality', 'health-related institution's improvement', 'medical infrastructure', 'medical charge', 'tourism-related institution's improvement', 'convenience', 'medical cooperation possibilities', and 'local industry compliance' in order. In conclusion, it is judged that activation of medical tourism shall be propelled after considering relative levels of importance on many policies or activating factors same as suggested in this study.

• Journal of Korean Society for Quality Management
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.309-328
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• 2020

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to find a way to improve the quality of medical tourism education services in Korea. Methods: This study used a method of conducting a survey of students who have completed medical tourism education and customer satisfaction coefficient and potential customer satisfaction index were calculated by applying the Kano model. Results: The results of this study are as follows; First, Eight medical tourism education service quality factors were classified as an attractive quality attribute. Second, Thirteen medical tourism education service quality factors were classified as an one-dimensional quality attribute. Third, Online education operation factor was classified as an indifferent quality attribute. Fourth, Instructor quality factor and physical environment quality factor showed relatively high better and high worse coefficients. Finally, According to the PCSI index, it was found that the scope of improvement was the largest when focusing intensively on the quality factors of instructors. Conclusion: This study suggests strategic implications for nurturing excellent professional manpower through quality improvement of education services by identifying the quality factors of major medical tourism education services perceived by students.

• Culinary science and hospitality research
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.193-207
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• 2010

This paper examined the impact of medical esthetic tourism and the recognition of Halleu consciousness (Korean wave) on tourism image, Korean food consciousness, tourist satisfaction and tourist behaviour intention to achieve the aimed purpose of the paper, pre-tested questionnaire that distributed by pre-arranged MA students to deluxe hotels and plastic surgery hospitals was questioned and filled up by Japanese and Chinese tourists who visited Korea for a medical-related purpose. For sampling technique and size, random sampling was used and 211 copies of the questionnaire were collected. Linear regression through PASW 18.0 as a main statistical analysing method was used to examine the hypothesis and the result showed that medical esthetic tourism and recognition of Halleu had positive effects on tourism image, Korean food consciousness, tourist satisfaction and tourist behavioral intention(p<0.001). In particular, the result revealed that esthetic tourism and the recognition of Halleu as the main key factors had strong effects on Korean food consciousness even though there were a number of variety components in tourism. Therefore, to make inbound medical esthetic tourism and the recognition of Halleu more stable and sustainable and make Korean food world-wide recognized, more strategic policies for a specific tourism market are required.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.1478-1488
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to forecast which factors provided satisfaction for the foreign medical tourist. The study concluded that the following key factors most affected the satisfaction of medical tourism: total travel budget, number of visits for medical services, occupation, education, monthly household income, budget for medical expenses, and the visiting period. Overall satisfaction of medical tourism explained was 43.5%. The influence of satisfaction on medical tourism through a word-of-mouth and the revisit intention was significant. These conclusions suggest that overall satisfaction with medical tourism based on this study's key factors may be an important factor for increasing the word-of-mouth and the revisit intention by the medical tourist in the future.

• Knowledge Management Research
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.137-157
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• 2020

The medical tourism industry, a convergence of medical services and tourism, has been getting more and more popularity as a new value-added industry in the 21st century. Accordingly, the number of professional workers within this industry has been increasing, and the role of educational institutions to cultivate well-equipped human resources has also become critical. However, compared to practically activated medical tourism-related education programs, studies investigating the effectiveness of these education programs are relatively rare. Therefore, this study attempts to examine the effect of five dimensions of medical tourism education service quality (i.e., tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy) on learners' education satisfaction and transfer of education training. In addition, the moderating roles of national relations as well as organizational characteristics (i.e., transfer climate and support of supervisors and colleagues) in the relationship between education satisfaction and transfer of education training are further verified. The results of the structural equation model (SEM) using 151 samples from respondents with experience in completing medical tourism education programs reveal that tangibles, reliability, and assurance are found to have a significant impact on education satisfaction, which in turn leads to a high level of transfer of education training. Moreover, it is found that national relations and support of supervisors and colleagues play a moderating role. This study would provide guidelines for improving the efficiency of educational institutions, creating outcomes for learners' affiliated firms (e.g., hospitals), and promoting medical tourism at the national level from the perspective of medical tourism education.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.14 no.9
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• pp.463-475
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• 2014

Medical tourism which is considered a new growth engine of the 21th century has been rapidly developing in the both quantity and quality. However, medical tourism products offered by our country are not enough to be differentiated according to the need of medical tourists. This study tried to search for the solutions in the medical tourism attributes. This confirmed whether the involvement of Hallyu(Korean wave) which has been growing steadily since 2000 affects medical tourism or not. For these purposes, there were 5 hypotheses set and empirical analysis was conducted through a survey. SPSS 20.0 statistical program was used for the empirical analysis and the established hypotheses were all adopted as a result of verification. It was thus confirmed that the involvement of Hanrye affected medical tourism attributes, satisfaction and behavioral intentions. Also, medical tourism attributes affected satisfaction and behavioral intentions.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.14 no.7
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• pp.21-31
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• 2016

Purpose - With globalization, medical tourism has developed as a new industry, which attracts practitioners and academics to have more interest in researches on customers' behavior. This research was to investigate empirically WOM effects on the intention of Chinese customers when they select an international medical tourism destination. Interestingly, WOM effects on their choice and decision process may vary by the extent of their severity of illness. Research design, data, and methodology - The data was collected from 1,747 potential Chinese residents in main districts of China. Moderated regression analysis was used to estimate WOM effects on Chinese customers' choice intention. Results - Results imply that WOM determinants of tie strength, credibility, and vividness do interact with medical tourism information and affect customers' intention for health care abroad. Results also reveal that the severity of illness plays a critical moderating role in customers' decision process. Conclusions - WOM and the severity of illness are important moderators for Chinese customers to make a decision for medical tourism. It provides some implications for service organizations for developing and implementing marketing strategies in international health care markets.

• The Journal of Industrial Distribution & Business
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• v.9 no.8
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• pp.7-16
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• 2018

Purpose - The effect of regional culture has been acknowledged for decades. However, very little research takes it as an important issue in the medical tourism service decision process. This study focuses on regional culture to identify customers' preference for medical tourism in the international environment. It is proposed that regional culture may work as an critical moderator in the international medical tourism destination choice process. Especially, the destination attributes may vary according to regional culture. Research design, data, and methodology - By the questionnaire survey, the sample is collected from 2,041 potential Chinese residents in different regions of China. Regression analysis is constructed to test the effect of regional culture on Chinese customers' destination preference. Results - Results imply that regional culture plays a critical moderating role in the destination choice process. Results also indicate that destination attributes including medicine and travel characteristics are the important predictors of destination preference. Conclusions - This study provides the fundamental base to use regional culture as a descriptive variable for segmentation when establishing an effective marketing strategy. Furthermore, this research suggests that different strategies relied on destination attributes should be made to attract more Chinese customers for the development of medical tourism industry.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.15 no.7
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• pp.330-342
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• 2015

Medical tourism has been regarded as one of the most lucrative tourism sector for many destinations, particularly Asian countries. Medical tourism, combining the very polarized purposes of pleasurable travel and potentially stressful health care services, is an emergent and growing business worldwide. This study empirically examined the mediating effect on the relationship between service orientation and turnover intention of medical tourism employees, sampling nurses. The empirical results demonstrated: 1) service orientation had a direct negative influence on turnover intention; 2) the relationship between service orientation and turnover intention was mediated by job involvement; and 3) the relationship between service orientation and turnover intention was mediated by job satisfaction. These results can contribute to the medical tourism field by managers a valid and reliable indications for developing successful strategies in the medical tourism sector.