Analyzing Factors Influencing Health tourism Marketing A case study of Tehran city

Document Type : Article extracted From phd dissertation

Authors

Department of Business Management, Qazvin Branch, Islamic Azad University, Qazvin, Iran

Abstract

A B S T R A C T
Health tourism has become a big industry in the last decade, and following the increase in health tourism, the decision-making process of consumers and the factors affecting the marketing of health tourism have become very important for researchers.The aim of the present study is to present a comprehensive model of the components affecting health tourism. In this research, an attempt was made to analyze and investigate the factors affecting health tourism marketing in Tehran. The present study is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-analytical in terms of method. The statistical population of this research includes people who have referred to Tehran medical centers for treatment. In order to determine the sample size, due to the lack of statistical population, Cochran's formula was used for the unlimited population and the sample size was estimated at 384 people. The validity of the research tool was calculated using the confirmatory factor analysis model and its reliability was calculated using Cronbach's alpha. Data analysis was done using SPSS and Lisrel software with descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling. The findings showed that the quality of services had a significant impact on health tourism marketing in Tehran. In addition, the findings indicated a positive and significant effect of price on health tourism marketing in Tehran. The findings of the research showed that easy access has a significant and positive effect on the marketing of health tourism in Tehran, and credibility and trust also have a significant and positive effect on the marketing of health tourism in Tehran. Finally, the findings of the research indicated the positive and significant impact of regulations and legal framework on health tourism marketing in Tehran
 
Extended Abstract
Introduction
Tehran city can be completely health city of the country given the medical capacities and strategic geographic location, brilliant history of traditional Iranian medicine, expert and reliable doctors in various fields, and health care services being cheap. Although, actions and management and marketing plans have been taken in the recent years in order to attract foreign tourists, unfortunately, the process is executing in an incoherent and traditional manner and has not had desired economic results due to lack of coherence and coordination of public and private sectors and especially the lack of written rules in the field of health tourism. There is no required connection and conjunction in the value chain of health tourism of the city. As a result, marketing system of this industry has not necessary order and regularity. Accordingly, it is required to conduct an appropriate study of factor influencing health tourism of Tehran City. Thus, the main question in the study is made as “what impact do the studied components have on health tourism Marketing in Tehran city?
 
Methodology
The study is an applied research in terms of object, and descriptive-analytic in terms of method. Library and field method was used to gather data. The population consisted peoples who have referred to health centers of Tehran city for treatment. Due to the lack of accurate statistics on the number of people referring to hospitals and medical centers in Tehran from other provinces, Cochran's formula for the unlimited population was used to determine the sample size; and the sample size was estimated to be 384 people. The sampling method was simple random sampling. A questionnaire was used to collect field data. The reliability of the questionnaire was measured by Cronbach's alpha and composite reliability coefficient (cr). The value of Cronbach's alpha and composite reliability coefficient is between zero and one for each variable. If an obtained value is higher than 0.7, the questionnaire has a good reliability. The results of Cronbach's alpha value and composite reliability of the questionnaire confirm the good reliability of the used questionnaire. SPSS and Lisrel software were used to analyze the research data. 
 
Results and discussion
The first hypothesis of the research is that “service quality has a significant impact on the health tourism marketing in Tehran.” The path coefficient is estimated (0.30). In addition, the value of the T statistic is equal to 4.58 and it can be said that the quality of services has a significant impact on the health tourism marketing in Tehran. The second hypothesis of the research is that “the price has a significant impact on the health tourism marketing in Tehran.” The path coefficient is estimated (0.37). The value of the T statistic is equal to 9.97 and it can be said that the price has a positive and significant impact on the health tourism marketing in Tehran.” The third hypothesis of the research is that “ease of access has a significant impact on the health tourism marketing in Tehran. The path coefficient is estimated (0.32). The value of the T statistic is equal to 4.88 and it can be said that ease of access has a positive and significant impact on the health tourism marketing in Tehran. The fourth hypothesis of the research is that “credibility and trust have a significant impact on the health tourism marketing in Tehran.” The path coefficient is estimated (0.54). The value of the T statistic is equal to 3.39 and it can be said that credibility and trust have a positive and significant impact on the health tourism marketing in Tehran. The fifth hypothesis of the research is that “regulations and legal framework have a significant impact on the health tourism marketing in Tehran.”  the coefficient of path was estimated (0.31). The value of the T statistic is equal to 4.82, which is more than 1.96; and it can be said that regulations and legal framework have a positive and significant impact on the health tourism marketing in Tehran.
 
Conclusion
Accordingly, the findings of the research hypothesis test also showed that service quality had a significant impact on the health tourism marketing in Tehran. Medical tourism is actually a different tourism market with its specialized features. The findings pointed to the influence of price on the health tourism marketing. In this hypothesis, it provides a special insight about one of the main factors of the rapid increase in health tourism. Both specialists and patients considered the price and cost of services as important. Actually, due to its complexity, tourism demand is highly sensitive to price and ignores the price effects of the idea that demand for tourism products and activities always requires to obtain the cheapest, i.e., price increases necessarily reduce consumption. Accordingly, health tourism destinations should adopt a suitable pricing policy in providing services, because pricing inconsistent with tourists' expectations can lead to a decrease in the competitiveness of health tourism destinations.
In addition, the results indicated that ease of access had a positive and significant impact on the health tourism marketing in Tehran. Accordingly, ease of access, which includes easy entry to the destination and easy access to healthcare services, also has a significant impact on the competitiveness of the health tourism destinations.
Another result indicated that credibility and trust had a positive and significant impact on the health tourism marketing in Tehran. Accordingly, it can be claimed that the dimension of credibility and trust is considered important among the criteria proposed in the research for evaluating the choice of health tourism destinations. Trust is crucial to maintain a friendly relationship between health care provider and tourist. In addition, based on the results, regulations and legal framework is another factor that has been considered in this research.
 
Funding
There is no funding support.
 
Authors’ Contribution
All of the authors approved thecontent of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work.
 
Conflict of Interest
Authors declared no conflict of interest.
 
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper.

Keywords

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urban tourism
Volume 10, Issue 1
May 2023
Pages 57-75

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