Medical Hotel in the Growth of Global Medical Tourism

Abstract

This study was designed to identify international patient-travelers' perceived advantages of staying at a medical hotel; to examine associations among perceived advantages, price perceptions, and willingness to stay by considering price perception as mediator; to investigate relative importance among advantage components; and to identify differences in study variables between first-time international medical tourists and experienced/repeat travelers. Eleven advantages were identified in a qualitative study. Findings from a quantitative analysis indicated that dimensions of perceived advantages, price perception, and willingness to stay are, in general, significantly associated. In particular, among advantage components, a decisive role was found for physical convenience in willingness to stay and time/effort savings in perceived price. In addition, level of perceived advantages, price perception, and stay willingness were found to differ significantly between first-timers and repeaters. There has been limited research on the medical hotel. The findings provided valuable insights for both medical-tourism researchers and practitioners.