THE ROLE OF THE FACILITATOR IN THE HEALTH TOURISM ORGANIZATIONAL PARTNERSHIP MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.main##
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.sidebar##
Abstract
Health tourism is a rapidly growing segment of the tourism industry, encompassing medical care, wellness and prevention services. The development of this sector is determined by multifactorial medical, social, economic and legal aspects, such as the quality of treatment, accessibility of services, price, psychological comfort of patients, level of infrastructure and political stability. At the same time, the development of the sector is limited by regulatory challenges, high investment costs and differences in the quality of services between countries. The tourism industry creates social and economic value, contributes to employment, the spread of cultural diversity and regional development. Health tourism complements these opportunities, and for its effective functioning, organizational partnership between various participants in the sector is necessary. An essential role in this system is played by an facilitator (facilitator), who connects patients, healthcare institutions, insurance companies and tourism organizations. The function of the facilitator includes coordinating the flow of information, reducing cultural and administrative barriers and increasing patient satisfaction. This paper analyzes the role of the facilitator in the health tourism organizational partnership management system. Based on a systematic and comparative analysis of scientific literature, using synthesis, generalization and graphical representation methods, the role of the facilitator is theoretically substantiated and its significance in achieving sector competitiveness, sustainability and inter-organizational trust is revealed.
How to Cite
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.details##
health tourism, facilitator, organizational partnership, incentive factors
Al‐Amin, M., Makarem, S.C., & Pradhan, R. (2011). Hospital ability to attract international patients: a conceptual framework. International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing, 5(3), 205–221. https://doi.org/10.1108/17506121111172211
Adams, K., Snyder, J., Crooks, V. A., & Johnston, R. (2013). Promotion social responsibility amongst health care users: medical tourists’ perspectives on an information sheet regarding ethical concerns in medical tourism. Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine, 8. https://doi.org/10.1186/1747-5341-8-19
Astawa K, Suardani, A.A.P., & Harmini, A.A. (2018). Explorative study on management model of tourism business zone at Kuta, Bali. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 953(1), 1–6.
Bookman, M. Z., & Bookman, K. R. (2007). Medical Tourism in Developing Countries. Palgrave Macmillan; 2007th edition.
Borek, E. (2013). Turystyka medyczna w Europie i w Polsce – stan obecny, bariery rozwoju, perspektywy i rekomendacje dotyczące rozwoju przyjazdowej turystyki medycznej w Polsce. Zdrowie Publiczne i Zarządzanie, 11(4), 333–348.
Brouwer, W., van Exel, J., Hermans, B., & Stoop, A. (2003). Should I stay or should I go? Waiting lists and cross-border care in the Netherlands. Health Policy, 63(3), 289–298. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0168-8510(02)00120-3
Bramstedt, K. A., & Xu, J. (2007). Checklist: Passport, Plane Ticket, Organ Transplant. Am J Transplant, 7(7), 1698–701. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-6143.2007.01847.x
Connell, J. (2006). Medical tourism: Sea, sun, sand and … surgery. Tourism Management, 27(6), 1093–1100.
Connell, J. (2011). Medical tourism. Wallingford, Oxfordshire; Cambridge, MA: CABI.
Cetron, M. J., DeMicco, F. J. (2006). Club Medic. Hospitality Review, 24(2). https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/hospitalityreview/vol24/iss2/2
Crush, J., Chikanda, A. (2015). South–South medical tourism and the quest for health in Southern Africa. Social Science & Medicine, 124, 313–320. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.06.025
Cameron, K, Crooks, V, Chouinard, V, Snyder, J, Johnston, R, & Casey, V. (2014). Motivation, justification, normalization: Talk strategies used by Canadian medical tourists regarding their choices to go abroad for hip and knee surgeries. Soc Sci Med., 106, 93–100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.01.047
Cormany, D., Baloglu, S. (2011). Medical travel facilitator websites: An exploratory study of web page contents and services offered to the prospective medical tourist. Tourism Management, 32(4), 709–716. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2010.02.008
Davtyan, A., Rayamajhi, O., Lama, T. S., Shrestha, A., No No Soe, H. (2024). Medical tourism in Thailand: qualified healthcare or just an other business strategy and marketing. The EUrASEANs: journal on global socio-economic dynamics, 46(3), ISSN 2539–5645.
Dalstrom, M. (2013). Medical travel facilitators: connecting patients and providers in a globalized world. Anthropol Med, 20, 24–35.
Deloitte Development LLC. (2008). Medical Tourism: Consumers in Search of Value. www.deloitte.com/us/medicaltourism
Easwar, I. (2003). Theory of Alliances: Partnership and Partner Character-istics. Journal of Nonprofit & Public Sector Marketing, 11(1): 41–57.
Eggertson, L. (2006). Wait-list weary Canadians seek treatment abroad. CMAL, 174(9), 1247. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.060219
Franco, M., & Estevã, C. (2010). The role of tourism public-private partnerships in regional development: a conceptual model proposal. Cadernos Ebape. Br, 8(4):600–612.
Gan, T., Zheng, J., Li, W., Li, J., & Shen, J. (2023). Health and Wellness Tourists’ Motivation and Behavior Intention: The Role of Perceived Value. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(5), 4339. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20054339
Gan, L. L., & Frederick, J. R. (2011). Medical tourism facilitators: Patterns of service differentiation. Vacation Marketing, 17(3), 165–183.
Gilmartin, M., & White, A. (2010). Interrogating Medical Tourism: Ireland, Abortion, and Mobility Rights. Signs, 36(2). https://doi.org/10.1086/655907
Ganguli, S., & Ebrahim, A.H. (2017). A qualitative analysis of Singapore’s medical tourism competitiveness. Tourism Management Perspectives, 21:74–84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2016.12.002
Gunduz, M., & Laitinen, H. (2016). A 10-step safety management framework for construction small and medium-sized enterprises. International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics, 23(3), 353–359. https://doi.org/10.1080/10803548.2016.1200258
Guntawongwan, K. (2017). The economic analysis of medical tourism in Thailand: opportunities, challenges and impacts. Doctoral thesis: Universitat de les Illes Balears.
Gooding, S. K. S. (1995). Quality, sacrifice, and value in hospital choice for major treatment, sacrifice assumes more imprtance. Journal of Health Care Marketing, 15(4), 24–31.
Holliday, R., Bell, D., Jones, M., Hardy, K., Hunter, E., Probyn, E., & Sanchez Taylor, J. (2015). Beautiful face, beautiful place: relational geographies and gender in cosmetic surgery tourism websites. Gender, Place & Culture, 22(1), 90–106. https://doi.org/10.1080/0966369X.2013.832655
Hudson, S., & Li, X.R. (2012). Domestic Medical Tourism: A Neglected Dimension of Medical Tourism Research. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, 21(3), 227–246.
Heung, V. C. S., Kucukusta, D., & Song, H. (2010). A conceptual model of medical tourism: implications for future research. Travel and Tourism, 27(3), 236–251.
Hall, C. M. (2011). Health and medical tourism: a kill or cure for global public health? Tourism Review, 66(1/2), 4–15.
Hanefeld, J., Lunt, N., Smith, R., & Horsfall, D. (2015). Why do medical tourists travel to where they do? The role of networks in determining medical travel. Soc Sci Med., 124, 356–363. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.05.016
Horowitz, M. D., Rosensweig, J. A., & Jones, C. A. (2007). Medical tourism: globalization of the healthcare marketplace. MedGenMed, 9(4). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2234298/
Illario, M., & Bousquet, J. (2020). Health tourism and public health in the per-spective of the Reference Sites Collaborative Network (RSCN). European Journal of Public Health, 30(5). https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckaa165.983
Jalali, M., Haghgoshayie, E., Janati, A., Yoshari, P., & Khodayari‑Zarnaq, R. (2025). Health tourism: a global perspective on the barriers and facilitators. Discover Public Health, 157(22). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12982-025-00545-2
Johnston, R., Crooks, V. A., Ceron, A., Labonte, R., Snyder, J., Nunez, E. O., & Flores, W. G. (2016). Providers’ perspectives on inbound medical tourism in Central America and the Caribbean: factors driving and inhibiting sector development and their health equity implications. Global Health Action, 9(1).
Lee, J. Y. J., Kearns, R. A., & Friesen, W. (2010). Seeking affective health care: Korean immigrants’ use of homeland medical services. Health & Place, 16(1), 108–115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2009.09.003
Lautier, M. (2014). International trade of health services: Global trends and local impact. Health Policy, Vol. 118, No. 1, pp. 110–113.
Lee, J., & Kim, J.-J. (2023). A Study on Market Segmentation According to Wellness Tourism Motivation and Differences in Behavior between the Groups—Focusing on Satisfaction, Behavioral Intention, and Flow. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(2), 1063. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20021063
Lianto, M., Suprapto, W., & Mel, M. (2020). The Analysis Factor of Medical Tourism in Singapore. SHS Web of Conferences, 76, 1–9.
de Casanova, E. M., & Sutton, B. (2013). Transnational Body Projects: Media Representations of Cosmetic Surgery Tourism in Argentina and the United States. Journal of World-Systems Research, 19(1), 57–81. https://doi.org/10.5195/jwsr.2013.509
Milstein, A., Smith, M. (2006). America's new refugees--seeking affordable surgery offshore. N Engl J Med, 355(16), 1637-40. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMp068190
MacReady, N. (2007). Developing countries court medical tourists. Lancet, 369(9576), 1849-50. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(07)60833-2
McQuaid, R.W. (2000). The Theory of Partnerships - Why have Partnerships, in: S.P. Osborne (ed.), Managing public-private partnerships for public services: an international perspective. Routledge, London, 9-35.
Marlowe J., & Sullivan, P. (2007). Medical Tourism: The Ultimate Outsourcing. Aon Consulting FORUM. https://www.medretreat.com/templates/UserFiles/Documents/JosephMarloweArticle.pdf
Nowicka, W. (1996). The effects of the 1993 anti-abortion law in Poland. Entre Nous Cph Den, 34–35, 13–15.
Prakash, M., Tyagi, N., Devrath, R. (2011). A study of problems and challenges faced by medical tourists visiting India. A study by IITTM Gwalior. https://www.medicaltourismtraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Med.pdf
Pforr, C., & Locher, C. (2014). Health tourism in the context of demographic and psychographic change: A German perspective’. In C. Voigt & C. Pforr (Eds.), Wellness tourism (255–268). London: Routledge.
Reed, C. M. (2008). Medical tourism. Med Clin North Am, 92(6), 1433–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mcna.2008.08.001
Religioni, U., Religioni, M. (2015). Medical tourism trends in Poland. Medical and Biological Sciences, 29(2), 63–67.
Reddy, S. G., York, V. K., Brannon, L. A. (2010). Travel for treatment: Students' perspective on medical tourism. International Journal of Tourism Research, 12(5), 510–522.
Scheper-Hughes, N. (2003). Rotten Trade: Millennial Capitalism, Human Values, and Global Justice in Organs Trafficking. Special Issue on Human Frailty, Journal of Human Rights, 2(2), 197–226. https://doi.org/10.1080/1475483032000078189
Seongseop, K., Jinsoo, L., & Jishim, J. (2012). Assessment of Medical Tourism Development in Korea for the Achievement of Competitive Advantages. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 18(5), 421–445.
Safaeepour, M., Goodarzi, M., & Rostami, N.A. (2015). Planning and develop-ing medical tourism in megalopolis Shiraz. Management Science Letters, 5(1):123–136. ISSN 1923-9343.
Smith, M. (2015). Baltic health tourism: Uniqueness and Commonalities. Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism, 15(4):35–379A.
Spenseley, A., Snyman, S., & Eagles, P.F.J. (2019). Framework on the choice of management models for parks and protected area tourism services. Journal of outdoor recreation and tourism, 26, 72–80.
Samani, M.A., Ismail, N., Leman, Z., & Zulkifli, N. (2019). Development of a conceptual model for risk-based quality management system. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 30(5-6), 483–498.
Ai Na Seow, Yuen Onn Choong, Chee Keong Choong, Krishna Moorthy; Health tourism: behavioural intention and protection motivation theory. Tourism Review 4 March 2022; 77 (2): 376–393. https://doi.org/10.1108/TR-11-2020-0546
Trafford, S., & Proctor, T. (2006). Successful joint venture partnerships: public-private partnerships. International Journal of Public sector Management, 19(2), 117–129.
Težak Damijanić, A. (2021). Travel Motivations as Criteria in the Wellness Tourism Market Segmentation Process. Academica Turistica – Tourism and Innovation Journal, 13(2). https://academica.turistica.si/index.php/AT-TIJ/article/view/207
Ulaş, D., & Anadol, Y. (2016). A case study for medical tourism: investigating a private hospital venture in Turkey. Anatolia, An International Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Research, 27(3), 327–338.
World Tourism Organization. (2018). UNWTO Tourism Highlights 2018 Edition. https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/pdf/10.18111/9789284419876
Voigt, C., & Laing, J.H. (2010). Journey into parenthood: commodification of reproduction as a new tourism niche market. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 27(3):252–268. https://doi.org/10.1080/10548401003744685
World Tourism Organization and European Travel Commission. (2018). Exploring Health Tourism. UNWTO, Madrid. https://doi.org/10.18111/9789284420209
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.