Health and Wellness Tourism

Health and Wellness Tourism
Author: Melanie K. Smith
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 400
Release: 2009
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0750683430

Health and Wellness Tourism takes an innovative look at this rapidly growing sector of today¿s thriving tourism industry. This book examines the range of motivations that drive this diverse sector of tourists, the products that are being developed to meet their needs and the management implications of these developments. A wide range of international case studies illustrate the multiple aspects of the industry and new and emerging trends including spas, medical wellness, life-coaching, meditation, festivals, pilgrimage and yoga retreats. The authors also evaluate marketing and promotional strategies and assess operational and management issues in the context of health and wellness tourism. This text includes a number of features to reinforce theory for advanced students of hospitality, leisure and tourism and related disciplines.

Global Developments in Healthcare and Medical Tourism

Global Developments in Healthcare and Medical Tourism
Author: Paul, Sudip
Publisher: IGI Global
Total Pages: 341
Release: 2019-11-22
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 1522597883

The outbreak of global health issues due to rapid urbanization, industrialization, and changing climatic conditions are severely impacting health and lifestyle. Yet, healthcare and medical services continue to increase in cost in developed nations. This can result in medical tourism, wherein patients travel across countries in order to benefit from medical treatment that might not be accessible in the traveler’s nation of origin. Developing countries are prepared to capitalize on this growing industry by offering multi-specialty healthcare hospitals, cost-effective treatments, and the promotion of online medical consultancy. Global Developments in Healthcare and Medical Tourism provides innovative insights into issues impacting healthcare services, healthcare service providers, government policies, and initiatives for health reforms and explores low-cost medical tourism destinations and practices. The book additionally seeks to deliver high-quality, cost-efficient smart healthcare applications. The content within this publication examines global health, wellness tourism, and global business and is designed for students, researchers, academicians, policymakers, government officials, medical practitioners, and industry professionals.

The Routledge Handbook of Health Tourism

The Routledge Handbook of Health Tourism
Author: Melanie Kay Smith
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 487
Release: 2016-11-10
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1317437500

The Routledge Handbook of Health Tourism provides a comprehensive and cutting-edge overview of the philosophical, conceptual and managerial issues in the field of health tourism with contributions from more than 30 expert academics and practitioners from around the world. Terms that are used frequently when defining health tourism, such as wellbeing, wellness, holistic, medical and spiritual, are analysed and explored, as is the role that health and health tourism play in quality-of-life enhancement, wellbeing, life satisfaction and happiness. An overview is provided of health tourism facilities such as thermal waters, spas, retreats and wellness hotels and the various challenges inherent in managing these profitably and sustainably. Typologies are given not only of subsectors of health tourism and related activities but also of destinations, such as natural landscapes, historic townscapes or individual resources or attractions around which whole infrastructures have been developed. Attention is paid to some of the lifestyle changes that are taking place in societies which influence consumer behaviour, motivations and demand for health tourism, including government policies, regulations and ethical considerations. This significant volume offers the reader a comprehensive synthesis of this field, conveying the latest thinking and research. The text is international in focus, encouraging dialogue across disciplinary boundaries and areas of study and will be an invaluable resource for all those with an interest in health tourism.

Medical Tourism

Medical Tourism
Author: Stephanie Watson
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 366
Release: 2012-04-23
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1598845411

From exotic spa treatments to euthanasia, this book examines the background and social context of medical tourism—the practice of traveling for health care. This work also documents how this industry is reshaping the face of medicine worldwide for individuals, local communities, and national health care systems. Medical Tourism: A Reference Handbook provides an accessible overview of the state of medical tourism, written from a balanced, unbiased perspective. The authors provide relevant social context for this controversial topic, discussing the state of extremely limited research data on medical tourism; the ethical issues involved, such as traveling to have a black-market organ transplanted; and the significant impact of medical tourism on health care systems—that of the United States, and those of the destination countries. The book highlights many contemporary problems, controversies, and implications of medical tourism both for individuals and health care systems, and presents thought-provoking potential solutions. The topic of medical tourism is also addressed against the backdrop of current healthcare reforms in the United States. Readers can reference a wealth of additional material on medical tourism, ranging from original documents to extensive directories of selected organizations and resources.

Medical Tourism

Medical Tourism
Author: C. Michael Hall
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 242
Release: 2012-08-21
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1136270523

Medical and health tourism is a significant area of growth in the export of medical, health and tourism services. Although spas and improved well-being have long been part of the tourist experience, health tourism now includes travel for medical purposes ranging from cosmetic and dental surgery through to transplants and infertility treatment. Many countries including China, Cuba, Hungary, India, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore actively promote and compete for the medical tourist dollar, while many developed countries also provide niche private services. However, the field of medical tourism is increasingly being subject to scrutiny and debate, particularly as a result of concerns over regulatory, ethical and wider health issues. Drawing on a range of theoretical and methodological perspectives, this book is one of the first to critically address the substantial political, philosophical and ethical issues that arise out of the transnational practices of medical tourism. Through a series of chapters the book engages with key issues such as the role of regulatory and policy structures in influencing medical and health tourism related mobilities. These issues are investigated by considering range of developing and developed countries, medical systems and health economic perspectives. The book adopts a multi-layered perspective to not only investigate the business and marketing practices of medical and health tourism but places these within a broader framework of contemporary globalisation, policy and practice. By doing so it opens up debate of the ethical space in which medical and health tourism operates as well as reinforce the wide ranging perspectives that exist on the subject in both the public and academic imagination. This significant contribution will be of interest to students, academics in tourism and medical policy, trade and economic development fields.

Exploring Health Tourism

Exploring Health Tourism
Author: World Tourism Organization (Unwto)
Publisher:
Total Pages: 182
Release: 2018-12-20
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9789284420193

"Exploring Health Tourism" addresses the growing segment of wellness and medical tourism. It introduces into health-related tourism products and services and provides insights into the current situation and the future potential. An easy taxonomy and a toolkit assist NTOs and DMOs with their planning and management of health-related activities.

Growth of the Medical Tourism Industry and Its Impact on Society: Emerging Research and Opportunities

Growth of the Medical Tourism Industry and Its Impact on Society: Emerging Research and Opportunities
Author: Singh, Manjeet
Publisher: IGI Global
Total Pages: 189
Release: 2020-12-18
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 1799834298

Healthcare and medical services have seen rapid development in various areas of the world, including Asia and Eastern Europe. These territories are now becoming a medical hub for many surrounding countries. Medical tourism is the practice of traveling to international regions for treatment that isn’t available locally. This subject has gained significant attention throughout the tourism industry, as researchers and professionals are searching for specific advancements of medical care and hospital development in numerous countries. Growth of the Medical Tourism Industry and Its Impact on Society: Emerging Research and Opportunities is a collection of innovative research on the methods and advancement of medical travel for treatment in various global regions and provides insights for the growth prospects of the medical tourism business. While highlighting topics including destination branding, community impact, and hospital management, this book is ideally designed for medical executives, hospital directors, researchers, policymakers, academicians, practitioners, scholars, and students seeking current research on tourism practices within the medical field.

Risks and Challenges in Medical Tourism

Risks and Challenges in Medical Tourism
Author: Jill R. Hodges
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 210
Release: 2012-07-06
Genre: Health & Fitness
ISBN:

A multidisciplinary international team examines the safety, ethics, and health implications of the emerging global market for health care, and the issues that arise when patients cross borders for medical procedures they cannot afford or access at home, from liposuction to kidney transplants. Risks and Challenges in Medical Tourism: Understanding the Global Market for Health Services provides an in-depth, comprehensive assessment of the benefits and risks when health care becomes a global commodity. The collection includes contributions from leading scholars in law and public policy, medicine and public health, bioethics, anthropology, health geography, and economics. This timely and informative handbook looks at medical tourism from the perspective of some of the major regions that send and receive medical tourists, including the United States, the European Union, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. Contributors examine how government agencies, medical tourism companies, international hospital chains, and other organizations promote medical tourism and the globalization of health care. The topics explored include the legal remedies available to medical tourists when procedures go awry; potential consequences when patients cross borders for medical procedures that are illegal in their home countries; the relationship of medical tourism to international spread of infectious disease; and the lack of adequate transnational policies and regulations governing the global market for health services.

Health and Wellness Tourism

Health and Wellness Tourism
Author: Marta Peris-Ortiz
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 187
Release: 2014-11-18
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 3319114905

This book aims to contribute to the literature and aid in developing a theoretical and practical framework in the area of health and wellness tourism. With contributions and research from different countries using a practical approach, this book is an essential source for students, researchers and managers in the health and wellness tourism industry. Recently, there has been an increased interest in health and wellness due to greater life expectancy, aging populations, increasing levels of stress among others. In this context, the concepts of health, wellness, beauty, relaxation, and tourism can be combined to satisfy the needs of people seeking better quality-of-life. This has given rise to health and wellness tourism, a new market segment that contributes to employment and economic growth in the new economy. Health and wellness tourism involves two aspects: therapeutics, which seeks to cure certain diseases; and relaxation and leisure. As an alternative to traditional tourism, health and wellness tourism provides a new means of achieving regional and local development from a demographic, social, environmental and economic point-of-view. It contributes to tourist destinations’ economic growth, acting as a pillar to support other complementary activities. In short, health and wellness tourism contributes to employment growth and regional wealth, contributes to tourism seasonality, promotes quality in tourism destinations, helps create new tourist services with high value, promotes establishment of international cooperation networks, and yields a number of additional benefits. Featuring a variety of programs and initiatives from different regions, with an emphasis on thermal and thalassotherapy establishments, this volume sheds light on this emerging market segment and its implications for economic and policy development.