A cross-cultural study of perceptions of medical tourism among Chinese, Japanese and Korean tourists in Korea
Introduction
Medical tourism, the act of travelling overseas for treatment and care, is an emerging phenomenon in the healthcare industry. Outbound medical tourism is predicted to rapidly develop over the next three to five years (Deloitte, 2008). Medical tourism enables patients to quickly and conveniently receive medical services through travel, at lower prices and, oftentimes, at better quality than they could in their native countries.
It has been estimated that the global medical-tourism industry currently generates annual revenues up to US$ 60 billion (negatively 40 billion), with 20% annual growth (Horowitz, Rosensweig, & Jones, 2007). The total number of medical tourists has also increased, from 19 million travellers in 2005 to 25.8 million in 2007, which is an annual growth rate of 16.5% (RNCOS, 2008). However, a new McKinsey study prepared by Ehrbeck, Guevara, and Mango (2008), suggests that the market is not as large as reported, and that most medical travellers seek higher quality and faster service instead of lower costs. McKinsey places the current market at 60,000–85,000 inpatients per year, but these numbers could grow substantially if certain barriers, such as non-coverage from payers, were removed.
With these trends, interest in developing tourism related to the medical industry has increased globally, and medical tourism is now marketed as a niche product that encompasses both medical services and tourism packages (Connell, 2006). In addition to the five major medical-tourist destinations in Asia – Thailand, Singapore, India, Malaysia, and the Philippines – other Asian nations, such as Korea, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, and Israel, are emerging as new preferred destinations, bringing about much competition in this area (RNCOS, 2008). Korea is emerging as a new medical-tourist destination, but ranks seventh among nine major Asian destinations, despite Korea’s global medical standards and the high technical proficiency of Korean doctors in medical services. While this is evidence of potential growth in this area, it also shows that Korea needs to fulfill and develop this potential to become a major player in the medical-tourism industry.
Medical tourism is a new form of tourism and a new market segment that are the result of changing times and perceptions. There is also a lack of research on medical tourism. This is especially so when concerning analyses of participants’ characteristics and experiences. It is predicted that consumers’ demands will differ according to how medical treatment and tourism are combined, and how well they are integrated. In addition, it is predicted that factors which consumers will consider important when participating in medical tourism will be different depending on their nationality. Therefore, the factors prioritized by consumers when they are considering participation in medical tourism must be understood, as well as how they differ from one another, as this data will be essential in efficiently breaking down the medical-tourism market.
This study looks into the factors behind potential future participation in medical tourism in Jeju Island, located south of the Korean Peninsula, by Chinese, Japanese, and Korean tourists. In recent years, the state government of Jeju has designated the island as a special district for the medical-tourism industry in order to attract overseas medical tourists especially from China and Japan, which are an hour’s flight away. The government has determined to provide various investment incentives for hospitals and relative businesses, such as medical travel agencies, including financial and human resource assistance, and tax benefits (Jeju State Government & Jeju High-tech Industry Development Institute, 2008). Medical-tourism industry is one of the tourism development projects of the government, which is confronting the slow decline of the tourism industry and attempting to find a new niche tourism product in the island. Thus, the government plans to supply and expand facilities for medical tourists, such as hospitals, clinics, Chinese medicine hospitals, spas, yoga or meditation centers, rehabilitation centers, health and fitness centers, and skin and beauty salons. A cross-cultural perspective will be established to analyze the differences in the potential experience among the three different medical-tourist groups. Given this background, this research has four more specific aims. Firstly, to gain a cross-cultural understanding of the selective factors and any inconveniences which might be experienced by Chinese, Japanese, and Korean medical tourists. Secondly, to find a cross-cultural understanding of the preferences of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean tourists regarding potential medical-tourism services. Thirdly, to observe any differences among tourists of the three nations regarding potential selective factors and inconveniences. Finally, the price sensitivity of travellers from the three nations will be analyzed to see how this sensitivity affects preferences and participation in medical-tourism services.
Section snippets
Concepts and types of medical tourism
In terms of international travel history, medical tourism can be traced back in time when one considers outbound travel from developing countries, as well as the long history of travel to spas and other historic health and well-being destinations in Europe and Asia. For instance, in the Middle East tradition Pharaoh Cleopatra is said to have established one of the world’s first spa resorts on the shores of the Dead Sea in about 25 BC, and the Romans left behind a long list of bathing facilities
Motivations for participating in medical tourism and its’ perceptions
There currently are few studies regarding motivations for participating in medical tourism. As identified by Lunt and Carrera (2010), the narrative review traverses discussion of medical-tourist markets, consumer choices, clinical outcomes, quality and safety, and ethical and legal dimensions. The authors suggest that major gaps exist in the evidence base supporting medical-tourist research in Europe: the patient or customer profile of those seeking surgery abroad (age, gender,
Data-gathering methods and data-analysis techniques
900 Chinese, Japanese, and Korean tourists were surveyed from November to December 2008, for a period of 55 days, at Jeju International Airport. A face-to-face sampling was used, and 300 surveys were conducted for each nationality. The questionnaire was presented in the respective native language of each respondent. 785 samples were selected from a collection rate of 87 percent. From this group, the total number of usable samples was 677 after unreliable and unsatisfactorily answered surveys
Socioeconomic characteristics of respondents
The characteristics of the data used in the analysis are presented in Table 2. The nationalities were comprised of 39.1% Koreans (265 people), 28.9% Japanese (194 people), and 28.1% Chinese (190 people). Males accounted for 43.1% of respondents, with females taking up 56.6%. The breakdown of age groups is as follows: 19.9% were in their twenties, 19.5% in their thirties, 22.3% in their forties, 21.0% in their fifties, and 16.5% were sixty or older.
Annual family incomes were, from most frequent
Discussion and conclusion
This study has investigated factors related to possible participation in medical tourism in the future on Jeju Island by Chinese, Japanese, and Korean tourists. It has attempted to adopt a cross-cultural approach to these differences. These differences span factors of selection, inconveniences, and preferred medical-tourism products. Also conducted was an analysis of whether there was a difference in perception and participation in medical tourism in relation to these factors, along with cost
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