医疗旅游硕士毕业论文英文Medical tourimsmaster of science degree research project final.docx

医疗旅游硕士毕业论文英文Medical tourimsmaster of science degree research project final.docx

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医疗旅游硕士毕业论文英文Medicaltourimsmasterofsciencedegreeresearchprojectfinal

EvaluatingthePerformanceoftheHotelsintheVicinityoftheSelectedWorlds'prominentHospitals

（Anempiricalresearchproject）

Abstract

Thefieldofmedicaltourismwherepatientseeksmedicalservicesabroadisgainingmoreattentioninbothresearchandinpractice.Patients（medicaltourism）mightalsotakeadvantageoftouristattractionsoftheirdestinationandcoupletheirmedicalexperiencewithsomepleasurableactivities.Whiletraveling,therefore,theyhavebasicneedssuchasaccommodation,andtransportationservicesaswell.Thus,thisphenomenonmighthavesomedirectimplicationsforthehotelindustryastohowtoservethesebasicneeds.Developingthehotels’propertiesclosethehospitalwhereforeignpatientspreferappearstobepromising.Thus,thestudyinvestigatestheperformanceofthehotelsnearby12topqualityhospitalslocatedin10countriesknownasmaintourismdestinations.Thestudyconfirmedthat,however,justlocatinginacloseproximitytotheselectedhospitalsdoesnotnecessarilyresultinbetterperformance,intermsofbothRevparandoccupancyratemovingaverage,comparingtootherhotelssitedfartherawayfromthehospitals.

BackgroundandIntroduction

ComparingthehealthcarecostsindifferentcountriesincludingtheUnitedStatesbringsaboutthefactthatmanyAmericanswhoareuninsuredorunderinsuredmightnotaffordsomemedicalcareserviceswithintheirhomecountry.Thesamemightholdforotherdevelopedcountrieswithhighcostofhealthcareaswell.ThisfactmightencouragepeopletotravelabroadforreceivingtheneededmedicaltreatmentatlowerratesinsomedevelopingcountriessuchasIndia,Thailand,andSingapore.Forthatreasonthefieldofmedicaltourismhasgainedattentionduringtherecentyears.Countriesthathaveseenthedemandfromthemedicaltouristhaveinvestedheavilyonbuildinginfrastructureswithhighstandardsandtechnologiesintheirhealthcarefacilitiesinordertobuildtheconfidenceandassurethequalityofservicesforforeigncustomers（patients）.

Inadditiontoreceivingthemedicalservicesamedicaltouristmighthavesecondarypurposesaswell.Travelingtoanewcountryandhospitalityattractivenessofthecountrymightdrivethedecisionforthemtochoosetheirdestinationcountry.Thatcreatesanopportunityforthecountriesthatarewell-knownasatouristdestinationintheworld.Existenceofhighstandardmedicalcentersinthesecountriescanthereforecreateanextratouristdemandforthem.

Buildinghotelsnearbythemedicalfacilitiesmightbealsobeneficialforbothpatientswhohavereceivedthetreatmentandarerecoveringorforthosewhotraveledtotheirdestinationandwaitingformedicalproceduretobeexecuted.Theymightchoosetostayclosetothehealthcarefacilitiestohaveaneasyaccesstotheirdoctorsandatthesametimeenjoytheirstayinthehotelanditsaxillaryhospitalityservicessuchbeachesandspas.Thus,understandingthefinancialperformanceofthehotelsnearmedicalfacilitiesandcomparingitwiththeircompetitivesetsintheirownmarketseemshelpfulforthehoteldevelopersandinvestorswholookforhighpotentiallocationtobuildhotels.

Keywords:

Medicaltourism,Hotel’sperformance,HospitalsintopTouristDestinations

ObjectiveandResearchQuestion

Becauseofthegrowthofmedicaltourismingeneralandthetourismattractivenessofsomewell-knowntouristdestinationssuchasThailand,TurkeyandBrazil,thesecountriescanbeseenaspotentialmedicaltourismdestinationsforpatientswhoseekbothmedicaltreatmentandwellnessaswellashospitalityserviceswhileenjoyingtheirtimeatthedestination.Therefore,developmentofhotelsintheregionwherequalitymedicalcentersarepresentseemspromising.Thus,wecanlayouttheobjectivesofthisstudyasfollows:

∙ToexaminetheperformanceindicatorsofhotelsincludingOccupancyRateandRevParforthreedifferentclustersofhotelsthatarelocatednearbytheselectedmedicalcenters.Thestudyinvestigatesthefourclosest（calledfirsttiers）,thenextfourhotelsasthesecondtier,andthethirdtier,includingthefournexthotelsneighboringthechosenmedicalcenter.

∙Overallinvestigationoftheprofileofthehotelsnearthehospitalstounderstandwhatclassofhotelsarelocatedclosetothehospitals.

Accordingly,thestudy’sresearchquestionsincludes:

Isthereanydifferencebetweenthefinancialperformancesofhotelsnearmedicalcentersincomparisonwithotherhotelsthatarefartheraway?

Whethertheclosestonesoutperformstheothers?

Inotherwords,thestudy’shypothesisregardingthehotels’performanceinvolves:

H:

Theaverageperformanceofthefirstgroupisbetter（greaterRevparandOccupancyrate）thanthesecondgroup’sandthesecondgroup’sperformanceisbetterthanthethirdgroup.

Literaturereview

Accordingtotheobjectiveoftheprojectregardingmedicaltourismandhotelperformanceevaluation,thestudyscrutinizesthebodyofrelevantliteraturetoachievethebasisforfurtherinvestigation.

Medicaltourism

AccordingtoConnell（2006）,increasinghealthandwellbeinghavebeenpartoftourismindustryforalongtimewhenin18thcenturyspaswereprevalentinmanypartofEurope.Smyth（2005）stressesthatin19thcenturycurativetourismplacesinconjunctionwithrecreationpropertiesweredevelopedeveninsomeremoteregionslikeFrenchterritoryofNewCaledonia.ThehealthbenefitaspectoftourismhascontinueditspresencetothedateandpeoplestillvisitcountriessuchasKyrgyztantousehealthspas（Schofield,2004）.Evenrecently,morepeopletraveltoothercountriesforevenmoredirectmedicalandsubstantialinterventionsandthatcreatesmedicaltourismnotion.

InareportbyTravelResearchandMarketing（2006）,thescopeofmedicalandhealthcaretourismisrepresented,figure1.Thecontinuumrangesfromsocalledsofttoamorediseaserelatedgroups.Therefore,theymaybesubjectsofdifferentliterature（Smith&Puczko,2009）.Wellnessorhealthtourismtypicallyincludesspas,exerciseandmassage,diet,yoga,herbalhealing,acupuncture,meditationandservicesofthatsimilartype.CarerraandBridges’（2006）definitionofwellnesstourisminvolvestheorganizedtraveloutsideone’slocalenvironmentforthemaintenance,enhancementorrestorationofanindividual’swellbeinginmindandbodyEnhancementcategorycontainscosmeticsurgeryinvolvingdeliberateplasticsurgeriessuchasfaceliftandbreastenhancement.Thiscategoryincludesdentistryservicesaswell.Underreproductiongrouparepeopletraveltoseekfertilityrelatedtreatmentswhichmightbeunavailableorevenillegalintheirhomecountries.ForTreatmentofIllnesscategory,thereexistsarangeofmedicalprocedurefromcheck-upsandscreeningtocancertreatmentandopenheartsurgery.

Figure1:

medicalandhealthcaretourismscope

Basically,thereisnotoneconsolidateddefinitionformedicaltourismonwhattypesofproceduresshouldbeincludedorwhodistinctivelymedicaltouristsare.Forinstance,Pollard（2010）excludethepeoplewhoseprimaryreasontotraveltoanothercountryisnotmedicaltreatment,notcosmeticordentistry,asmedicaltouristsbutConnell（2013）believesthatdentistryorcosmeticsurgerydonotneedtobeexcludedfromthedefinitionsincesomemedicalinterventionsareinvolvedinspiteoflackingthenotionoftreatment.Ontheotherhand,Bookman&Bookman（2007）usemedicaltourismforentireindustryincludingwellnesstourism.Theirdefinitionproposedthatmedicaltourismservicescompriseofthreeareas:

invasive,diagnostic,andlifestyletreatments.

Despitethelackofanagreedupondefinitionformedicaltouristandtourism,thestudy,however,presentssomeofthewidely-citeddefinitionshere.AccordingtoMedicalTourismAssociation:

“MedicalTourismiswherepeoplewholiveinonecountrytraveltoanothercountrytoreceivemedical,dentalandsurgicalcarewhileatthesametimereceivingequaltoorgreatercarethantheywouldhaveintheirowncountry,andaretravelingformedicalcarebecauseofaffordability,betteraccesstocareorahigherlevelofqualityofcare”.AccordingtoHorowitz（2007）“Medicaltouristsarepresentlytravelingtofarawaycountriesforcosmeticsurgery,dentalprocedures,bariatricsurgery,assistedreproductivetechnology,ophthalmologiccare,orthopedicsurgery,cardiacsurgery,organandcellulartransplantation,genderreassignmentprocedures,andevenexecutivehealthevaluations”.Anotherdefinitionfromanindustryincludes:

“patientstravellingtoanothercountryformoreaffordablecare,orcarethatishigherqualityormoreaccessible”（Edelheit,2008）.Thenotionsofnon-emergencymedicalservicesandpatientspayingoutofpocketfortheservicesarealsoincludedinthedefinitionofmedicaltourism,howeverestablishedcross-bordertravelsbetweenneighboringisexcludedfromthemedicaltourismdefinitionsignifyingthefactthatdiasporatravelingbacktotheirhomecountryformedicalservicesarenotconsideredmedicaltourists（Crooks,2010）.

Horowitz（2007）mentionsthatmedicaltourismtodayissomewhatdifferentfromthetraditionalviewofinternationalmedicinetravelswhenpatientsfromlessdevelopedcountriestraveltodevelopedcountriestoseekmedicaltreatmentsthatareunavailableintheirorigincountries.Heemphasizesthatthemoderndefinitionofmedicaltourismdoesnotactuallytellwherethepatientandthemedicalfacilitiesthatareprovided.Thisdefinitioncorrespondthefactthattravelingbothfromandtodeveloped/lessdevelopedcountriescantakeplaceinthisrega