The Key Role of Logistics in Healthcare Tourism: Challenges and Opportunities
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Abstract
Healthcare tourism is one of the emerging and thriving branches of the tourism industry that has experienced significant growth in recent years. This type of tourism involves people traveling to other countries to receive medical, healthcare, and treatment services. Healthcare tourism is considered a combination of the tourism industry and healthcare services, which brings considerable economic benefits to countries. Among the factors influencing the growth of this type of tourism are the high treatment costs in developed countries, limited access to adequate healthcare services in some countries, the high quality of medical services provided in destination countries, and extensive advertising by governments and related organizations. These factors have caused many people, even from developed countries, to choose other countries for specialized treatments, surgeries, cosmetic services, and medical check-ups. The healthcare tourism supply chain includes a network of businesses, organizations, and entities that provide services and goods related to this type of tourism. This network includes manufacturers of medical equipment, pharmaceutical distributors, hospitals, transportation companies, travel agencies, and tourists. In the present study, we examine the field of healthcare tourism with a focus on logistics and the supply chain, and analyze the strengths and weaknesses related to this area.
Keywords
Medical tourism Healthcare tourism Tourism logistics Sustainable tourism Supply chainReferences (22)
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- Published 2025-06-21
- Issue Vol. 2 No. 2 (2025): Annals of Healthcare Systems Engineering
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