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Barriers to Medical Tourism Development in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Author

Listed:
  • Iva Bulatovic

    (Faculty of Business, Higher Colleges of Technology, P.O. Box 41012, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates)

  • Katia Iankova

    (Faculty of Business, Higher Colleges of Technology, P.O. Box 41012, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates)

Abstract

Medical tourism is a thriving industry. Many destinations now seek to attract more medical tourists. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is no exception. As one of the most important pillars of the UAE’s economy, tourism is considered a high priority. However, medical tourism in the UAE is still developing. This paper addresses the main challenges for medical tourism in the UAE and proposes methods to enhance its development. This research utilized qualitative analysis. Twelve professionals in medical tourism were interviewed to provide data. The data were then analyzed using NVivo 12 software. Our results indicate that the key barriers to medical tourism development in the UAE are high costs of medical tourism services, lack of marketing activities, lack of collaboration between medical and tourism service providers, and so forth. Although initiatives from the UAE government are very encouraging, more efficient medical care supply networks, tourism suppliers and intermediaries should be established to ensure its growth. This research could influence national tourism policies in the UAE as well as regional alliances in all Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Iva Bulatovic & Katia Iankova, 2021. "Barriers to Medical Tourism Development in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-14, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:3:p:1365-:d:492039
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Soonae Hwang & DonHee Lee & Chang-Yuil Kang, 2018. "Medical tourism: focusing on patients’ prior, current, and post experience," International Journal of Quality Innovation, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 1-22, December.
    2. Skountridaki, Lila, 2017. "Barriers to business relations between medical tourism facilitators and medical professionals," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 254-266.
    3. Beladi, Hamid & Chao, Chi-Chur & Ee, Mong Shan & Hollas, Daniel, 2015. "Medical tourism and health worker migration in developing countries," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 391-396.
    4. Hallow Al-Talabani & Hasan Kilic & Ali Ozturen & Suhad Othman Qasim, 2019. "Advancing Medical Tourism in the United Arab Emirates: Toward a Sustainable Health Care System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-15, January.
    5. Lee, Hwee Khei & Fernando, Yudi, 2015. "The antecedents and outcomes of the medical tourism supply chain," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 148-157.
    6. de la Hoz-Correa, Andrea & Muñoz-Leiva, Francisco & Bakucz, Márta, 2018. "Past themes and future trends in medical tourism research: A co-word analysis," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 200-211.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ediansyah & Muhtosim Arief & Mohammad Hamsal & Sri Bramantoro Abdinagoro, 2022. "Interplay between Networking Capability and Hospital Performance in Indonesia’s Medical Tourism Sector," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-20, December.
    2. Bulatovic, Iva & Papatheodorou, Andreas, 2023. "Civil aviation and tourism demand in Montenegro: A panel data approach," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 9(1), pages 25-36.
    3. Haeok Liz Kim & Sunghyup Sean Hyun, 2022. "The Future of Medical Tourism for Individuals’ Health and Well-Being: A Case Study of the Relationship Improvement between the UAE (United Arab Emirates) and South Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-19, May.

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