Investigation of Medical Tourism in Turkey through SWOT-ANP

Abstract

Medical tourism is a niche area with full of opportunities and a high added value. Many countries and healthcare institutions have realized its fundamental role and have started to develop relevant strategies. Strategies for medical tourism cover high-quality service delivery, facilitating structural reforms, infrastructure arrangements, as well as promotional and marketing activities. Like many countries, Turkey is also interested in medical tourism. Moreover, it is one of the theming topics of the “10th Development Plan 2014-2018. This strategic plan covers four strategies for medical tourism, but the importance of these strategies is still uncovered. Therefore, it is essential to assess these strategies and to prioritize the selected ones for eliminating the uncertainty. It is always imperative to analyze strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats accurately to identify an effective strategy. Hence, this study aimed to analyze Turkey’s current situation regarding medical tourism and to select the most appropriate strategy among the specified ones. Twenty field experts were interviewed in the scope of the study, including obtaining the views of all stakeholders of the medical tourism sector. In this context, the Analytical Network Process (ANP) method was integrated into the SWOT analysis; thus, the most suitable strategy for Turkey’s medical tourism was able to be determined. Overall, the results revealed that “Development of institutional and legal infrastructures for medical tourism” was determined as the most critical strategy (34.99%). It was followed by “Improvement of physical and technical infrastructures for medical tourism” (24.67%), “Effective promotion and marketing” (20.47%), and “Improving the quality of medical tourism facilities” (19.87%), respectively. Anahtar Kelimeler: Medical Tourism, Strategy, Decision-Making, SWOT Analysis, ANP