Building up the Medical Tourism Business Model in Travel Agency Industry

• Main Authors: Yu-Shan Chang, 張宇姍
• Other Authors: 黃榮鵬 教授
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2010
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/16392004111554944376

碩士 === 高雄餐旅學院 === 旅遊管理研究所 === 98 === As ageing societies become the trend, pursuit of health and health care also become heated topics. Since modern people experience different environment and explore novel things while they travel, tourism has become a necessity of a healthy life. As global medical care industries upgrade their services, impatient patients now are lured by the new model, “medical tourism,” and consider it as a new opportunity. This newly blossoming business combines the concept of international medical care and tourism, and is one of the industries that many countries are eagerly striving to develop. This study aims to discuss the current status of medical tourism industry in Taiwan, and constructs a business model for travel agent industries. This study adopted qualitative methods, and conducted literature review, in-depth interview, Delphi method, and survey investigation based on snowball sampling. According to the literature review, this study first developed six dimensions, and then validated the features of each dimension and its corresponding indicators through in-depth interview and three stages of Delphi study. Results of this study suggested that travel agent industries still have unclear ways of cooperation with hospitals. Owing to the immature medical tourism market, agent could not accurately understand customer needs. Thus, they should clarify their corporate values, promote flexible products in response to consumers’ possible alternations after undergoing medical care, and develop differentiation strategies. By doing so they could achieve the goal of profit-making, and establish a flexible and sustainable environment for the medical tourism market.