IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jtourh/v6y2025i4p186-d1753398.html

Competition in Medical Tourism and Consumer Spending: Evidence from Turkey’s Growing Healthcare Market

Author

Listed:
  • Ilhan Sag

    (Medical Tourism Department, Bursa Yuksek Ihtisas Training and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Turkish Ministry of Health, 16140 Nilüfer-Bursa, Türkiye)

  • Ferhat D. Zengul

    (Department of Health Services Administration, School of Health Professions (SHP), University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), 1716 9th Avenue South, Birmingham, AL 35233, USA)

  • Robert Weech-Maldonado

    (Department of Health Services Administration, School of Health Professions (SHP), University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), 1716 9th Avenue South, Birmingham, AL 35233, USA)

Abstract

As competition intensifies in the global medical tourism industry, countries are increasingly seeking effective marketing strategies to enhance their market share. Developing such strategies requires a comprehensive understanding of the expenditure patterns of medical tourists, particularly in emerging destinations with limited historical involvement in medical tourism. This study aims to examine the expenditure characteristics of medical tourists with respect to treatment type, gender, religion, and country of origin. Empirical data were collected from 288 medical tourists (response rate: 82%) receiving healthcare services in Turkey, an emerging hub for medical tourism. Cross-tabulation analyses and chi-square tests of independence revealed statistically significant differences in expenditures based on the aforementioned characteristics. The findings indicate that, on average, female, non-Muslim tourists from developed countries spent more than their male, Muslim, and developing-country counterparts. Additionally, aesthetic treatments accounted for the highest average expenditures among all treatment types. This study offers valuable insights into the expenditure behavior of medical tourists in Turkey, contributing to the broader understanding of competition in the medical tourism sector. These findings can inform the development of strategic roadmaps and targeted marketing approaches in emerging medical tourism markets.

Suggested Citation

  • Ilhan Sag & Ferhat D. Zengul & Robert Weech-Maldonado, 2025. "Competition in Medical Tourism and Consumer Spending: Evidence from Turkey’s Growing Healthcare Market," Tourism and Hospitality, MDPI, vol. 6(4), pages 1-13, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jtourh:v:6:y:2025:i:4:p:186-:d:1753398
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2673-5768/6/4/186/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2673-5768/6/4/186/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Han, Heesup & Hyun, Sunghyup Sean, 2015. "Customer retention in the medical tourism industry: Impact of quality, satisfaction, trust, and price reasonableness," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 20-29.
    2. Tricia J. Johnson & Andrew N. Garman, 2015. "Demand for International Medical Travel to the USA," Tourism Economics, , vol. 21(5), pages 1061-1077, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Anastasia Stathopoulou & Tommy Kweku Quansah & George Balabanis, 2022. "The Blinding Effects of Team Identification on Sports Corruption: Cross-Cultural Evidence from Sub-Saharan African Countries," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 179(2), pages 511-529, August.
    2. Laura Kemppainen & Veera Koskinen & Harley Bergroth & Eetu Marttila & Teemu Kemppainen, 2021. "Health and Wellness–Related Travel: A Scoping Study of the Literature in 2010-2018," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(2), pages 21582440211, May.
    3. Dubey, Prince & Bajpai, Naval & Guha, Sanjay & Kulshreshtha, Kushagra, 2020. "Mapping gender and marital roles on customer delight by value perception for mobile technology in India," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    4. Judita Kasperiuniene & Vilma Zydziunaite, 2019. "A Systematic Literature Review on Professional Identity Construction in Social Media," SAGE Open, , vol. 9(1), pages 21582440198, February.
    5. Wenjie Xu & Hyejin Jung & Jangheon Han, 2022. "The Influences of Experiential Marketing Factors on Brand Trust, Brand Attachment, and Behavioral Intention: Focused on Integrated Resort Tourists," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-16, October.
    6. Le Anh Toai & Butowski Leszek & Quirini-Popławski Łukasz & Nguyen Hoang Son, 2025. "Factors Affecting Tourist Satisfaction in Ecotourism: A Case Study of the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, Vietnam," Quaestiones Geographicae, Sciendo, vol. 44(2), pages 77-94.
    7. Chen-Kuo Pai & Tingting Lee & Sangguk Kang, 2021. "Examining the Role of Service Quality, Perceived Values, and Trust in Macau Food Festival," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-16, September.
    8. Feng Xu & Xuejiao Lin & Shuaishuai Li & Wenxia Niu, 2018. "Is Southern Xinjiang Really Unsafe?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-21, December.
    9. Han, Heesup & Yu, Jongsik & Kim, Wansoo, 2019. "An electric airplane: Assessing the effect of travelers' perceived risk, attitude, and new product knowledge," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 33-42.
    10. Jae-Jang Yang & Rajesh Iyer & Yong-Ki Lee, 2022. "Why Do Local Foodscapes Matter in Building Tourist Trust and Loyalty?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-16, February.
    11. Bianca Tjizumaue, 2023. "Buyer / Seller Relationship in the Services Sector at the Bottom of the Pyramid: A Commitment-Trust Theory Perspective," International Journal of Innovation and Economic Development, Inovatus Services Ltd., vol. 9(5), pages 16-27, December.
    12. Minwoo Lee & Seonjeong Ally Lee & Hyejo Hailey Shin & Miyoung Jeong, 2025. "Revisiting and exploring trust in the digital era: conceptualization and scale development of digital trust in hospitality and tourism," Information Technology & Tourism, Springer, vol. 27(1), pages 125-155, March.
    13. Yen E. Lam-González & Carmelo J. León & Javier de León, 2019. "Coopetition in Maritime Tourism: Assessing the Effect of Previous Islands’ Choice and Experience in Tourist Satisfaction," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(22), pages 1-18, November.
    14. R. Filieri & S. Alguezaui & F. Galati & E. Raguseo, 2023. "Customer experience with standard and premium Peer-To-Peer offerings: a mixed-method combining text analytics and qualitative analysis," Post-Print hal-04474167, HAL.
    15. Jongsik Yu & Kyeongheum Lee & Antonio Ariza-Montes & Alejandro Vega-Muñoz & Heesup Han, 2021. "How Do Air Quality Issues Caused by Particulate Matter Affect Consumers’ Emotional Response to Tourism Destinations and Willingness to Visit?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-13, October.
    16. Fayez B. Shriedeh & Noor Hasmini Abd. Ghani, 2017. "Service Quality as an Antecedent of Brand Equity: Empirical Evidence in the Medical Tourism from Jordan," International Review of Management and Marketing, Econjournals, vol. 7(1), pages 15-19.
    17. Dennis Ahrholdt & Goetz Greve & Gregor Hopf, 2019. "Online-Marketing-Intelligence," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-658-26562-5, March.
    18. Kyle Jasper Lucas & Jan Mark Laurence Pajarillo & Monica Macato & Joza Mae Ortiz & Glenn Hyde Dela Cruz, 2024. "We Cannot Give, What We Don’t Have: Tourist’s Satisfaction and Behavioral Intentions in Agri-Tourism Farm Site in Pantabangan, Nueva Ecija, Philippines," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 8(8), pages 1323-1344, August.
    19. Czernek, Katarzyna & Czakon, Wojciech, 2016. "Trust-building processes in tourist coopetition: The case of a Polish region," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 380-394.
    20. Patel, Jayesh D. & Trivedi, Rohit H. & Yagnik, Arpan, 2020. "Self-identity and internal environmental locus of control: Comparing their influences on green purchase intentions in high-context versus low-context cultures," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jtourh:v:6:y:2025:i:4:p:186-:d:1753398. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask MDPI Indexing Manager to update the entry or send us the correct address (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.