Designing a medical tourism model during COVID-19 by using a Mix Method Approach

Medical tourism is a new form of tourism that had grown exponentially before the COVID-19 Pandemic. Medical tourism is done to improve the health of people and outside their place of residence. The main purpose of this study is to design a marketing model for medical tourism using a Mix method approach during COVID-19.

 In this research, the researcher has used a Mix method approach. For this purpose, in the first study, to identify the components of medical tourism marketing from the data foundation approach and in the second study, the model is tested using a quantitative method. The required data collection tools in the first study, protocol and in-depth interviews with twenty managers of the tourism center and in the next stage, the required data were distributed among 384 patients of the tourist center and the results were analyzed by Amos software.

The researcher performed fifteen interviews to theoretical saturation and finally extracted 100 open codes and based on the theoretical literature, the coding was done selectively and the results were presented in the form of six main dimensions and thirty-one sub-dimensions.

The researcher presents his research in the form of a model including six dimensions: satisfaction with the brand of the tourism center, trust in the brand therapy of the medical tourism center, diversity of medical services, marketing of medical tourism, appropriate treatment package, loyalty to the brand of the medical center, and thirty-one sub-dimensions has done.