Morphological analysis of the key factors and uncertainties affecting medical tourism in Yazd, Iran

 Based on predictions by the World Tourism Organization, the future of the world economy and international trade market will be dominated by the tourism industry, especially between 2020 and 2030.  Medical tourism, as a fast-growing and accelerating industry, will be a major contribution to the future of the tourism industry. This study was conducted with the aim of morphological analysis of the factors and key uncertainties affecting medical tourism in Yazd, Iran.

 The present study identified the key factors and uncertainties of medical tourism in Yazd using a mixture of qualitative and quantitative methods. The research sample included 24 experts selected using purposive sampling method. The data collection instruments were interview and a questionnaire. Qualitative content analysis and morphological analysis were used to analyze the data through SPSS21.

 After analyzing the interviews, 19 themes for capacities and 23 themes for obstacles were extracted. Then, 41 factors, prioritized based on two criteria of importance and uncertainty, were identified using Likert scale. In the second stage, 9 out of 41 factors that had more uncertainty and served as drivers were determined by experts.

 According to the results, it is recommended that a comprehensive medical tourism Plan should be prepared for Yazd province based on the drivers identified in this study and introduce the medical tourism capacities in Yazd to the target countries.