The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Medical Tourism in Iran: An Interrupted Time Series Analysis

Medical tourism refers to travel for receiving health services abroad. The COVID-19 crisis affected a wide range of tourism-related businesses, including medical tourism, and caused a decrease in the supply and demand of health services in this market. This study aimed to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Medical Tourism in Iran.  

This cross-sectional study was conducted in Iran in 2021. The data used in this study were extracted from the information system of the Ministry of Health from 2018 to 2021, which includes the number, origin, and destination of medical tourists, per capita revenue, and monthly revenue two years before and one and a half years after the COVID-19 pandemic. For data analysis, t-tests of independent groups and interrupted time series regression were used in SPSS and EViews 10 software.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a 42% decrease in the average monthly number of medical tourists, a 45% decrease in the monthly revenue, and a 10% decrease in the per capita income per tourist (P<0.05).  The arrival of medical tourists from the Republic of Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Iraq, and Oman has decreased by more than 80%, and the largest decrease in the number of tourists has been related to Ahvaz, Urmia, Tabriz, and Shiraz. In all diagnostic groups except obstetrics and gynecology, there has been a decrease between 50 to 70% The declining trend of medical tourism indicators was stopped in the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic and has continued as a constant trend.

The COVID-19 crisis has hurt the number of international patients and their revenue in Iran. Relative success in controlling COVID-19 can return to a pre-pandemic situation that requires appropriate policies and administrative measures by government and industry players, such as policies to facilitate patient entry, marketing measures, branding and creating a positive image of the country to potential clients, use of telemedicine facilities for consultations and follow-up, etc.