Marketing Model of Health Tourism (Case Study: The City of Tehran)

Health tourism is one of the fastest-growing branches of tourism in the world. Health tourism not only leads to the strengthening of the scientific, political, social, and regional sectors but also has many economic and marketing benefits. Therefore, to increase the economic prosperity of the country and promote the health tourism industry in Iran, and achieve a suitable position among the countries of the region, it is necessary to understand the marketing of health tourism development. The present study examines the marketing model of health tourism in Tehran. The research method is qualitative, applied in terms of purpose, and exploratory and explanatory in terms of approach. The sample of the research consisted of experts in the tourism and health industry, and 12 people were selected as the sample of the research using snowball sampling. In this study, content analysis based on open, axial, and selective coding was used to analyze data from semi-structured interviews based on the principles of grounded theory. The results indicated that to investigate the marketing process of health tourism development in Tehran and the relationships between the identified components and dimensions, a data-driven theory framework was used for modeling, which involved determining the dimensions, components, and concepts. The proposed framework was presented as a conceptual model consisting of 22 components and 7 dimensions. Given the need for mixed marketing elements, especially medical services (product), treatment costs (price), natural factors, and preventive processes, recommendations for health tourism should be diversified for various consumer groups.