Η Ελλάδα ως προορισμός ιατρικού τουρισμού: δυνατότητες και προοπτικές
Greece as a destination of medical tourism: possibilities and prospects
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Keywords
Ιατρικός τουρισμός ; Διεθνείς ασθενείς ; Ελλάδα ; Ταϋλάνδη ; Medical tourism ; International patients ; Greece ; ThailandAbstract
The present thesistitled "Greece as a destination of Medical Tourism: Potentials and Prospects" is being developed in the framework of the final master’spapers for the postgraduate specialization in Economics and Health Management of the Department of Economics of the University of Piraeus. The main purpose of the thesis is to explore the potential and the prospects of Greece as a destination of medical tourism. For the purposes of the thesis, a secondary research complemented with specific primary/quantitative data was performed. In particular, the collection of the data was extracted from bibliographic sources as well as through the collection of studies and foreign language articles pertaining to the development of medical tourism. The primary/quantitative research was conducted to support the bibliographic study and was based on interviews with the employees of the sector under study as well as a questionnaire completed by them. According to the results of the survey, Greece is a country that has all the characteristics required to become a popular destination for medical tourism. From the research that was conducted, it was realized that medical tourism in Greece is still at the starting point. However, its mild climate, excellent geographic location, excellent hospital and tourism infrastructure, highly trained personnel as well as high-quality medical and tourism services coupled with low cost services are the main elements that comprise the country's comparative advantage and potential to develop and be distinguished in this industry. The potential benefits of the development ofmedical tourism constitute strong incentives for investment in this industry on the part of the country. With the main advantages being the large inflows of revenue, the reduction of seasonality, job creation, the reverse of the brain drain phenomenon, the development of medical tourism in Greece can be the driver for the restart of country’seconomy. An integrated national strategy aiming at promoting at international level the comparative advantage of the country in the sector is a prerequisite for achieving the above-mentioned objective.