Designing a Model for the Management of Health Tourism Development in Fars Province, Iran

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 PhD Student in Health Services Management, Department of Health Services Management, Shiraz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shiraz, Iran

2 Assistant Professor, Department of Health Services Management, South Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

3 Associate Professor, Department of Health Services Management, Medical Sciences, Islamic Azad University of Shiraz Branch, Shiraz, Iran

Abstract

Introduction: Health tourism as a basic parameter has an undeniable role in achieving
sustainable growth and development and has been given special attention in developed
countries, while in developing countries such as Iran, less attention has been paid to this
issue. This study aimed at designing a management model for the development of health
tourism in Fars Province, Iran.
Methods: This study was performed by descriptive-correlation method which is a type of
applied research in terms of quiddity and purpose. The sample consisted of 120 foreign
tourists who have traveled to Fars province to receive health services. All participants were
selected by the purposive sampling method within a survey design from medical tourism
centers, wellness tourism centers, and curative tourism centers in Shiraz City of the province.
After informed consent was obtained, the required quantitative data were collected using a
survey method and a questionnaire.
The questionnaire used had 6 sections including: (1) structural management; (2) behavioral
management; (3) environmental management; (4) protective management; (5) development
and improvement management; and (6) development of health tourism, which had 34 items
and each item was scored based on a five-point Likert scale (from 1=very low to 5=very high).
Data analysis was performed with SPSS-20 and Smart-PLS software.
Results: In this study at first, validity and reliability analyses using SEM for Cronbach’s alpha
and composite reliability (CR) of subscales and total score of the questionnaire revealed an
moderate to excellent level of internal consistency (a=0.62 to 0.91 and CR=0.68 to 0.98),
respectively. The findings indicated that independent variables of model explain 0.921% of
health tourism management variations in this sample. With regards to the path coefficients
between latent constructs of the model, three structural (0.315), behavioral (0.459),
environmental (0.234) factors have a significant effect on health tourism management in this
study (TConclusion: Managers and officials of Fars province are expected to use the management
model presented in this study to develop health tourism and focus on the pillars of sustainable
development of this model such as structural, behavioral, environmental, protective and
development factors for attracting foreign tourists and promoting health tourism in Fars
province.

Keywords

References

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Health Management & Information Science
Volume 8, Issue 2
April 2021
Pages 107-118

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