Identifying the Factors Influencing the Development of Medical Tourism from a Marketing Mix Perspective in Gilan Province
Keywords:
marketing mix, Tourism Development, Health Tourism, Medical TourismAbstract
The purpose of this study is to identify the factors influencing the development of medical tourism from the perspective of the marketing mix in Gilan Province. This research was conducted based on grounded theory using a qualitative and quantitative approach. In the qualitative phase, data were collected through in-depth interviews. The interview transcripts were analyzed in three stages: open coding, axial coding, and selective coding. The sampling method was snowball sampling. At this stage, the factors affecting the development of medical tourism from the marketing mix perspective were identified by conducting 18 semi-structured interviews with provincial experts in the field of medical tourism. The qualitative data were analyzed using MaxQDA software. Finally, the identified factors were analyzed using structural equation modeling with SPSS 24 and Smart PLS 3 software. This research identified 12 factors influencing the development of medical tourism in Gilan Province, including the province’s potential, cultural and social issues, empowerment, economic stability, political and security issues, elements of the medical tourism marketing mix, travel facilities, infrastructure, environmental factors, policies, laws and regulations, managerial factors, and marketing strategy.
References
M. Cooper, K. Vafadari, and M. Hieda, "Health Tourism in Iran," in Current Issues and Emerging Trends in Medical Tourism: IGI Global, 2015, p. 352.
C. Suessa, S. Baloglub, and J. Buss, "Perceived impacts of medical tourism development on community wellbeing," Tourism Management, pp. 232-245, 2018, doi: 10.1016/j.tourman.2018.06.006.
S. T. Thelen and B. Yoo, "The impact of country image and patient cosmopolitanism on medical tourism," Health Marketing Quarterly, vol. 40, no. 1, pp. 98-118, 2023, doi: 10.1080/07359683.2023.2167260.
H. Vazifehdoust, A. Ghasemi, A. Rahimi Nik, and V. Mirabi, "The Effect of Dynamic and Static Marketing Capabilities on International Marketing Performance in the Health Tourism Industry," in International Conference on Health Tourism Marketing, Mashhad, 2022. [Online]. Available: https://en.civilica.com/doc/1564443/.
Q. Zhong and W. Chan, "Developing sustainable medical tourism: a framework for developing countries," Journal of Sustainable Tourism Development, 2024.
H. Al-Talabani, H. Kilic, A. Ozturen, and S. Othman Qasim, "Advancing Medical Tourism in the United Arab Emirates: Toward a Sustainable Health Care System," Sustainability, 2019, doi: 10.3390/su11010230.
M. Ahmadi, "Effective Factors on the Development of Health Tourism in Iran," Journal of Tourism Management, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 123-140, 2021.
A. Aviruthaa and P. Komenjumrus, "Innovative Strategies in the Marketing Mix to Enhance Health and Wellness Tourism Satisfaction: A Case Study of Thailand's Digital Competitive Edge," Ramkhamhaeng International Journal of Science and Technology, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 8-21, 2025.
S. U. Mallick, "Promoting Tourism through Digital Marketing," The American Journal of Agriculture and Biomedical Engineering, vol. 5, no. 10, pp. 62-85, 2023, doi: 10.37547/tajmei/Volume05Issue10-06.
A. Fakur, S. Jalali, and F. Taherikia, "Designing an Experiential Marketing Model in the Health," Business, Marketing, and Finance Open, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 34-45, 2025, doi: 10.61838/bmfopen.2.3.4.
A. Bagheri, A. Rousta, L. Forozandeh, and F. Asayesh, "Presenting the Marketing Model of Health Tourism Development in Tehran Using Grounded Theory Method," Urban Economics and Planning, vol. 4, no. 3, pp. 6-21, 2023, doi: 10.22034/uep.2023.401857.1373.
H. Heidari, E. Doshman Ziari, N. Barzegar, B. Faghiharam, and A. H. Mehdizadeh, "Designing an E-Learning Model for Health Tourism Marketing Case Study: Educational Healthcare Centers of Islamic Azad University, Tehran," International Journal of Innovation Management and Organizational Behavior (IJIMOB), vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 20-27, 01/01 2024, doi: 10.61838/kman.ijimob.4.1.3.
R. Einlou, "Health Tourism Accounts for 14% of Incoming Tourists in 10 Months of 2023," ed, 2023.
A. Rezaei, "The Role of Infrastructure and Marketing in the Development of Medical Tourism," Journal of Regional Development, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 45-60, 2022.
M. Bagheri, A. A. Mobasheri, F. Shekari, Z. Moaven, and A. Nikbakht, "Identifying and prioritizing strategies for Iran's medical tourism development," Interdisciplinary Journal of Management Studies, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 331-345, 2024.
S. Saberi, A. Miri, and M. Zakipour, "Analyzing Factors Influencing Health tourism Marketing A case study of Tehran city," (in Fa), journal of urban tourism, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 57-75, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.magiran.com/paper/2639326.
M. Ghasemi, A. Movahed, and S. Kadkhodaei, "A NOVEL CONCEPTUAL MODEL FOR CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT OF MEDICAL," International Journal Health Management and Tourism, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 82-95, 2019, doi: 10.31201/ijhmt.530031.
A. Mohammadi and M. Ghafarian, "Identifying and Prioritizing Effective Factors for Health Tourism Development (Case Study: Dehloran Hot Springs)," Scientific-Research Quarterly of Tourism and Development, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 293-305, 2024.
S. Motaghi, H. Makhmali, S. Talei, and F. Sadeghi, "An Analysis of Influential Indicators on Attracting Medical Tourists to Iran from Selected Asian Countries," Tourism Planning and Development, vol. 12, no. 44, pp. 57-77, 2023.
A. K. Hosseiny, Z. Aryakian, and Z. Aryakian, "Study of Effective Factors and Policies on the Development of Health Tourism in Iran as a Developing Country," Shiraz E-Medical Journal, vol. 26, no. 1, 2024, doi: 10.5812/semj-154350.
S. Alizadeh, "The Impact of Cultural and Security Factors on Health Tourism," Journal of Social Sciences and Tourism, vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 78-95, 2021.
K. Rahimi Mohammad, T. Shefaqat, A. Beiginia, and H. Jafari, "An Examination of the Status of Health Tourism Marketing in Selected Public and Private Hospitals in Yazd in 2021," Journal of Health Research in the Community, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 68-60, 2022. [Online]. Available: https://jhmi.sums.ac.ir/article_48897.html.
A. Tajzadeh Namin, M. Salimi, and A. Tajzadeh Namin, "Antecedents of Attracting Medical Tourists to Isfahan's Health Cities," Scientific-Research Quarterly of Tourism and Development, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 1-14, 2023.
Downloads
Published
Submitted
Revised
Accepted
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Seyyed Ali Tabaei (Author); Seyyed Mahmoud Shabgu Monsef; Narges Delafrooz, Ali Gholipour Soleimani (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
