Mainland Chinese Tourists' Decision-making on Medical Tourism in Thailand

Abstract

Medical tourism -- a combination of medical service and traveling has developed rapidly in recent years. The development of medical tourism has not only brought the vigorous development of the tourism industry, but also promoted and improved the medical technology and service in host countries. Thailand as a world-famous tourism destination is actively building its "Asian Health Tourism Center" international medical tourism brand. In 2016, Thailand attracts about 8.75 million Chinese tourists, making China the largest tourist source market for Thailand. In 2017, the Thai government launched a visa-free policy for Chinese residents for entry into Thailand for medical treatment to attract more Chinese tourists for medical tourism services industry. The purpose of this research is to explore mainland Chinese tourists' perception of medical tourism in Thailand. This research adopted mixed methods approach. 400 valid questionnaires were collected from mainland Chinese tourists in Phuket and Bangkok, Thailand. Interviews were conducted with hospitals and a medical traveling agency and observations conducted on hospital websites. The results indicated that the majority mainland Chinese tourists were interested in medical tourism in Thailand. The most significant and important factors influencing respondents' decision making included medical service suppliers (excellent doctor's skill, quality of treatment and medical dispute can be good resolved) and medical support service (accessible language communication). Both medical service providers and medical agency should take active marketing strategy to attract mainland Chinese potential medical tourists, for example, more publicity in main Chinese social media.