Medical Tourism: A Concept, Implementation and Challenge in Organization of the Islamic Cooperation

Abstract

Tourism is a fast-growing sector, and medical tourism is no exception. The increasing Muslim population has led to Muslim-friendly medical tourism being intensified by Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries. This can be seen from the large number of Muslim tourists who seek Muslim-friendly services for medical tourism, so hospitality management is important. The method of this research is a systematic literature review, which comes from several internationally reputable papers in Scopus and rankings in Scimago. This shows that the quality of medical tourism papers has gone through a rigorous selection process. The results of this study indicate that medical tourism has many enthusiasts. Furthermore, technological readiness is needed for the effectiveness of medical tourism promotion because it can reach the whole world. Medical tourism facilities, distance, and culture in the destination country are considered by medical tourism tourists in making decisions. This research can be useful for medical tourism service providers to further improve services and for the government to improve infrastructure in the medical tourism sector in order to attract foreign tourists.