Impact of the Health Tourism on Promoting Social Well-being of the Host Community

Abstract

Background & objectives: One of the dominant groups in the tourism industry is the host community, whose perceptions and attitudes about the effect of tourism on destination are decisive for the tourism development, and also for planning and management of destinations. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the impact of health tourism on promoting social well-being of the host community. Methods: This research, based on both the applied purpose and method of the study, was a descriptive survey with a questionnaire that was conducted in the summer of 2019. The statistical population of the study was residents of Sarein city with a sample size of 200 people who were selected by stratified sampling. To analyze the data, structural equations with SMARTPLS-3 software were used. Results: The results showed that health tourism development with path coefficient of 0.582 had a positive and significant effect on the promotion of social well-being. In evaluation the impact of health tourism dimensions, the results showed that economic, social and cultural factors of health tourism with coefficients of 0.496, 0.356 and 0.342, respectively, had positive and significant effects on social welfare of the host community. Conclusion: Tourism industry is one of the industries that have the most communication with the people in the community. Residents of health tourism destinations have different viewpoints on benefits and costs of tourism. Health tourism is one of the factors promoting the social well-being of the host community in the Sarein city and the role of economic factors is more than other factors.