Looking at the Future of Medical Tourism in Asia

Despite the popularity of ‘medical tourism' (which involves travel to a foreign destination for primarily medical reasons) as a thriving global industry in recent times, a comprehensive model that emphasizes the decision-making process from the patient's perspective is lacking. In the current paper, the author develops a framework based on the protection motivation theory and designs a robust model, that focuses on how prospective Western patients intend to seek medical treatment in Asian countries. Through an extensive review of extant literature, the author presents five propositions involving key elements of the theoretical framework and makes insightful projections about the future of this flourishing industry. The author believes that this research will immensely benefit the hospitality industry and healthcare practitioners and patients.