ABSTRACT
Objectives: In general, the demand for medical tourism is influenced by several factors. The first is an aging population with a growing health problem and discretionary income and leisure. The second is changes in health behaviours that focus on disease prevention. Research seeks the answer to the changes in the demand for medical tourism in recent years in health spas. Method(s): We conducted secondary research, based on official data of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office. We examined the types of baths, the passenger traffic of the baths, the services used with National Health Insurance Fund Administration (NHIFA) support, the turnover of the baths Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, data for the year 2020 were not taken into account, so we are examining the period between 2012 and 2019 for health spas in Hungary. Result(s): During the period under review, between 2012 and 2019 the demand of spas showed an increase of 15 %, which was 6.6 million people. The number of visitors to the spas increased by an average of 945,000 per year, which means an average increase of 2.5 %. 92.6 % of spa visitors used the services without NHIFA reimbursement in 2012, which increased to 94.7 % by 2019, an annual average increase of 0.3 %. In connection with the turnover of the baths, there is no data for years 2012 and 2013, in the period between 2014-2019, it increased by 56.31 million HUF, an average increase of 11.26 million HUF per year. Conclusion(s): The continuous development of health spas resulted in the growth of spa favourites in Hungary. The increase in the number of spa favourites would mean to increase the scope of the NHIFA supported treatments and the degree of subsidies, which consists of the aspirations and suggestions of the Hungarian Baths Association. Copyright © 2022
ABSTRACT
Objectives: Our aim was to assess a dental service provider’s utilization by domestic and foreign patients, the changes of prices and the purchased hotel services in Hungary since the start of the Covid pandemic. Methods: The closed questions concerned sociodemographic factors and access to health and other services. Quantitative cross-sectional analysis and non-random sampling were used (N=1350). We used the data of 2019 as the starting date. Descriptive statistics (mean, absolute, and relative frequency) were used for data management and processed using Microsoft Excel. The use of services was grouped according to ordinal and nominal independent variables / explanatory variables (gender, age group, income group). Results: During the pandemic, besides the low number of Hungarian patients, the amount of Swiss, Belgian patients have decreased (-35%), while the number of northern Italian and Austrian patients have increased (39%). Examination of foreign patients have decreased by 67% in the assessed dental service provider. While 25% of Hungarian patients came for tooth extraction, 55% for implants, 30% for removable dentures, 30% for non-removable dentures, foreigners rather chose oral surgery (10%), implants (5%), removable ceramic (35%) and other dentures (30%). During the pandemic, the price of ceramic dentures rose by 11.9%, removable ceramic dentures by 9.6%, oral surgery and bone replacement by 3.6%. Hungary has a price difference of 31% between the average prices in the sample and those used in the European Union, 49% in the case of bone replacement and 51% in the case of minor oral surgery. Conclusions: Despite the border closure due to Covid, dental traffic has increased. This is because dentists accept status checks made by in other countries by a mutual agreement. Foreign insurance companies are offering increasingly favourable insurance terms. It is still worth coming to Hungary for dental treatment, considering the accommodation and travel costs.
ABSTRACT
Objectives: In general, the demand for medical tourism is influenced by several factors. The first is an aging population with a growing health problem and discretionary income and leisure. The second is changes in health behaviours that focus on disease prevention. Research seeks the answer to the changes in the demand for medical tourism in recent years in spa hotels. Methods: We conducted secondary research, based on official statistics of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office. We examined the number of beds available, the number of accommodation providers operating, guest traffic and the number of overnight stays. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, data for the year 2020 were not taken into account, so we are examining the period between 2012 and 2019 for spa hotels in Hungary. Results: During the period 2012-2019, the average proportion of spa hotels among hotels was 3.32 %. The guest turnover of the spa hotels increased by 360,000 in the period under review, a growth of 51,000 was an average annual. During this period in 2677 increased rentable beds in the hotel spa, which represents 3.39 % of the average annual capacity growth. The distribution of the number of guest nights in spa hotels compared to hotels and commercial accommodation was the lowest in 2013 and the highest in 2015. The distribution of guest nights in spa hotels could be increased to a greater extent compared to hotels than compared to commercial accommodation. Conclusions: Overall, the demand side of tourism responded positively to the recent developments of spa tourism. Among foreigners and domestic people, the spa hotels of the settlements affected by medical tourism are becoming increasingly popular.