Identifying the related factors of health tourism in the epidemic of COVID-19

ABSTRACT

Introduction: covid 19 has had an undeniable impact on various sectors of the economy and the tourism sector, including health tourism. Health tourism has had a significant impact on the prevalence of corona due to its direct relationship with people's health. The purpose of this study is was to identify related factors of health tourism on covid-19. Methods: he current research is a qualitative research and was done with the theme analysis method. Data collection has been done using semi-structured interviews with health tourism experts and health tourists. Targeted sampling continued until theoretical saturation was reached, and a total of 14 samples were selected. Results: The results showed that related factors of health tourism on covid 19 epidemic was in both micro and macro levvels. In the micro domain, three categories of factors, including factors related to health tourism services, factors related to tourism ancillary services, and factors related to health tourists, have been affected by covid 19. In the macro sector, the related factors of health tourism on covid 19 epidemic has been in 4 sectors economic, technological, political-legal and cultural-social. Conclusion: Based on the results of the research, things like the lack of equipment due to its allocation to the corona sectors, the expansion of online services, and the lack of specialized human resources have affected health tourism. In the factors related to ancillary services, unused capacities have increased and this discussion has led to the closure of some sectors. This issue will reduce the capacity of ancillary services in the post-corona period and will be a threat to the development of health tourism. In the tourist sector, Corona has led to an increase in the general awareness of tourists as well as an increase in health concerns, and price sensitivity has decreased in relation to health issues.