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Travel behaviour among inbound medical tourists in Kuala Lumpur

Despite recording the highest growth among tourism sub-sectors [Dhesi, D. (2009, March 25). Medical tourism rises in Malaysia despite economic downturn. The Star Online. Retrieved from http://www.malaysiahealthcare.com/; Leonard, T. (2009, July 24). Medical tourists to bring in RM 540 million by 201...

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Main Authors: Musa, G., Thirumoorthy, T., Doshi, D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis (Routledge) 2012
Subjects:
GV Recreation Leisure
Online Access:http://eprints.um.edu.my/10430/1/00007082_60058.pdf
http://eprints.um.edu.my/10430/
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spelling my.um.eprints.104302014-11-04T06:36:11Z http://eprints.um.edu.my/10430/ Travel behaviour among inbound medical tourists in Kuala Lumpur Musa, G. Thirumoorthy, T. Doshi, D. GV Recreation Leisure Despite recording the highest growth among tourism sub-sectors [Dhesi, D. (2009, March 25). Medical tourism rises in Malaysia despite economic downturn. The Star Online. Retrieved from http://www.malaysiahealthcare.com/; Leonard, T. (2009, July 24). Medical tourists to bring in RM 540 million by 2010. Retrieved from http:// www.malaysiahealthcare.com/; Tourism Malaysia. (2008). Profile of tourist by selected markets 2008. Kuala Lumpur: Tourism Malaysia], little is known empirically with regard to travel behaviour among inbound medical tourists in Malaysia. This study examined the demographic profile, travel motivation, healthcare consumption, and expenditure behaviour among them in Kuala Lumpur. Using the combination of purposeful and convenience sampling, a total of 138 questionnaires were completed, returned, and analysed. The majority of the respondents were female, middle aged, travelling with two others and Indonesians. Their main travel motivation factors were ‘value for money’, ‘excellent medical services’, ‘supporting services’, ‘cultural similarity’, and ‘religious factor’ in descending order of importance. Medical treatment, cosmetic procedure, surgical procedure, and medical check-up were important healthcare services sought after by the respondents. On average, medical tourists spent MYR 26,844.19 per visit, with females and tourists of European descent contributing significantly more. Tourists from ASEAN had stronger motivation of ‘cultural similarity’ compared with other tourists. This paper is unique in providing the empirical evidence of the city’s unique selling points (pull factors) in attracting inbound medical tourists. It also highlights the potential economic contribution and some managerial implications in terms of marketing and product development. Taylor & Francis (Routledge) 2012 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://eprints.um.edu.my/10430/1/00007082_60058.pdf Musa, G. and Thirumoorthy, T. and Doshi, D. (2012) Travel behaviour among inbound medical tourists in Kuala Lumpur. Current Issues in Tourism, 15 (6). pp. 525-543. ISSN 1368-3500
institution Universiti Malaya
building UM Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Malaya
content_source UM Research Repository
url_provider http://eprints.um.edu.my/
language English
topic GV Recreation Leisure
spellingShingle GV Recreation Leisure
Musa, G.
Thirumoorthy, T.
Doshi, D.
Travel behaviour among inbound medical tourists in Kuala Lumpur
description Despite recording the highest growth among tourism sub-sectors [Dhesi, D. (2009, March 25). Medical tourism rises in Malaysia despite economic downturn. The Star Online. Retrieved from http://www.malaysiahealthcare.com/; Leonard, T. (2009, July 24). Medical tourists to bring in RM 540 million by 2010. Retrieved from http:// www.malaysiahealthcare.com/; Tourism Malaysia. (2008). Profile of tourist by selected markets 2008. Kuala Lumpur: Tourism Malaysia], little is known empirically with regard to travel behaviour among inbound medical tourists in Malaysia. This study examined the demographic profile, travel motivation, healthcare consumption, and expenditure behaviour among them in Kuala Lumpur. Using the combination of purposeful and convenience sampling, a total of 138 questionnaires were completed, returned, and analysed. The majority of the respondents were female, middle aged, travelling with two others and Indonesians. Their main travel motivation factors were ‘value for money’, ‘excellent medical services’, ‘supporting services’, ‘cultural similarity’, and ‘religious factor’ in descending order of importance. Medical treatment, cosmetic procedure, surgical procedure, and medical check-up were important healthcare services sought after by the respondents. On average, medical tourists spent MYR 26,844.19 per visit, with females and tourists of European descent contributing significantly more. Tourists from ASEAN had stronger motivation of ‘cultural similarity’ compared with other tourists. This paper is unique in providing the empirical evidence of the city’s unique selling points (pull factors) in attracting inbound medical tourists. It also highlights the potential economic contribution and some managerial implications in terms of marketing and product development.
format Article
author Musa, G.
Thirumoorthy, T.
Doshi, D.
author_facet Musa, G.
Thirumoorthy, T.
Doshi, D.
author_sort Musa, G.
title Travel behaviour among inbound medical tourists in Kuala Lumpur
title_short Travel behaviour among inbound medical tourists in Kuala Lumpur
title_full Travel behaviour among inbound medical tourists in Kuala Lumpur
title_fullStr Travel behaviour among inbound medical tourists in Kuala Lumpur
title_full_unstemmed Travel behaviour among inbound medical tourists in Kuala Lumpur
title_sort travel behaviour among inbound medical tourists in kuala lumpur
publisher Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
publishDate 2012
url http://eprints.um.edu.my/10430/1/00007082_60058.pdf
http://eprints.um.edu.my/10430/
_version_ 1643688797369532416
score 13.211869

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