A Study of relationships between medical tourism potential and behavioral intentions of medical tourists in Thailand
Keywords:
Potential, medical tourism, behavioral intentionsAbstract
This study aims to find out the levels of potential related to medical tourism industry and the levels of behavioral intentions of medical tourists in Thailand, and to find out the relationships between the potential of medical tourism and the behavioral intentions of medical tourists in Thailand. The research tool was a questionnaire consisting of 2 sections: the potential of medical tourism industry, and the behavioral intentions. The reliability of the questionnaire was .797, with a 5-level rating scale arranged in ascending order. The subjects were 400 foreigners travelling to obtain medical services in Thailand. The number of questionnaires returned was 374 copies or 93.50 percent. The data collected were analyzed with descriptive statistics: means and standard deviation to determine the levels of variables, and inferential statistics: Pearson correlation analysis to examine the relationships between variables.
The study found that overall, medical tourism potential of Thailand and behavioral intentions were both at a high level.
Three variables had a very high level of positive relationship with the behavioral intentions of medical tourists: 1) medical service quality,
2) human resources for services, and 3) natural resources and cultures for tourism. Four variables had a high level of positive relationship with the behavioral intentions of medical tourists: 1) infrastructure and communications, 2) transportation, 3) price, and 4) safety and security system. The only variable with a moderate level of positive relationship with the behavioral intentions was promotion and support of medical tourism. All variables had statistical significance at the level of .01
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