Consequences of Health Tourism Development: A Review of Benefits, Risks, and Strategic Policy Implications

Abstract

Health tourism is a continuously expanding sector in many countries worldwide. In 2004, health tourism produced $40 billion globally at a rapidly growing rate. By 2015, it had produced $51 billion, with a projected growth of $125 billion by 2021. In addition to health tourism’s impact on economic growth, it generally has both positive and negative effects on both countries of destination and origin. The main purpose of this study was to identify the consequences of the development of health tourism and to bring to light an appropriate strategic plan for the sustainable development of health tourism. To achieve this goal, a systematic literature review was conducted in 2022, utilizing the PRISMA methodology through electronic databases (PubMed and Google Scholar) searching for relevant articles published after 2015. Initially, 6,396 papers were found, of which 46 met the inclusion criteria. Papers in Greek or English analyzing the (economic) effects of health or medical tourism were considered as eligible for review. Positive effects for the destination country, are related to the sectors of employment, education, economy, tourism, health, and quality of life, as well as the national level. For the country of origin, the main benefits are regarding the decongestion of the health system, the decrease of the waiting period, and the reduction in the cost of treatment of certain incidents. For the country of receipt, the main negative effects are related to the health system (e.g increase in the cost of health services leading to unequal access and increase in the phenomenon of induced demand). For the country of origin, the negative effects are related to increase in the brain drain phenomenon, increased risk of disease transmission, decrease in revenue in the health system, and decrease in productivity. In general, the existing studies seem to be focused on the positive effects, leaving gaps for the negative effects. Also, the majority of the studies concentrate on the destination country, leaving very little available information regarding the effects and risks for the country of origin.