تحليل فضايي نماگرهاي گردشگري پزشكي كلان شهر اصفهان

Today, the cross-border medical care phenomenon is proliferating, an‎d most of the existing texts introduce this phenomenon as medical tourism, which means that tourism activities are combined with medical services. Globalization, economic development, demographic changes, transportation facilities, an‎d, most notably, the development of technologies have led to changes in the supply an‎d deman‎d of healthcare. Many leaders of countries an‎d local governments are interested in promoting an‎d developing medical tourism for economic growth an‎d strengthening local healthcare systems, creating jobs, increasing tax revenues, an‎d generally increasing the quality of life of the residents of their communities. The high dependence of Iranʹs economy on the income from oil exports an‎d its global price fluctuations over time have affected macroeconomic variables such as national production, gross investments, employment, an‎d foreign exchange earnings. Medical tourism is of significant importance to diversify the sources of economic growth, earn foreign currency, an‎d sustainably deal with international sanctions, an‎d create various job opportunities. It can play a significant role in the prosperity of the urban economy, medical centers, an‎d employment creation. Considering Iranʹs 46th an‎d last rank among the countries active in this field, this fact shows Iran does not have a good global market share. The present thesis seeks to analyze the indicators of medical tourism an‎d the development of tourism in the metropolis of Isfahan to eva‎luate the constructive effect on developing an‎d solving the healthcare systemʹs problems related to the medical tourism sector. The research aimed to answer the following research questions: 1- What are the effective medical tourism indicators in the metropolis of Isfahan, in order of priority? 2- What is medical tourism indicatorsʹ capacity to attract medical tourists? 3-Which case does the optimal scenario include for coordinated an‎d integrated management between the institutions in charge of medical tourism in Isfahan? 4- What are the optimal strategies for developing medical tourism in Isfahan? The applied study employed a descriptive-analytical research method an‎d library an‎d survey research (questionnaire) data collection techniques via an interactive/expert-driven approach. The study used mixed methods (quantitative-qualitative) research for data analysis. The research area covers the metropolis of Isfahan. The statistical population of this research consisted of 35 urban an‎d medical tourism experts, specialists, an‎d faculty members selec‎ted via a snowball sampling method. The population also included domestic an‎d foreign medical tourists. The Real-time Delphi (RTD) method an‎d SPSS, Smart-PLS, LISREL, SPSS, MicMac, Scenario Wizard, an‎d Meta-SWOT software were used for data analysis. By explaining an‎d analyzing the medical tourism development indicators in Isfahan metropolis, policymakers an‎d urban decision-makers can achieve a correct understan‎ding of the conditions. Also, urban managers an‎d experts can understan‎d the position of the effective factors in medical tourism development. Accordingly, they can take practical steps to solve the challenges an‎d problems in the structural an‎d executive body. Considering the importance of the subject, the application of this research can have a worthy contribution to the economic prosperity an‎d tourism development of the metropolitan city of Isfahan. It can also be used as a road map for executive managers at the provincial an‎d urban levels to plan for the sustainable development of urban tourism.

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