Dental tourism: Examining tourist profiles, motivation and satisfaction

Despite the overwhelming interest in medical tourism research, knowledge in dental tourism, which is its subspecialty, remains limited. This study is the first to measure tourist profiles, travel motivation and satisfaction among inbound dental tourists in Malaysia. We purposely sampled twelve selec...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jaapar, M., Musa, G., Moghavvemi, S., Saub, R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:http://eprints.um.edu.my/17799/1/Dental_tourism_Examining_tourist_profiles%2C_motivation_and.pdf
http://eprints.um.edu.my/17799/
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261517717300511
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Institution: Universiti Malaya
Language: English
Description
Summary:Despite the overwhelming interest in medical tourism research, knowledge in dental tourism, which is its subspecialty, remains limited. This study is the first to measure tourist profiles, travel motivation and satisfaction among inbound dental tourists in Malaysia. We purposely sampled twelve selected private dental clinics in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Melaka and Penang; and distributed the questionnaires to their inbound dental tourists. A total of 196 inbound tourists responded to the questionnaire, mainly from Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. In order of importance, the main motivation factors were dental care quality, dental care information access, and cost-savings. Tourists were extremely satisfied with dental care services received in the country. While dental care quality, dental care information access and supporting services positively influenced tourist satisfaction; cost-savings and cultural similarities had negative influences. Based on the research findings, we propose some managerial and marketing recommendations. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.