The chapter focused on the developmental path of medical tourism with effect from ancient days of civilization till the present technological era. The journey of the medical tourists contributed with paramountcy to the social and economic development of the medical tourism industry. Across the globe, different nations emerged as hotspots for treating various diseases due to natural climatic factors, man-made efforts for better serviceability, cost, administration, infrastructure facilities, and many more. The rapidity of the development became prominent with the ignitability of the remarkable influence of branding and invasion of the gigantic technological waves, which eased out the repeated tasks of medical practitioners; on the one hand, seamless and trustworthy information was available to the medical migrants. The impeccable rendition of the traditional herbal and ayurvedically rich therapies and contemporary automated robotic projection would poise altruism in the medical tourism industry in future.
TopIntroduction
Aristotle articulated three primary ways in which persuasion takes place: the character of the spokesperson (ethos), stirring emotion (pathos), logical argument (logos), to persuade the listener (Kennedy, 2007), or in the modern scenario to persuade the consumer. The needs and wants of consumers were limited in the bygone days when food, clothing and shelter were the three much needed things in life. Luxury, comforts were the thoughts of the utopian world in the then period. People used to manage their livelihood with the barely available resources and the attitude to work hard also paved the way to live a healthy and hygienic life in contrast with the present complex worldly life.
Health tourism development dates back to 5000 years when batches of medical aspirants and medical researchers visited India in search of some suitable and sustainable healing methods. Ayurveda and Yoga emerged as the most trustworthy mechanisms of curing the persistent ailments and the same ideology continues even now among the spurring growth of application of the English medicines for a quick cure.
Medical tourism continued to flourish also in the Renaissance period. During the post renaissance period, the aristocrats travelled around and even reached the remote belts to quench the thirst of various baths and health retreats and ultimately to cure the perennial health disorders. In the period 1990s to 1997, India became a complete medical tourism spot with layers of different ayurvedic and yoga treatments. The Asian Economic crisis of 1997 collapsed the Asian currencies and triggered the Government to direct tourism branding in order to turn the country’s image to a destination for health tourism. Medical travelers are ready to pack their luggage to board an airplane to facilitate themselves with off-shore medical treatments such as face-lifts, by-pass surgery, and in-fertility related treatments. The Healthcare industry gradually delved into a primary source for the generation of both revenue and employment.
The development of medical tourism gained prominence with the blessed effects of modern marketing tools and technological penetration. Taking the marketing strategy into consideration, the process of branding provides companies with opportunities to efficiently increase confidence, buying behaviour, building loyalty, establishing appropriate market positions and subsequently increasing the brand profitability (Bagozzi et al., 2000). The augmentation of the technological forces transformed the wheels of medical tourism.
The paper would vividly focus on the phase wise development of medical tourism, its far-reaching popularity on account of branding and image and technological perforation. These disruptive forces of modern marketing tactics and technology driven architecture enabled the patients to exercise their choices in selecting the specific country and hospital for their affordable treatments. The very notable aspect is the importance of verbal communication along with hospital advertisement and price perception which altogether had a major role in establishing brand value among medical tourism-based hospitals. Rendition of classical therapeutic approach and present techno driven procedures coupled with impactful outcomes of branding would take India and many other countries to its next best height of medical tourism. It is evident from the paper that the ideas of the past are illuminated with magical touches of the present to glorify the sustainability of the future.
The development of medical tourism since the ancient period has been emphasized in the chapter so as to adore the intensity of the popularity of the natural treatment among the medical migrants. The chapter also highlighted the hidden driving factors attributable towards the development of the industry. The detailed statistics on medical tourism industry at national and international levels demonstrated the comparative cost structure of various treatments available to the medical tourists. The chapter has also brought to the fore how the influence of branding and the impact of technological invasion flourished the medical tourism industry.