Using DEMATEL Method for Medical Tourism Development in Taiwan

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to find the strategy about how to develop the medical tourism in Taiwan. Tourism is a low-polluting industry. Many countries develop tourism industry actively. And the tourism pattern get diversify gradually. Combining tourism and medical services into medical tourism has been becoming a trend. This study discusses the development of medical tourism in Taiwan by DEMATEL. DEMATEL method can confirm interrelationships among diverse factors and identify the key factors. This study with the structure divided into five main aspects, including the strengthening of infrastructure and tourist services, the clarity of market segmentation, marketing planning, as well as government policy. The results show that the internet can provide detailed information on medical tourism and strengthen the marketing in order to develop medical tourism industry in Taiwan. From the results, it is suggest the government should to actively promote marketing and construct the web that can provide abundant information of medical tourism.