The Influence of Culture on Medical Tourism Destination Image and Medical Travel Decision

Destination image and its relationship with travel destination has long been studied in the field of tourism. As people travel more all over the world, the tourism industry has grown to include many types of tourism such as edutourism, medical tourism, dark torusim etc. This paper discussed the relationship between destination image and travel decision specific to medical tourism. The study was a part of a larger study. It was the initial stage of data collection. Hence, any conclusion is still considered as preliminary pending full completion of a larger sample size. This preliminary study was conducted to analyse the influence of cultural factors in medical tourism destination image, as well as, the relationship between these factors with medical travel decisions. The data collection was conducted among 33 medical tourists in selected private hospitals and medical centres that have been receiving tourists who seek medical tourism in Malaysia. The sample for this preliminary study was chosen to at least gather some initial insights about the real sample. Specific locations included Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Perak and Melaka. Taken into consideration that all analysis followed proper procedures and validity was tested. At this point, findings may suggest that there were significant influence of cultural factors towards medical tourism destination image. The findings also showed that there were relationships between medical tourism destination image and medical travel decision. This preliminary study provided theoretical and practical implications for Malaysia medical tourism in expanding the development of tourism industry particularly for medical destination.