Would You Like a Safari With Your Lasik Surgery? The Supply of Medical Tourism

Milica Z. Bookman and Karla R. Bookman

Chapter Chapter 4 in Medical Tourism in Developing Countries, 2007, pp 65-93 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract In the 1970s, tourists from Europe and Japan traversed long distances to be treated by Tony Agpaoa, a Philippine faith healer. To facilitate the medical transactions, Mr. Agpaoa put his patients up at his own hotel in Baguio City. Patients were saved the trouble of seeking accommodations and while there, were able to partake in Philippine food and culture in an exotic landscape. While the twenty-first century medical tourism offered in LDCs differ in scope, breadth, and technology from what Mr. Agpaoa offered, in their essence the transactions are the same: medical services are being packaged according to their particular setting. Be it the King Hussein Cancer Center in Jordan, or Cira Garcia Clinic in Cuba, or even Mr. Agpaoa’s somewhat rustic facilities in the Philippines, medical tourism entails the supply of health services marketed so as to reach the demand source that sustains them. To enhance the medical experience, tie-ins are offered to tourist services. All in all, both Tony Agpaoa and large modern hospitals share commercial opportunities and management challenges of the medical tourism industry.

Keywords: Private Sector; Public Sector; Direct Foreign Investment; Foreign Investment; Tourism Industry (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2007
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palchp:978-0-230-60565-7_4

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.palgrave.com/9780230605657

DOI: 10.1057/9780230605657_4

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Palgrave Macmillan Books from Palgrave Macmillan
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().