The Impact of Quality of Service on Health Tourists’ Satisfaction of Medical Tourism in Western Province, Sri Lanka (original) (raw)

2021, Journal of Tourism Economics and Applied Research (JTEAR)

Tourism is a competitive and dynamic industry that requires the ability to adjust constantly to changing needs and desires of guests, as the guest's satisfaction, safety and enjoyment are the focus of tourism businesses. According to Sri Lanka Sustainable Tourism Development Project (2009), unique and native medical treatments and practices, availability of rare natural herbs, and the traditional background for attracting medical tourists to the destination. Medical tourism is considered a very service-oriented industry; therefore, tourists' gratification depends on how they receive the medication and other treatments rather than the nature of the Ayurvedic medicines. Service quality is one of the critical factors that affect the tourits' satisfaction. Researchers primarily focused on finding out how the service quality affected Foreign Tourists' Satisfaction with Medical Tourism in Western Province, Sri Lanka. Self-administered questionnaires have been used to gather data, and the quantitative research approach was used for this. Two hundred nine foreign health tourists have participated as the sample, and they have experienced Ayurveda medical treatments from health resorts in Western province. This has been carried out based on a non-probabilistic convenience sampling method. According to the results of this study, the service quality of health resorts significantly impacts foreign health tourists' satisfaction. Responsiveness, Reliability and Empathy outstandingly escalate the satisfaction of health tourists. After doing the study, it is noticeable the impact of service quality on tourists' satisfaction in medical tourism is very low in local and global contexts; this research helps to fill the gap in the existing literature. For managerial suggestions, organizations can identify which areas they need to improve and fine-tune to satisfy and be happier. As this study has been carried out only in the Western province in Sri Lanka can be carried out throughout other provinces as well in the future. There are other areas also to find out how other factors (prices, accessibility, and output quality) will affect health tourists' satisfaction.