EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: This study examined the impact of employee satisfaction with management and coworkers on their performance as medical tourism facilitators. The proposed hypotheses were tested with structural equation modeling based on data collected from major hospitals in South Korea. Results supported assumptions that satisfaction with management is positively correlated with customer orientation and job satisfaction of medical tourism facilitators, as well as with the assumption that satisfaction with coworkers has a direct impact on customer orientation. This study has practical implications as organizations develop effective internal marketing (i.e., communication) strategies to improve the performance of medical tourism facilitators.
Travel motivations, perceived risks and travel constraints, along with the attributes and characteristics of medical tourism destinations, are important issues in medical tourism. Although the importance of these factors is already known, a comprehensive theoretical model of the decision-making process of medical tourists has yet to be established, analysing the intricate relationships between the different variables involved. This article examines a large body of literature on both medical and conventional tourism in order to propose a comprehensive theoretical framework of medical tourism decision-making. Many facets of this complex phenomenon require further empirical investigation.