Identify and Formulate Strategies for the Development of Health Tourism (Case Study: Tabriz Metropolitan)

Nowadays health tourism is one of the most developing sections of tourism industry in the world and is being raised as an attractive industry in the fields of economy, job creation, and introduction of cultures and even for developing political interests for countries. Hence, the purpose of this study is to evaluate strengths, health tourism opportunities of Tabriz Metropolitan and to provide executive strategies to develop health tourism. The research methodology of this study is descriptive - analytics with functional nature. Data were collected by interviewing method and they were analyzed by strategic SOAR and ANP models. The statistical population are the population of Tabriz, tourists, officials concern with tourism affairs, professors and experts (about 160000 people), and the sample size based on Cochrane formula was estimated about 400 people. According to the results, Tabriz with its natural attractions (appropriate capabilities of health spas, hydrotherapy, mud bath), as well as various medical specialists, different medical capabilities and common borders and neighboring with Turkey, Azerbaijan, Armenian. This city is capable of being a successful sample of tourism, especially health tourism. Some effective strategies to develop health tourism in Tabriz are unified legislation for health tourism, government macro policy to remove the obstacles of medical tourism, providing banking facilities to promote the quality of services and facilities to coordinate the influential elements in urban tourism planning system, and facilitating the issuance of visa for foreign tourists, with the scores of, respectively, 0, 1446 and 0. 1256, based on ANP model.