Investigating the Factors Affecting the Demand for Medical Tourism in Mashhad

As one of the largest and most profitable sub-sectors of tourism worldwide, Medical Tourism is considered an economic activity involving service exchanges, representing the link between at least medicine and tourism sectors. Therefore, this study sought to investigate the factors affecting the demands for medical tourism in Mashhad using the Multinomial Logit Model, which was estimated by Stata 16 software. The statistical population of the study comprised of domestic medical tourists who visited Mashhad in 2021, out of whom 150 people were selected as the participants. The dependent variable of the study was the demand for medical tourism in Mashhad, that was divided into low, high, and medium classes, and the required data was collected by administering a questionnaire. Accordingly, it was found that an increase in the quality of medical and urban services, low medical costs, and an increase in the tourists’ income would increase the demand for medical tourism in Mashhad. Moreover, the quality of medical services’ sub-indices and urban factors were also evaluated separately by the tourists who participated in this study.