A systematic review of traditional health tourism: A priori of wellness tourism

Abstract

This systematic literature review explores the research stream of traditional health tourism (THT) by covering a time frame of two decades. This research aimed to identify the key research areas and themes in the THT literature and proposed a research framework for further investigation. A total of 29 selected articles were analyzed and classified into seven categories, which included national contexts, products and services, driving factors, challenges in the development of THT and so forth. The analysis of the selected articles involved providing a descriptive analysis of the articles, followed by discussion of the content of the articles according to the themes. Additionally, gaps were identified in the literature on THTs. The research framework proposed in this review comprises eleven recommendations, which act as a roadmap for future investigations, encouraging researchers to engage in cross-cultural analyses, mixed-methods studies, and further investigations into different critical factors that affect THT. Thus, the review has significant implications because it provides a future research agenda, and the practical implications can be extended to the tourism industry and policymakers.