Health Tourism in Brazil: The City of Teresina Case

Abstract

In recent years, the global growth of the economy contributed to the significant increase of tourism in the world, where the movement of foreign exchange earnings doubled in the last ten years, spreading its effects in Brazil, and particularly, growth in the Northeast region, globalization and other short term changes. This work aims to presents how a Brazilian state, among those with lower income per capita in the Federation, such as Piauí, has a health care system in its capital which is a benchmark in Northeastern Brazil, influencing positively health tourism in this regims. The research deals with issues involving tourism as a product and service, having as a result a cluster of health enterprises in the city of Teresina, whose economic expression justifies its importance as a generator of income, employment, science and technology and a promoter of sustainable development in that city. © IFIP International Federation for Information Processing 2014.