Development of Methodology for Identifying the Target Clients of Medical Tourism Using Internet Technologies

Abstract

Medical tourism is developing dynamically as a new direction formed at the intersection of medicine and tourism. The country has the necessary prerequisites for development, especially in the segment of medical resort. Sanatorium-and-health-resort services are in demand. The number of tourists who choose medical treatment and rehabilitation as the main purpose of their trip is growing. The rehabilitation program for those who have had COVID-19 became especially relevant. The majority of sanatoriums have developed a special treatment program for such clients, which is in high demand and is successfully implemented through tour operators and travel agencies as a special type of tourism. Little attention is paid to the marketing of medical tourism and consumer segmentation. The analysis of this area and the identification of the target tourism segment are complicated by the lack of statistics and methods for assessing the target clients of medical tourism. The study aims to develop a methodology for identifying the target clients of medical tourism by evaluating Internet statistics data on the medicine and tourism segments and identifying the corresponding average characteristics of medical tourist. To identify the characteristics inherent in the target clients of medical tourism, it is proposed to analyze characteristics of the medical and tourist website visitors. Then to obtain average characteristics of both groups for users, which may be interested in medical tourism. As a result of the study, a new methodology for assessing the target clients of medical tourism was obtained based on the analysis of website traffic.