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UPSI Digital Repository (UDRep)
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| Abstract : |
| Medical tourism is increasingly becoming popular and the competitions are growing among choices for global community. Health tourism is relatively new in Malaysia, however the emergence of this industry was started since the year 1997. One of the earliest forms of health tourism that of visiting mineral or hot springs has also existed in Malaysia for some time. Recently, the development of health tourism has been extended when there are more and more private hospitals and medical centers offering their healthcare services especially in major cities. Therefore, Malaysia is optimistic over the growth prospects on health tourism and it is also included in the Ninth Malaysia Plan (RMK-9) as one of the possible area in generating revenue for the nation economic. Furthermore, other neighbouring countries such as Singapore, Indonesia and Philippine are now actively promoting health tourism, there is a need for Malaysia to be competitive in providing the highest quality for healthcare services in order to position itself as the leading health tourism in this region. Basically, this research objective is identifying the level of knowledge on health tourism amongst the local residents by using the marketing model namely AIDA Model. The research findings found that most of the respondents possess a moderate level of knowledge and they recalled it to the products or services offered by service providers. Furthermore, the respondents also presented a positive attitude to engage in health tourism experience, mainly through their interest and desire. The promotion via advertisement might be suggested to enhance the knowledge and provide sufficient information for the local residents. The advertisement should be published in local language and the information delivered to public should be true and presented in ethical manner. So, public are not being cheated with the untrue story. Another significant aspect of information needed which makes the local residents believed that health tourism is safer by providing sufficient information on service quality, supported with good infrastructure and handle by well-trained staffs. The quality of information disclosure by service providers will enhance the demand amongst local and international medical tourists as well. |
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