Korean and conventional medicine tourism industry trends as indicated in medical tourism advertisement images: qualitative research using data from medical Korea 2015

ABSTRACTThis study analyzed advertisement images targeting international audiences of South Korean medical facilities (traditional Korean and conventional medicine) participating in Medical Korea 2015 using thematic content analysis. The image categories most often used in conventional medicine were medical procedures, facilities, and staff photos, while those for traditional Korean medicine were medical procedures, staff photos, and images. Conventional medicine consistently presented high SERVQUAL tangibility scores, whereas Korean medicine displayed distinct associations between SERVQUAL categories and image size. Analyses suggested specialty preference by language. These findings may be used to recognize key messages in medical tourism and contribute to its systematic promotion.Abbreviations: KHIDI: Korea health industry development institute; SERVQUAL: service quality