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Antecedents of perceived beneficial destination image: a study on Middle-Eastern medical tourists visit Iran


Purpose
This study aims to investigate the relationship between travel motivation, perceived risks, travel constraints and perceived beneficial destination image that leads to visit intention among Middle-Eastern medical tourists. Some previous studies have explained these factors in detail, however, studies that explore the relationship between these factors in the Iranian context is scarce. Moreover, there are relatively very few studies, which focused on actual medical tourists in empirical investigation, therefore, there is still a lack of clarity in the literature regarding travel behavior and travel decision-making of medical tourists.


Design/methodology/approach
A quantitative study was performed on 161 Middle-Eastern medical tourists who visited Iran in early months of 2018. Purposive sampling method was used to collect the data from two private hospitals. Structural equation modeling with partial least square (PLS) approach was used and PLS 3.2.8 data analysis tool was used to test the hypotheses.


Findings
The data analysis results have found that perceived destination image was the strongest predictor of visit intention among medical tourists. The results have also found a positive effect of travel motivation and negative effect of perceived travel risks on perceived beneficial destination image.


Originality/value
This study aims to enrich the body of knowledge by investigating the relationship between the factors, which have important roles in travel behavior and decision-making of medical tourists. The study also bridges the gap in the literature by explaining the behavior of actual medical tourists. The findings of the study provide the much needed insight on the behavioral intention of medical tourists, which will help the service providers and policymakers to reform their strategies and policies accordingly.
