About the Book
Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 89. Chapters: Accessible tourism, Agritourism, Alternative tourism, Archaeological tourism, Atomic tourism, Benefit tourism, Bicycle touring, Birth tourism, Boat sharing, Bookstore tourism, Booze cruise, Campustours, Channel hopping, Child sex tourism, Christian tourism, Culinary tourism, Cultural tourism, Dark tourism, Day-tripper, Dental tourism, Disaster tourism, Drug tourism, Dynamic packaging, Enotourism, Escorted tour, Excursion, Experimental travel, Extreme tourism, Female sex tourism, Garden tourism, Genealogy tourism, Geotourism, Ghetto tourism, Grand Tour, Guest ranch, Halal tourism, Heritage tourism, Jihadi tourism, Justice tourism, Kosher tourism, Life Beyond Tourism, List of adjectival tourisms, Literary tourism, Medical tourism, Militarism heritage tourism, Motorcycle touring, Music tourism, Nautical tourism, Package tour, Pop-culture tourism, Religious tourism, River cruise, Romance tours, Rural tourism, Sacred travel, Safari, Scenic route, Self-guided tour, Setjetting, Shark tourism, Slum tourism, Space tourism, Sports tourism, Spring break, Staycation, Suicide tourism, Tolkien tourism, Tombstone tourist, Tourism geography, Virtual tour, Volunteer travel, Walking tour, War tourism, Water tourism, Whale watching, Wildlife tourism. Excerpt: Medical tourism (MT) is patient movement from highly developed nations to other areas of the world for medical care, usually to find treatment at a lower cost. Medical tourism is different from the traditional model of international medical travel where patients generally journey from less developed nations to major medical centers in highly developed countries for medical treatment that is unavailable in their own communities. Services typically sought by travelers include elective procedures as well as complex specialized surgeries such as joint replacement (knee/hip), cardiac surgery, dental surgery, and cosmetic surgeries. Individuals with rare genetic disorders may travel to another country where treatment of these conditions is better understood. However, virtually every type of health care, including psychiatry, alternative treatments, convalescent care and even burial services are available. Over 50 countries have identified medical tourism as a national industry. The first recorded instance of medical tourism dates back thousands of years to when Greek pilgrims traveled from all over the Mediterranean to the small territory in the Saronic Gulf called Epidauria. This territory was the sanctuary of the healing god Asklepios. Epidauria became the original travel destination for medical tourism. Spa towns and sanitariums may be considered an early form of medical tourism. In eighteenth century England, for example, patients visited spas because they were places with supposedly health-giving mineral waters, treating diseases from gout to liver disorders and bronchitis. Factors that have led to the increasing popularity of medical travel include the high cost of health care, long wait times for certain procedures, the ease and affordability of international travel, and improvements in both technology and standards of care in many countries. The avoidance of waiting times is the leading factor for medical tourism from the UK, whereas in the US, the main reason is
