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Medical Tourists in Kolkata

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Part of the book series: Global Perspectives on Health Geography ((GPHG))

Abstract

Evaluation of the factors that motivate tourists to travel to a foreign country for medical treatment, spend at least a night at the destination region and use the biomedical resources of the host country for his/her well-being and analysis of the major characteristics of such trips is the main objective of this chapter. Demographic profile, trip characteristics and major motivational factors were examined pertaining to their destination product, services and facilities. An ethnographic study found a significant difference in medical tour characteristics and motivational factors based on the nationality of the medical tourists visiting Kolkata.

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Rai, A. (2019). Medical Tourists in Kolkata. In: Medical Tourism in Kolkata, Eastern India. Global Perspectives on Health Geography. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73272-5_5

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