Ο ρόλος του Ιατρικού Τουρισμού στην οικονομική ανάπτυξη της Ελλάδας

Abstract

Medical Tourism is one of the oldest types of tourism, as it originates from ancient Greece. However, in recent years it has been growing more and more in about sixty countries in the world, with Greece claiming a significant share in this market. The object of the present work is the projection of the current situation for the Medical Tourism sector in Greece and its research goal to emerge if this sector could contribute to the economic development of the country. The methodology followed is a bibliographic review of the most recent studies on the subject. The main conclusion of the research is that Greece has great comparative advantages in the field of Medical Tourism which are required to utilize in order to improve this "tourism product" and increase its respective share in the world market. Then, the contribution of Medical Tourism in its economic development will be very important, thanks to the increased tourist receipts throughout the year and especially to the creation of new, stable jobs.