Pathology of Behaviors in Medical Tourism and Providing an Optimal Pattern of Behavior in the Face of Medical Tourists

As one of the country's revenue-generating industries, medical tourism is an integral part of the economy. As the conduct of medical tourism hosts has a considerable influence on the satisfaction of visitors and the growth of this business, the current study aims to establish a model of optimal behavior while interacting with medical tourists. Due to a lack of appropriate behavioral patterns in dealing with medical tourists, medical tourists' dissatisfaction has increased, and Iran has not been able to make progress as expected in this industry, despite the importance of the tourism industry in the global industry and Iran's high capacity to enter it. This research was of applied purpose, and in terms of method, it was qualitative and a single case study. The statistical population of foreign patients had traveled to Urmia during the research period, and they were also specialists in the area and suppliers of medical and lodging services. Interviews were used to collect data until the point of theoretical saturation. The STAR model is the basis of the data analysis technique. After collecting and analyzing interview data using the STAR model, a desirable behavioral model was given. The position section identified two major themes of supportive and inhibiting factors. In the task category, there were two main themes of service provider conduct and upstream activities; in the actions category, there were two major themes of soft actions and hard actions; and in the results area, there were two major themes of positive and negative results.