According to (Smith & Puczkó, 2015) cosmetic tourism has risen in recent years due to the price of the procedure, the holiday experience and also shorter waiting periods abroad. However, what effects does this have on the countries providing these services?
Numerous destinations use companies such as MEDTOUR to boost the tourism within their country, this has shown to be a success as when travelling for cosmetic care rather than health care, the patient is usually healthy and willing to explore the destination as well as participate in some of the activities the place has to offer (Liang, Choi, Joppe & Lee, 2019)- boosting the revenue of the destination. Not only this but if surgery is performed correctly the patient is advised to return to the country for post op check ups (Flawless, n.d.), which again means tourism and revenue will rise.
Initially we would see people travelling from less developed countries to wealthier ones in search of treatments not available at home, however this has reversed and many people are now travelling to undeveloped destinations in seek of the same procedures at a lower price, with a market worth over $50 billion and growing (Livingston, 2015), “This new trend has a driving effect on the economies of countries thanks to improvement in technology and transportation.” (Horowitz et al 2007: 2)
However, not all affects seen can be positive. Many customers can be dubious to have surgery in countries which are seen to have a bad reputation. Keep tuned for my next post where I will look a little further into the risks of having such procedures abroad.
References
Flawless. (n.d.). The Rise of Cosmetic Tourism. Retrieved from https://flawless.org/journal/the-rise-of-cosmetic-tourism/
Horowitz, M. D., Rosensweig, J. A., & Jones, C. A. (2007). Medical tourism: Globalization of the healthcare marketplace. MedGenMed : Medscape General Medicine, 9(4), 33.
Liang, L. J., Choi, H. C., Joppe, M., & Lee, W. (2019). Examining medical tourists’ intention to visit a tourist destination: Application of an extended MEDTOUR scale in a cosmetic tourism context. International Journal of Tourism Research, 21(6), 772-784. doi:10.1002/jtr.2303
Livingston, A. (2015). Plastic Paradise: The Trends & Effects of Cosmetic Surgery Tourism in Economically Growing Countries. The Cohan Journal, 2(1), 1. doi: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1012&context=tcj
Smith, M., & Puczkó, L. (2015). More than a special interest: Defining and determining the demand for health tourism. Tourism Recreation Research, 40(2), 205-219. doi:10.1080/02508281.2015.1045364
Cosmetic Tourism 