Enhancing the Health Tourism Supply Chain with a Focus on Dental Services in Fars Province

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the development of the health tourism supply chain with an emphasis on dental services in Fars Province. This research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-survey in terms of methodology, using a questionnaire as the primary data collection tool. The statistical population includes all tourism and medical experts familiar with the health tourism supply chain with a focus on dental services in Shiraz. A total of 250 individuals were randomly selected as the sample. Data analysis was conducted using structural equation modeling, and hypotheses were examined through PLS software. The results indicate that standardization, enhancement of clinic service quality, and introduction of existing capacities have a positive impact on the development of health tourism focused on dental services in Fars Province. However, investment in infrastructure development for health tourism does not show a significant effect. Therefore, instead of allocating high costs to general health tourism infrastructure, it is recommended to focus on improving the quality and standardization of dental clinic services as well as targeted marketing to introduce these capacities.