Health tourism in Colombia. A factors systematic review and econometric estimation of the impact of the health emergency (Covid-19) on the number of visitors for health reasons in Colombia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15665/4s33hq72Keywords:
Medical tourism, econometric estimation, time series, Covid-19, healthAbstract
This article contributes to medical tourism literature in two ways: with a systematic review of
articles published about factors that affect the development of health tourism and a measurement of the Covid-19 impact on the reduction of foreign visitors for health and medical care in Colombia for 2020 and 2021, with an ARIMA time series model. Colombia's medical tourism faces more limitations than promotion, with COVID-19 causing structural damage that cut 2020 international health arrivals to 41% of estimates. While recovery began in 2021, with arrivals reaching 75% of projections, the industry shows a slow but evident rebound
References
De la Puente MA. Analysis of the Colombian Medical Tourism Industry from a Systemic Competitiveness Approach. Business dimension. April 10, 2018; 16(2): 111–22. https://doi.org/10.15665/dem.v16i2.1503.
Campbell A, Restrepo C, Navas G. Patient satisfaction with medical tourism: a review of 460 international plastic surgery patients in Colombia. World Open of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. 2020;8(12). doi: 10.1097/GOX.0000000000003230
Ibañez Picón J. They dream of a harmonious body: women's motivations for non-reconstructive aesthetic procedures. VIREF Physical Education Magazine. 2014;3(1):56–88.
Arias Aragonés FJ, Caraballo Payares AM, Muñoz Rodríguez JM. Medical Tourism In Cartagena: “Supply And Barriers” // Medical Tourism In Cartagena: “Supply And Barriers” // O Medical Tourism In Cartagena: “Supply And Barriers”. Business dimension. 2016;14(2):145–66. https://doi.org/10.15665/rde.v14i2.457.
Castellano MI, Bittar O, Caridad M. Strengthening the quality of the service aimed at medical tourists: A strategy for the sustainability of the hotel sector in Barraquilla. IBIMA Business Magazine. 2021;2021.
Foley B.M.,Haglin JM, Tanzer JR, Eltorai AEM. Patient care without borders: a systematic review of medical and surgical tourism. J Viajes Med. 2019;26(6):taz049. https://doi.org/10.1093/jtm/taz049
Zolfagharian M, Rajamma RK, Naderi I, Torkzadeh S. Determinants of the medical tourism destination selection process. Marketing and hotel management magazine. 2018;27(7):775–94. https://doi.org/10.1080/19368623.2018.1444527
Fetscherin M, Stephano RM. The medical tourism index: development and validation of scales. Tourist management. 2016;52:539–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2015.08.010
Khan MJ, Chelliah S, Haron MS, Ahmed S. The role of travel motivations, perceived risks and travel constraints on destination image and visit intention in medical tourism: theoretical model. Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal. 2017;17(1):e11. https://doi.org/10.18295/squmj.2016.17.01.003
Ahmed G, AlAmiri N, Khan W. Outward medical tourism: a case from the UAE. Letters of Theoretical Economics. 2018;8(07):1368. https://doi.org/10.4236/tel.2018.87088
Boguszewicz-Kreft M, Sokołowska K, Magier-Łakomy E, Janiūnaitė B. The country of origin of services and consumers as the determinants of purchase intentions in medical tourismJEEMS Journal of Eastern European Management Studies. 2019;24(3):466–83. https://doi.org/10.5771/0949-6181-2019-3-466
Gan LL, Frederick JR. The choice of facilitators in medical tourism.Health Mark Q. 2018;35(1):65–83. https://doi.org/10.1080/07359683.2018.1434891
Fan M. Medical Tourism’s Leading Drivers, Motivators, and Promoters – The Healthcare Cost Disparity Between the Developed and the Developing Countries In: 2020 II International Congress of Economic Management and Cultural Industry (ICEMCI2020). press of theatlantis; 2020. p. 46–50. https://doi.org/10.2991/aebmr.k.201128.009
SandbergDS. Medical tourism: an emerging global healthcare industry. International Journal of Healthcare Management. 2017;10(4):281–8. https://doi.org/10.1080/20479700.2017.1296213
Bancoldex, Productive Colombia. Evaluation of the business plan of the health tourism sector and validation or reformulation of the strategic vision of the sector in the short, medium and long term and proposal of actions between the public and private sectors to increase productivity and compete. Bogota DC; 2014.
Martinez Garces J, Padilla DelgadoL. Organizational innovation and business competitiveness: aesthetic health tourism centers in Cali-Colombia | Organizational innovation and business competitiveness: Aesthetic health tourism centers in Cali-Colombia. Journal of Social Sciences. 2020;26(2):120–32.
De la Puente Pacheco MA. Comparative medical tourism in Colombia and Singapore: sectoral study and development prospects. Law Magazine. 2017;(47):290–309.
Heidekrueger PI, Juran S, Ehrl D, Aung T, Tanna N, Broer PN. Global Cosmetic Surgery Statistics: A Closer Look. Journal of Plastic Surgery and Surgery of the Hand. 2017;51(4):270–4. https://doi.org/10.1080/2000656X.2016.1248842
Fuerst S, Torkkeli L. The Rise and Fall of an International New Venture: The Case of an Online Medical Tourism Platform: Internationalization from Emerging Markets to Developed Economies. 2018. 7–27 pp. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94466-1_2
Campbell A, RestrepoC, Navas G. Patient Satisfaction with Medical Tourism: A Review of 460 Patients of International Plastic Surgery in Colombia. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery - Global Open. 2021;1–5. https://doi.org/10.1097/GOX.0000000000003230
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Jose Torres Ortega, Carlos Javier Carmona Campo, Raúl Armando Martínez Espinosa

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Instructions for filling in the Certification of Originality and the Copyright Transfer:
Keep in mind that by pressing the "save and continue" button at the end, you are assuming all the ethical and legal commitments set forth herein. They establish the responsibilities of the legislation on intellectual property rights. For this it is assumed that whoever is carrying out the action of presenting the written work in good faith and represents himself and the other authors of the postulated article.
In this sense, the authors retain all the rights of which they are owners and authorize the free reproduction of the document sent. In the event of being necessary, they will assume, by pressing the "save and continue" button, the legal responsibility derived from the patrimonial rights which are free because of the non-payment by any procedure of the Journal.
Consequently, the author (s) represented by the person who advances the postulation of the article for evaluation and eventual publication,
I (We) declare:
1. I am (we are) the author (s) of the article {here is the name of the article placed automatically}.
2. This is an original work in accordance with the intellectual property law of Colombian copyright.
3. The content of the article of the reference has not been published and that it will not be submitted to any other means of publication in written or electronic support before knowing the decision of the Editorial Committee of Dimensión Empresarial.
4. The signer of this certification guarantees that the commitment acquired here does not infringe any third-party rights.
5. The publication authorization includes its electronic file and its adaptation, if necessary, for its incorporation in the network or in any electronic format or database, as well as attaching the necessary metadata to register the work, trademarks of water or any other security or protection system.
6. The publication authorization includes reproduction on digital media. As well as its distribution and making available through institutional archives through the Internet, distribute copies, and exhibit it in Colombia and outside the country, as well as include the article in national and international indexes.
7. The author assumes all responsibility, including compensation for damages, that could be exercised against the Universidad Autónoma del Caribe by third parties who violated their rights and interests because of the assignment.
For its part, Dimension Empresarial undertakes to respect in any case the rights of the author contained in Article 30 of Law 23 of 1982, or any after it and will make the article available to the users of the Journal so that make a legitimate use of it, as permitted by the applicable legislation, provided that its authorship is cited, commercial benefit is not obtained, and derivative works are not made.
The authors agree to accept the conditions of this intellectual property note, which will be applied to this submission when it is published in this journal.