Medical tourism attitudes in Hungary after 2020

Abstract

Hungary is well-deservedly famous for its spa tourism based on medicinal waters, an integral part of health care in relation to the care of musculoskeletal patients. In our aging society, the value of this tourism segment providing medicinal treatments has increased significantly, but it has undergone changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which appeared in Hungary in 2020. At the same time, as a result of the epidemic, the travel habits of tourists have changed, which can be observed especially among the population involved in medical tourism. In order to investigate this issue, we conducted a primary questionnaire survey among the Hungarian population suffering from musculoskeletal disorders to analyze their intention to receive medicinal treatments after COVID-19. In the present study, we present the answers to the territorial-related questions of intention to treatment utilization. In a narrower sense, our results show that, based on the needs of the respondents, there is a need for a larger number of institutions of national importance to be available within a 30 km radius of the places of residence. In a broader sense, regional research can help spa towns to implement more precise and territorially balanced medicinal tourism developments.