Investigating Dubai's Healthcare Sector for Future Prospects

Dubai has emerged as a prominent hub for medical tourism, driven by significant investments in healthcare infrastructure, high-quality services, and favorable policies attracting international patients. The region's strategic location, coupled with world-class hospitals and specialized treatments, enhances its appeal to global travelers seeking quality care at competitive prices. This analysis delves into the factors contributing to Dubai's success in this sector, including government initiatives, technological advancements, and cultural inclusivity that cater to diverse patient needs. Additionally, it evaluates the economic implications of medical tourism on Dubai's economy, highlighting job creation, GDP growth, and enhanced global reputation. The assignment also considers challenges such as regulatory compliance and competitive pressures from neighboring countries. By analyzing these dimensions, this research provides a comprehensive overview of Dubai’s potential to solidify its position as a leading destination in global healthcare services.

Running head: DISSERTATION
Management Issues of Medical Tourism in Dubai
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

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Abstract
Medical tourism has become extremely popular in the last decade. Patients from all over the
world prefer to travel to a location where they would get their money’s worth while availing the
highest quality healthcare services. Thus, people from the developed countries travel to the
places that provide medical services at a lower cost that their home country. Sometimes people
also travel to another country to avail the best quality healthcare or a specialized treatment which
is not available in their home country. This has led to the rapid growth of medical tourism all
across the world. The researcher has studied the impact of medical tourism on the healthcare
management of Dubai. He has collected primary data through a survey from a sample of 50
respondents and analyzed those data using quantitative method. The analysis led to outcome that
medical tourism has helped the healthcare management of Dubai to improve their quality of
services and also contributed in the growth of the economy of Dubai. This research paper shows
the entire analysis process, literature review, and concluding remarks with recommendations on
how to address the issues regarding medical tourists and provide the best services to the
international patients.

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Acknowledgement
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those people who have been a great help in
completing the dissertation. These people had led me and helped me to know my hidden
potential and strength and utilize it in the best possible way in the undertaken research. I would
like to express my deep gratitude towards supervisor for his constant monitoring and
commendable and exemplary guidance, which has led me to complete the dissertation in the due
course of time. The guidance and unconditional support provided by him not only helped me a
lot during the thesis completion but also will remain with me for a longer time period on the
journey of my life. I would like to express my deep gratitude to all the participants who lend
their valuable input to develop an understanding about impact of training and development on
the job satisfaction of the government sector employees of the Sultanate of Oman Furthermore, I
would like to thank my family and friends, especially my dear mother and wife, who have been a
constant source of Inspiration, encouragement and support, and who they did not give up of
supplication to me of success, without which this task cannot be accomplished.

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Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction....................................................................................................................6
1.1 Introduction............................................................................................................................6
1.2 Background of the study........................................................................................................6
1.3 Research aim..........................................................................................................................7
1.4 Research objectives...............................................................................................................8
1.5 Research questions.................................................................................................................8
1.6 Research hypothesis...............................................................................................................8
1.7 Rationale of the research.......................................................................................................8
1.8 Structure of the research........................................................................................................9
Chapter 2: Literature review..........................................................................................................11
2.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................11
2.2 Concept of medical tourism.................................................................................................11
2.3 Pros and cons of medical tourism........................................................................................12
2.4 Healthcare sector in Dubai...................................................................................................14
2.5 Current trend in the healthcare management of Dubai........................................................15
2.6 Medical tourism in Dubai....................................................................................................17
2.7 Conceptual framework.............................................................................................................18
Chapter 3: Research methodology.................................................................................................19
3.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................19

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3.2 Research philosophy............................................................................................................19
3.3 Research approach...............................................................................................................20
3.4 Research strategy.................................................................................................................20
3.5 Research design...................................................................................................................21
3.6 Data collection process........................................................................................................21
3.7 Sampling method.................................................................................................................22
3.8 Pilot test...............................................................................................................................23
Chapter 4: Data analysis and findings...........................................................................................25
4.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................25
4.2 Findings and discussion.......................................................................................................25
4.2.1 Demographic factors.....................................................................................................25
4.2.2 Subjective factors..........................................................................................................29
Chapter 5: Conclusion and recommendation.................................................................................40
5.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................40
5.2 Linking to the objectives.....................................................................................................40
5.2.1 Linking to the first objective.........................................................................................40
5.2.2 Linking to the second objective....................................................................................41
5.2.3 Linking to the third objective.......................................................................................41
5.3 Recommendations................................................................................................................42
5.4 Limitations and future scope of the study............................................................................43

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References......................................................................................................................................45
Appendix........................................................................................................................................50

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Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 Introduction
The research paper aims to find out the issue of medical tourism in Dubai and its impact
on the healthcare management of the country. The healthcare management facilities of Dubai are
considered as one of the best in the world (Othman et al. 2015). The healthcare sector of the
country is continuously expanding and it is incorporating many foreign investments and
partnerships to provide international standard services to the citizens as well as foreign patients
who come to Dubai to avail the best quality healthcare services. There are many healthcare
institutions in Dubai that have introduced management facilities to suit the needs of the foreign
patients and that has led to increase in the medical tourism in the country. Medical tourism is one
of the biggest trends in the healthcare sector of Dubai and the following research paper will focus
on the impact of medical tourism on the healthcare management (Chuang et al. 2014). The
researcher will collect primary data from the hospitals to know about the extent of medical
tourism happening in Dubai and its implications on the management.
1.2 Background of the study
Medical tourism has become a new trend in the healthcare sector. It refers to the event of
people travelling to other countries to avail the medical treatment. In the past, it was observed
that people from less developed countries used to travel to developed countries to avail highly
advanced medical treatment, which was not available in the home country due to lack of
infrastructure, education, capital investment etc. (van Weel et al. 2018). However, in the recent
years, the trend has changed significantly. People from the developed countries are travelling to

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the developing countries to avail the treatment at a lower cost. Many of the developing countries
have improved their medical facilities with foreign investments as well as capital formation in
the economy. For example, few Asian countries, such as, India, China, Malaysia, Singapore, and
Thailand, some Middle Eastern countries, such as, UAE, Israel, Jordon, and African countries
like South Africa have become popular destinations for medical tourism in the recent years due
to their improved healthcare facilities at a lower cost (Abubakar and Ilkan 2016). Dubai has
earned its fame in this field with advanced healthcare technology, efficient healthcare
management, and reasonable cost, availability of highly experienced and educated doctors
providing the best quality healthcare services.
As Dubai has been collaborating with foreign investors in the healthcare projects to
provide improved healthcare facilities, over the years, it has become one of the favorite
destinations of the people from developed as well as developing countries for availing the best
quality medical treatment. The management of the healthcare institutions have changed their
policies as well as incorporated many new policies to welcome the foreign patients to Dubai, as
medical tourism not only helps to improve the quality of medical services in the country, but also
contributes significantly in the economy through the inflow of foreign exchange (Han and Hyun
2015). Through this research study, the research will be focusing various aspects of medical
tourism in Dubai and its implications in the healthcare management in the country.
1.3 Research aim
The aim of the research paper is to evaluate various aspects of medical tourism in Dubai
and its impact on the healthcare management services of the city. UAE is one of the most
developed countries in the Middle East and due to its location, it has an advantageous position
among all other medical tourism destination. Coupled with geographical advantage, Dubai has

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made proper investment in the healthcare services to improve the quality. Through this paper, the
researcher aims to find out the effects of medical tourism on the healthcare sector of Dubai as
well as on the economy of Dubai.
1.4 Research objectives
The objectives of this research study are as follows.
 To find out pros and cons of medical tourism in Dubai
 To assess the impact of medical tourism on the management of the healthcare services in
Dubai
 To evaluate the effect of medical tourism on the economy of Dubai
1.5 Research questions
1) What are the advantages and disadvantages of medical tourism in the healthcare services
of Dubai?
2) What is the impact of medical tourism on the healthcare management in Dubai?
3) What are the effects of medical tourism on the economy of Dubai?
1.6 Research hypothesis
H0 (Null hypothesis): Medical tourism has a positive impact on the healthcare management of
Dubai.
H1 (Alternative hypothesis): Medical tourism does not have a positive impact on the healthcare
management of Dubai.

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1.7 Rationale of the research
Medical tourism is a very important topic in the healthcare services of the world. People
now prefer to travel to other countries with improved medical facilities rather than suffer for not
having good treatment facilities in their home country. Dubai is one of the most developed cities,
not only in the Middle East, but also in the world. The economy of Dubai is very strong and that
has been reflected in all the sectors of the economy. Healthcare management is no exception.
Dubai has been able to make improvements in all type of medical facilities in the past few
decades and thus, there has been rapid increase in the number of incoming foreign patients in
Dubai (van Weel et al. 2018). People from developed and developing countries come to Dubai to
avail the best quality treatment at a reasonable price. This has been contributing significantly in
the economic growth of the city through foreign capital inflow. The foreign money is beneficial
for Dubai as that can be reinvested in the healthcare management of Dubai. Therefore, the
researcher will be doing this study to evaluate the impact of medical tourism in Dubai on the
management of the healthcare services and assess that if it has been contributing positively in the
improvement of the healthcare services.
1.8 Structure of the research
This research paper will comprise of five chapters. The first chapter is the introductory
chapter, which presents the background study, research aim, objectives, questions, research
rationale and structure of the research. This chapter introduces the research topic to the reader.
The second chapter describes various arguments and supporting theories from previous literature
and scholarly articles. The researcher will study the academic papers from various online and
printed sources and present the relevant theories and information to establish his points in
pursuing the research study. Third chapter presents the research methodology, which presents the

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research procedures to be followed by the research while conducting the research. In the forth
chapter, the analysis of the collected data and discussion of the findings will be presented. The
fifth and last chapter is the concluding chapter, where the researcher establishes the connection
between the research objectives and findings and provides recommendations based on the
analysis and draws a conclusion to the research.

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Chapter 2: Literature review
2.1 Introduction
The second chapter focuses on the literature review on the different aspects of medical
tourism, its advantages and disadvantages, healthcare management in Dubai and impact of
medical tourism on the healthcare services and on the economy. The researcher will study
various scholarly articles to gain knowledge about the research topic and research methodology
that he will be pursuing to complete the research. Plenty of academic journals, books, magazines,
online publications, websites etc. will be explored by the researcher to gather information about
the subject of the research. He also focuses on the views of other authors regarding relevant
topics as well as gets idea about the research methodology. Literature review helps the researcher
as well as the readers to get acquainted with the research topic through the views of other
authors.
2.2 Concept of medical tourism
The history of medical tourism goes back a long way. The trend was started by the Greek
pilgrims thousand years back when they travelled to a small town for medical treatment from the
eastern Mediterranean region. The trend became quite popular in the 18th and 19th centuries in
Europe and some parts in Asia where people used to travel to other places to improve their health
and to avail medical facilities (Hanefeld, Smith and Noree 2016). In the recent times, people
travel to other places to avail the treatment either due to high cost of the health care services or
due to advanced technology in healthcare. As medical science has been improving and inventing
new technologies, the scopes for healthcare facilities have improved multiple times. In the