Image of Poland as perceived by German and British medical tourists

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify Poland’s image as a medical tourism destination (MTD). Design/methodology/approach Survey data were collected from 282 German and British medical tourists, using a self-administered questionnaire. The Computer-Assisted Web Interviewing method was used to conduct the survey. Subsequently, the responses were analysed using advanced statistical tools (McNemar’s exact test, Cochran’s Q test and Chi-square test). Findings Before visiting Poland, the respondents perceived the country through the prism of medical attributes, whereas after the visit, they perceived it through the prism of non-medical attributes. Research limitations/implications Identification of a set of MTD image characteristics has important implications for scholars, allowing them to understand attributes which shape projected and perceived MTD image. Such construct can also be a useful tool for marketing planners, destination managers and marketers to create an effective marketing policy and projected image of MTDs based on these features. Originality/value The study fills an important gap regarding the lack of conceptual and empirical content allowing for exploration of MTD image.