COVID-19疫情時代文化維度對醫療旅遊的效果

Effects of cultural dimensions on medical tourism in the COVID-19 era

目標：2019年COVID-19全球疫情大流行，不同國家由於醫療能力和文化背景的差異，在面對這場突如其來的疫情，為防疫紛紛採取各式各樣的旅遊限制措施，對醫療旅遊業造成重大負面影響。為更深入暸解此一影響，本研究採用Hofstede文化維度理論，探討疫情前後不同國家文化差異對醫療旅遊的影響。方法：分析2017年至2020年間29個來源國來台的醫療旅遊人次。研究數據包含時間序列與橫斷面資料，因此選用追蹤資料方法建構模型。結果：疫情背景下文化維度中的不確定性規避與醫療旅遊人次則呈顯著負相關。結論：結果表明，在疫情期間文化維度中的不確定性規避會導致各國對醫療旅遊的接受度發生變化。

Objectives: In the COVID-19 pandemic that started in 2019, the world witnessed a wide variety of travel restrictions implemented by countries globally on the basis of their medical capabilities and cultural backgrounds. These restrictions exerted a strong negative effect on the international medical tourism industry. To explore this effect, the study employed Hofstede’s cultural dimensions model to determine how cultural differences affect international medical tourism. Methods: Data on the numbers of inbound travelers from 29 countries to Taiwan for the purpose of medical tourism between 2017 and 2020 were collected. Given that the data included both time-series and cross-sectional data, this study used a panel data approach for modeling. Results: In times of a pandemic, the number of inbound travelers for medical tourism purposes correlated significantly and negatively with the travelers’national culture level of uncertainty avoidance. Conclusions: The cultural aspects of uncertainly avoidance in the home country also affected travelers’openness to medical tourism during the pandemic.