Systematic Risk in Iran’s Medical Tourism Industry: A Narrative Review

Medical tourism is a new form of tourism grown significantly in recent years across the world and in Iran. The flow of medical tourism today is from developed countries to developing countries. Yet, demand volatility due to systematic risks can hurt industry players. The occurrence of systematic risks in the tourism industry, especially medical tourism, is common. The latest case of systemic risk is the COVID19 pandemic. The present study aimed to detect and study the factors that can help companies to be more resilient in the occurrence of systematic risks in the medical tourism industry. The Delphi method was used to summarize and analyze the industry managers' perception of the above factors. The results of analyzing the perceptions of managers of companies operating in the medical tourism industry show that debt advantage, liquidity and profitability, and operational efficiency are the determinants that play the most important role in the resilience of companies against systematic risks. The role of advertising is also relatively agreed upon by the managers.