Korea is a relative newcomer in the global medical tourism market. The reported success from of forerunners including Thailand and Singapore inspired Korea to consider medical tourism as a path toward economic development. In a time of economic recession, medical tourism presented opportunities to create jobs and generate revenue. After the Korean government designated medical tourism as a new growth engine in 2009, several actions including allocation of revenue, enactment of promotional law, and establishment of specialist committees were taken. In 2007, 16,000 foreign patients were treated in Korea, generating US$68 million in revenue. By 2013 this number had risen to over 210,000 patients, contributing revenue of US$390 million. The Korean government has set a target of treating over 1 million patients by 2020.

Competitors including Thailand, Singapore, and India take a large fraction of the Asian medical tourism market and are continuously innovating medical tourism services and seeking to improve delivery. New entrants such as Japan are also attempting to achieve a share of the market. Furthermore, the rapid development of medical technology and changing customer generate market turbulence.

In order to gain a competitive advantage in this highly turbulent market, countries need to differentiate their destination brand identity from others in the market. This involves medical tourism products providing unique values to the customers being developed and advertised. Such a context increasingly requires medical tourism industry competitors to consider marketing perspectives and skills. Marketing in the healthcare field has a relatively short history and was traditionally strictly regulated, emerging as an important tool for creating competitiveness in the healthcare field from the early 1980s (Thomas, 2010).

The challenge is clear for the Korean medical tourism industry – ensuring a trajectory of growth in medical tourism requires innovative marketing campaigns. Many hospitals and clinics have developed medical tourism products and actively advertised them to target nations. The Korean government has sought to establish a favorable environment for promoting medical tourism, with actions ranging from de-regulation to allow medical institutions to undertake marketing activities targeted at foreign patients, to hosting global conferences and exhibitions. Korea also undertook a thorough review of the marketing activities of its competitors.

This presentation aims to identify the marketing actions undertaken by both the Korean government and medical institutions within Korea, using it as a case to highlight the broader issues concerning the marketing of medical tourism within a regional and global marketplace.

Medical tourism marketing within Korea is analyzed using the 7 Ps of marketing mix. The longstanding marketing mix framework consisting of 4 Ps was criticized as an inappropriate tool for healthcare field. The framework’s elaboration by Tracy (2014) suggested the 7 Ps – product, price, people, packaging, positioning, place, and promotion.

The 7 Ps of marketing mix must be systematically reviewed, managed and coordinated. Without a vision and blueprint, marketing activities surrounding 7 Ps will be undertaken separately and sporadically. Attention to coordinating seven elements of marketing mix will ensure the most effective allocation of limited marketing resources. Marketing has the capacity to increase competitive edge. However such marketing can be a financial drain, providing a poor return on investment as measured by tourist spending per advertisement dollar. Inefficiencies, poor positioning, and misuse of channels can lead to poor returns of investment and these questions must be asked at the organizational level of providers as well as the state level and national approaches.

• Ki Nam Jin(Yonsei University)