Document Type : Original Articles

Abstract

Introduction: In most countries tourism is the main source of income, employment and development of private sector and infrastructure. Nowadays health and dental tourism is the most rapidly growing sections of the world tourism industry. This study aimed to investigate dental tourism and to determine social, cultural and infrastructural factors affecting development of this industry in Isfahan, Iran. Materials and Methods: This descriptive/analytical study was carried out using a questionnaire which included demographic data, characteristics of foreign tourists' seeking dental and medical services, political, social and cultural factors, the existing infrastructures, costs and questions on ways to develop dental tourism. The questionnaires were given randomly to 62 dentists in Isfahan. Data was analyzed by SPSS 19, using descriptive statistical analyses and t-test. Results: The results showed that the main factors affecting the development of dental tourism, with the highest mean scores, respectively, were as follows:  a center to provide a variety of dental services (4.81 ± 0.398), reasponable costs of dental services (4.56 ± 0.315), continuous and appropriate publicity, development of infrastructures for the welfare of tourists (4.14 ± 0.243), and cultural, social and political factors (4.02 ± 0.324). T-test did not reveal any significant differences between gender and mean scores of infrastructures (p value = 0.184), cultural, social and political factors (p value = 0.384) and tarriffs (p value = 0.774). Conclusion: The results showed the importance of political, social and cultural conditions and costs in increasing the possibility of rendering dental services and increasing the number of dental tourists. Since Isfahan has a lot of ecotourism attractions and competitive advantages of expenses, ideal infrastructures and quality of services, it has considerable potential for health tourism. Use of proper publicity in hotels and airports might be a suitable strategy to develop dental tourism industry. Key words: Culture, Medical tourism, Dentistry