Medical Tourism in Developing Countries

Promoting Medical Tourism ● 125are also considered dangerous. To the extent that these activities are concentratedin the tourist areas, where foreigners are easy prey, authorities haveattempted to control them. 99 Finally, many medical tourists are women, anddestination governments must ensure they do not feel threatened whentraveling to their destination (Cynthia Enloe asserts that motivated governmentsare “internationally compliant enough that even a woman travelingon her own will be made to feel at home there” 100 ).Safety, law, and order are public goods that governments provide to itspopulation and foreign visitors. To gauge if they are successful in theirefforts, perceptions pertaining to police corruption are presented in table 5.8.It is clear that all countries under study in Latin America and Africa are, inthe least, at the average for their continent and usually better. However, inAsia, only Thailand is above the Asian average for police corruption.Advantage VI: Market EconomicsA capitalist economy is referred to as a market economy because of the hugerole of the market in price determination and resource allocation. Marketeconomies are also characterized by competition, private ownership, andparticipation in the global economy. In the promotion of medical tourism,countries whose economies are based on the market have an advantage overthose where the role of the market is minimal. Because market economiesare more flexible, they respond more rapidly to stimuli, and they are morelikely to produce economic growth. It is also more likely that governmentsin market economies will provide an environment conducive to the growthand development of medical tourism through liberalizing policies that furtherintroduce dynamism in the economic environment.Characteristics of Market EconomiesWhat are market economies like? While they may resort to minor governmentintervention in the form of pricing, regulation, management, andownership, on the whole, the role of the state in the economy tends to belimited. These economies have no central planning nor price fixing butrather their product, labor, and money markets all overwhelmingly reflectfreely fluctuating prices in response to supply and demand. Market economiesparticipate vigorously in the global economy since they derive benefitfrom such participation. They strive to maximize their role in the internationaleconomic community and to place themselves at the forefront of theglobali zation wave. They are enthusiastic proponents of trade in goods,services, resources, and money across boundaries. As such, countries with