Iran Health Tourism' Strategic Analysis in Corona Situation

Background and Aim: Health tourism is one of the most important tourism types in Iran. Iran has many strengths in health tourism. Also, there are challenges such as communication and information inconsistency in the health tourism industry and the outbreak of COVID-19 disease. Due to the unknown issues about COVID-19, it is important to determine effective strategies to control the consequences and reduce the economic and social effects of the virus in all industries, especially the health tourism industry. Materials and Methods: In this systematic review study, 500 published papers from 2018 to 2020 were evaluated. In the group interview section, we used the views of participated health tourism experts in the scientific events in Iran, Turkey, and Oman. Also, the SWOC Analysis model (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges) and MAXQDA software were applied. Results: The results showed that the selected strategies were defensive and competitive. This research showed that the strengths of the health tourism industry overcome the weaknesses and development opportunities outweigh the challenges. Also, the maintenance strategy is the best strategy to support health tourism in the current situation in Iran. Conclusion: It is necessary to be following issues for the politicians of Iran's health tourism industry to design a comprehensive document of Iran Health Tourism Diplomacy, preparation of a strategic plan for the development of health tourism, establish an independent organization of Iran Health Tourism, develop electronic health in the health tourism industry, design a health tourism insurance system, and…, with the aim of entrance to the current markets and creating new foreign markets.