Health Tourism and Economic Development in Africa: A Case Study of Kenya.

Background: Realizing that tourism has a significant multiplier effect on economic growth, countries are developing innovative strategies to spur the industry. Promoting health tourism, which is the travel to a foreign country for medical treatment, has been identified as one of the strategies to boost economic development. Traditionally, health tourism has involved travel from less to more developed countries. This has changed in recent years, where patients' motivation for travel is to seek lower-priced medical treatments, medical services unavailable or non-licensed in the home country, or higher quality treatment. More patients are now traveling from more to less-developed countries and between developing for medical treatment. Despite health tourism being on the rise globally, its adoption and scale-up have remained slow in many developing African countries. In Africa, for instance, despite the interest in medical travel, there have been very few studies on its potential for economic development. Objectives: The objective of this study was to assess and examine health tourism and economic development in Africa using Kenya as a case study. It specifically aimed to; examine the emerging trends and patterns of health tourism in Africa, establish the challenges of health tourism in economic development in Kenya, and analyze the opportunities of health tourism for economic growth in Kenya. Theoretical framework: The study used the regionalism theory as the blueprint to approach health tourism. The recognized top destinations for health tourism globally have a significant proportion of their clients coming from countries in their neighborhood and member nations of Regional Economic Blocks with them. Health tourists consider the distance of travel, culture, language, quality, and treatment cost when selecting their destination country. Methodology: The study adopted a descriptive design where questionnaire-administered interviews were conducted with key tourism and health stakeholders from the public and private sectors. Results: In Africa, the number of tourists traveling into and within its nations for medical care has steadily increased in the last ten years. The leading destinations for health tourists in Africa are Egypt, Morroco, and Tunisia in the North and the Republic of South Africa in the South. Health tourist destinations such as Kenya, Nigeria, and Ghana are classified as emerging in the Eastern and Western regions of the continent. The leading challenges to health tourism for economic development in Kenya are; high overall cost, lack of marketing, low capacity, and the lack of appreciation of the potential as an economically viable sector. The leading opportunities for health tourism for economic development in Kenya are; a conducive policy environment, the status of Kenya in the region, a thriving tourism sector, and the country's cultural diversity. Recommendations: The study recommended convening of all health tourism stakeholders to strategize on the sector's growth to achieve the “Kenya Vision 2030” target of being the region's leading destination for health travelers. Keywords: