Future Trends and challenges in Healthcare Tourism in Tunisia: A Foresight Study

Abstract:

Tunisian economy post revolution suffered from a significant lack of clear strategic vision for development. Tourism as economy engine, revenues provider and social dynamism driver was poorly considered into the transition governments’ corrective plans. Recently, Tunisian leaders start pushing the development process by restructuring and upgrading the key productive fields while taking into account the fragility of the business environment. To develop the Tunisian tourism a diversification strategy has become crucial, a distinguished and well-defined strategy should take place. Healthcare Tourism as emerging service seems to be the driver of diversification strategy that Tunisia should implement successfully. Healthcare Tourism can be an anchor point that can sustain the economic development and improve both tourism and health fields in Tunisia post revolution. The main purpose of this article is to help the Tunisian key stakeholders to identify what are the possibilities of development of the Healthcare Tourism based on the analysis of their interactions, conflicts, cooperation, strategies and objectives. Through this article the stakeholder theory will be applied to the Tunisian Tourism system by analyzing stakeholders’ behaviors. The article gives an overview of the Tunisian healthcare tourism status quo, analyzes and estimates the balance of power between key stakeholders, and evaluates both stakeholders convergences and divergences regarding objectives related to the project of promoting healthcare hospitality in Tunisia.