Dental tourism determinants in Antalya

Dental tourism is defined as benefiting from dental treatment services in the country of destination for vacation purposes or going to another country for dental treatment services and benefiting from vacation opportunities (Lunt et al., 2015). Dental tourism, which has taken its place as one of the most important types of health tourism, continues to develop rapidly in the world, and Turkey is rapidly advancing towards becoming one of the leading countries in dental tourism as well as in health tourism. The aim of this study is to determine the demographic characteristics of dental tourists who prefer Antalya, the factors affecting the reasons for choosing Antalya, their satisfaction and loyalty during and after treatment. In addition, the demographic characteristics of the dentists serving in Antalya were determined and the differences of their demographic characteristics according to their views on dental tourism were tested. When the findings obtained in the study conducted with 311 dentists and 250 dental tourists were examined, it was concluded that there was a positive relationship between dental tourism determinants (city knowledge, safety and security, dental tourism destination image, perceived value, dental treatment quality and cost savings) and satisfaction and loyalty levels. It has been determined that the components of city knowledge, safety and security, dental tourism destination image, dental treatment quality and cost savings have an effect on the satisfaction levels of dental tourists. In addition, it has been determined that city information, dental tourism destination image and cost saving components affect patient loyalty. It has been revealed that satisfaction plays an intermediary variable role in the effect of city knowledge, safety and security, dental treatment quality and cost savings on patient loyalty. When the analysis of the survey results applied to dentists was examined according to gender, it was revealed that male dentists' opinions about dental tourism treatment services and revenues and dental tourism prices were more positive than female dentists. It has been evaluated those dentists between the ages of 31-40 have the opinion that dental tourism treatment services are positive and dental tourism treatment service revenues are higher. It has been examined that dentists with more years of professional experience and monthly income have higher opinions about destination image than those with less professional experience. Keywords: Health Tourism, Dental Tourism, Dental Tourism Determinants Scale, Dentists, Dental Tourists