Developing Health Tourism in a Gaming City: Stakeholder Perceptions of a Proposed Strategy

ABSTRACT

Macao, a tourism city and a special administrative region of China, is known for its gaming industry, which accounts for the majority of its local GDP. But its singular economy has invoked much concern, especially when it is severely hit by the recent pandemic. Among others, the development of health tourism has been one of the diversification and sustainable strategies proposed. This study explores the potential and feasibility of this seemingly out-of-tune strategic proposal. Sixteen purposefully selected informants representing key strategic perspectives were approached and interviewed including academics and practitioners in health, wellness, medical and tourism fields, government legislative advisors and research institutes/associations in coordinated fields. Thematic analysis reveals an optimistic prospect in developing wellness tourism and a selection of medical tourism in Macao, capitalizing on the key trends identified, and a unique combination of VRIO (value, rarity, imitability, organization) resources and distinctive competencies that is only available in Macao. Possible implementation has also been discussed. The study contributes to scholarly knowledge of strategic visioning process.

在博彩城市发展健康旅游: 利益相关者对—项战略提案的认知摘要

澳门是中国一个以博彩业闻名且富有特色的旅游城市。博彩业带来的营收是当地生产总值的最主要来源。然而，这种单一经济产业模式早前已引起了不少隐忧。特别是在遭受了新冠疫情全球大流行后，澳门经济着实受到重创。发展健康旅游已经进入澳门适度经济多元化和可持续发展的重要战略考虑范围。本文旨在探讨了这一貌似‘离经叛道’的战略型提议真正落实的可能性和可行性。一共有16位代表关键战略性观点的利益相关者被挑选出来参与采访, 包括健康、保健、医疗和旅游领域的学术人士、专业人士或从业人员、政府立法会委员和相关协调领域的机构或协会。透过主题分析法发现，澳门发展休闲旅游和医疗旅游的前景乐观，此举不但把握了健康旅游发展的主要趋势，还能结合澳门独有的VRIO (价值、稀缺性、可模仿性和组织) 资源和特色竞争力。文末讨论了可行的实施办法，对战略愿景规划的学术知识做出了贡献。

KEYWORDS:

• Health tourism
• sustainable competitive advantages
• gaming
• Macao
• strategic visioning
• stakeholder

关键词:

• 健康旅遊
• 可持續競爭優勢
• 博彩業
• 澳門
• 戰略願景
• 利益相關者

Acknowledgments

This paper is extended from the research project granted by the Specialized Subsidy Scheme for the Tourism Education and Training for the Guangdong.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Education and Youth Development Bureau, Macao SAR [Project No. TET-UMAC-2020-02].

Notes on contributors

Ming Liu

Ming Liu is an Associate Professor in Faculty of Business Administration at The University of Macau, Macao SAR, China. His research interests include financial accounting, auditing, corporate governance, hotel and tourism accounting (E-mail: [email protected]).

Jieqi Guan

Jieqi Guan is an Assistant Professor in School of Hospitality Management at Macao Institute for Tourism Studies, Macao SAR, China. Her research interests include corporate social responsibility, hospitality education, hotel and tourism related research. (E-mail: [email protected]).

Lianping Ren

Lianpin Ren is a Professor in School of Hospitality Management/School of Tourism Management at Macao Institute for Tourism Studies, Macao SAR, China. Her research interests include tourism service quality, consumer behavior, tourist experience and strategic related research. (E-mail: [email protected]).

Huijun Yang

Huijun Yang is an Assistant Professor in School of Hospitality Management at Macao Institute for Tourism Studies, Macao SAR, China. Her research interests include human resource management, tourism leisure service, tourism and hotel education and technology development. (E-mail: [email protected]).

Yang Zhuang

Yang Zhuang is a postgraduate student in School of Hotel and Tourism Management at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, China. His research interests include hotel and tourism management and health tourism. (E-mail: [email protected]).