Where does physician-assisted suicide tourism fit in the tourism discipline?

ABSTRACT

The emerging phenomenon of suicide tourism has aroused intense debate among scholars, especially in terms of defining physician-assisted suicide (PAS). However, the conceptualization of suicide tourism remains unclear. Given relevant concerns, this opinion piece seeks to provide insight into whether PAS should be included in the tourism discipline. PAS tourism is characterized by severe illness, avoidance of pain, and a sense of depression. Ethical, moral, and legal concerns are incongruent with the present definition of tourism; therefore, PAS is argued to have no place in the tourism discipline. Further work is recommended to revise definitions of PAS tourism by employing various research methods and behavioural theories.

Keywords:

• Suicide tourism
• physician-assisted suicide
• voluntary euthanasia
• self determination theory
• ethical principles
• one-way ticket

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Shaohua Yang

Shaohua Yang is an Associate Professor at School of Business at Anhui University of Technology, China. He has accomplished a Post-Doctoral Fellow and a Ph.D. in Tourism Marketing from Universiti Sains Malaysia. He was also a PhD exchange student (Erasmus funding) in Adam Smith Business School at University of Glasgow, United Kingdom. His research interest lies in destination marketing, cross-cultural tourism, tourist behaviour, special interest tourism and self-congruency. Before starting his Ph.D. journey in Malaysia and the UK, he has gained his Undergraduate Diploma in Applied Management and Master of Management in New Zealand.E-mail: [email protected]

Salmi Mohd Isa

Salmi Mohd Isa is an Associate Professor at Graduate School of Business, Universiti Sains Malaysia and Visiting Professor at Department of Business Administration, Daffodil International University, Bangladesh. Her current research interests include neuromarketing, tourism marketing, marketing ethics and corporate social responsibility, branding, service innovation and consumer behaviour. She is also an Editorial Board Member of Neuroscience Research Notes and Editorial Advisory Board Member of Asian Journal of Accounting Perspectives. E-mail: [email protected]

T. Ramayah

T. Ramayah, is currently a Professor of Technology Management, School of Management, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Visiting Professor Minjiang University (China), and Adjunct Professor at Sunway University and Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN), Malaysia. He is also an International Collaborative Partner (ICP) at Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) Malaysia. He was also a Visiting Professor King Saud University (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia), Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) and Adjunct Professor at Multimedia University previously. His research field is about technology management, operation management and structural equation model.E-mail: [email protected]

Yi Zheng

Yi Zheng is a lecturer in Human Resource Management in the school of Economics and Management at Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, China. Her research mainly focuses on International Human Resource Management, Managerial Communication, Managerial Psychology, Organizational Behavior and other related aspects. E-mail: [email protected]