This study investigates the institutional structure and strategic positioning of the Pamukkale University Thermal Rehabilitation Center (PAÜTERM) as a model of integrative health tourism. PAÜTERM brings together modern robotic rehabilitation, certified Traditional and Complementary Medicine (T&CM), and geothermal therapies within a university-affiliated, Ministry-certified framework. The article conducts a SWOT and TOWS analysis to evaluate PAÜTERM’s strengths—academic legitimacy, integrative clinical services, and thermal resources—as well as weaknesses such as limited international reach and infrastructural constraints. Opportunities include rising global interest in integrative care and Turkey’s health diplomacy, while threats stem from ecological risks and global competition. The discussion outlines strategic actions across four dimensions, such as developing training programs, expanding bilingual infrastructure, forming global partnerships, and institutionalizing environmental monitoring. It concludes that PAÜTERM, through agile governance and sustainability-driven innovation, can evolve into a globally competitive center for integrative medical tourism. The findings provide insights for policymakers, academics, and health administrators aiming to align traditional healing systems with contemporary healthcare strategies.

Purpose of this paper. The aim of the study is to develop a structured model that identifies and categorizes the expectations of health tourism sector entrepreneurs from governmental and provincial institutions in the city of Isfahan, Iran. Design/methodology/approach, a qualitative method was used to answer the research questions. To do this, a semi-structured questionnaire was used. Interviews were conducted in person and by phone. The sampling method was snowball, to collect the data from seven entrepreneurs. Data analysis was done using thematic analysis method. The obtained codes were reviewed by two university professors in the field of tourism. Findings. Main model is in line with the research question is the expectations of health tourism entrepreneurs from the government, which includes Facilitation of Health Tourism Regulations, Infrastructure Development, Development of Health Tourism Regulations, Health city Segmentations according to target markets, latitude of Private Sector, Calm political relations with countries, Establishing internal security, High Quality health services, Structural and administrative reform in Health tourism regulations, Establishing Coordination in related Organizations. The results show that creating a safe and stress-free environment for tourists can be a good solution for the development of this industry.

Objective: Third age tourism, a subset of health tourism, is gaining importance with the rise of the elderly population, which poses challenges in healthcare provision. Countries offering affordable treatment and care have facilitated the growth of this tourism segment. This study aims to provide a scientific basis for future research by examining academic publications related to health services and elderly tourist satisfaction within third age tourism using bibliometric analysis. Materials and Methods: A search was conducted in the WOS database using keywords including “older tourists,” “health services,” “expectations,” “satisfaction,” “health tourism,” and “medical tourism” for publications up to March 15, 2025. A total of 125 interdisciplinary studies were identified and analyzed using VOSviewer 1.6.18 and Microsoft Excel. Analyses included publication year trends, citation counts, countries of origin, institutions involved, and major funding organizations. Findings: The first relevant study was published in 2010. A decline in publication numbers occurred after 2014, 2018, and 2022, with fluctuating annual output since 2013. “Medical tourism” was the most frequent keyword (f=156), and Malaysia led in publication count (n=15). The most cited article was by Han and Hyun (2015), with 362 citations. Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) was the top funding body, while University Sains Malaysia was the most active and well-funded institution. Conclusion: Third age tourism is increasingly significant due to the aging population’s healthcare needs. The growing academic interest reflects this trend. The findings offer valuable insights for researchers aiming to explore elderly satisfaction and healthcare services in this context.

The senior tourism sector, akin to other industries, has continued to diversify and expand. Among these emerging sectors, senior tourism has become one of the most prominent. This study aims to analyze research conducted in the field of senior tourism from 2014 to 2024 and identify potential future opportunities. To this end, articles published in English in the topic category (title, abstract, keyword plus, and author keywords) on Web of Science, containing the terms ‘senior tourism,’ ‘retirement tourism,’ ‘senior friendly tourism,’ ‘third age tourism,’ ‘elderly tourism,’ and ‘elderly tour,’ were examined, resulting in a total of 388 articles. The results indicate that although publications related to senior tourism have increased, the number of citations has declined. The country with the highest citation count is China, and the most relevant affiliation is Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Among the 15 most frequently occurring keywords, terms such as hospitality, sustainability, motivation(s), travel, rural tourism, well-being, and quality of life are particularly prominent. Additionally, it was observed that single-authored papers are more prevalent than multi-authored works. The senior tourism literature, between 2014 and 2024, has transitioned from sector-specific and rural tourism topics to innovative themes such as individual well-being, health, and sustainability. As of 2024, strategic issues such as corporate social responsibility, gender differences, and competitive advantage have become more prominent. Senior tourism offers significant opportunities for the sustainable growth of the health tourism industry, in response to demographic shifts and the increasing travel demands of the aging population.

This study provides a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of health tourism policies for the last twenty years. The objective of the study is to reveal prominent topics, recent research trends, influential authors and popular documents. PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines were followed to carry out the study. A Boolean search of the Web of Science (WoS) Core Collection was utilized to identify published documents upon health tourism policy. A total of 144 published documents published in WOS between 2006 and 2024 were analyzed via VOSVIEWER. The study uncovers a multidisciplinary field with five main clusters such as health tourism, research and development, medical destination brand, medical facility and quality. Furthermore, the study points out that there is a change in research trends upon health tourism policy. While current studies in the scope address health management and medical tourist as recent topics, relatively recent studies seem to display focus on medical destination brand, equity, satisfaction, research and development, medical facility and policy. Moreover, health tourism is realized to hold powerful interconnections with some of those author keywords such as medical destination brand and policy. Presenting a meticulous review of the literature, this study contributes insights to literature a lot. Furthermore, it functions as a guide for researchers, scientists and policy makers to set up or improve theories, policies and studies.