Assessing the State of Medical Tourism Development in Greece: A Conceptual Framework for Emerging Destinations

Medical tourism has emerged as a rapidly expanding segment of the global health and tourism economy, yet the development of successful destinations remains uneven. This study examines the case of Greece to explore the institutional and market conditions shaping medical tourism development in emerging destinations. The analysis combines qualitative evidence from nine semi-structured interviews with policymakers, academics, private healthcare providers, and professional representatives and a review of the international and Greek literature. The findings suggest that although Greece possesses relatively strong comparative advantages in selective medical niches, factors such as fragmented institutional coordination, limited accreditation coverage, weak reimbursement linkages with foreign insurers, and administrative barriers constrain systematic sectoral development. Building on these insights, the study proposes the Medical Tourism Development Dynamics Framework, that interprets medical tourism destinations as institutionally mediated markets shaped by the interaction between service-level capacity, institutional mediation, and market conversion mechanisms. Different configurations across these dimensions may generate distinct development trajectories. Applied to Greece, the analysis suggests a configuration of latent potential, where relatively strong clinical capabilities exist but institutional and market mechanisms remain insufficiently aligned to support sustained international patient mobility.