M.A. Theses

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Browsing M.A. Theses by Author "Alavrez, Maria Dolores."

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    Belarus as a sustainable medical tourist destination
    (Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2022., 2022.) Camlioglu, Vera.; Alavrez, Maria Dolores.
    In recent decades, there has been a rapid growth in the medical tourism market in a number of countries. In this regard, the importance of studying the experience of the development of this phenomenon in various contexts increases. This research aims to investigate the medical tourism system in Belarus, a country where this industry is developing in the context of a universal healthcare system with a dominant public sector that accounts for a large part of medical tourists. Covering the experience of a destination with such a particular context contributes to the literature that has previously looked primarily at countries where in contrast the private sector plays an important role in providing medical services to tourists. This research presents the supply stakeholders’ vision of the current situation in the field of medical tourism in Belarus and highlights some features and differences adherent to the system and development scenario. The study is carried out within a sustainability perspective and showcases the areas of medical tourism in Belarus that meet or contradict the principles of sustainable development. The data was collected through in-depth semi structured interviews with main supply-side stakeholders of medical tourism in Belarus that were selected by using judgmental and snowball sampling methods. Descriptive qualitative approaches such as thematic analysis and content analysis were applied for the examination of the interview data. Several unique aspects in the development and structure of medical tourism in Belarus are highlighted, leading to theoretical and practical implications.
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    Sustainability in cultural tourism destinations from the perspective of tourists
    (Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2016., 2016.) Aydın, Begüm.; Alavrez, Maria Dolores.
    Sustainability is turning into a major idea for tourism destinations and the literature has recognized the significance of sustainable development for any tourism destination. Since marketing is an important driver of sustainability practices, it is vital for the destinations that are trying to become more sustainable to be able to market these attributes to their target markets. Although tourists are recognized as an important stakeholder for sustainable tourism, their attitudes toward sustainability in tourism destinations and the importance that they give to certain sustainability attributes as opposed to others are under-researched topics in the literature. Therefore, this study aims to investigate Turkish tourists’ perceptions of the importance of sustainability attributes in tourism destinations and to determine the tourists’ willingness to pay for these aspects. Socio-cultural, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainability are considered, as the study provides a comprehensive model of sustainability attributes of destinations from the perspective of tourists. The investigation combines qualitative procedures, intended to acquire insights into the topic, and quantitative methodology, aimed at obtaining the views of Turkish cultural tourists. A scale is created to measure the importance given to sustainability attributes. Findings indicate that tourists give most importance to cultural and environmental protection and they are more willing to spend more for the environmental attributes. According to the results obtained, recommendations for the communication of sustainability attributes of tourism destinations are provided.