Title: SWOT-AHP analysis in medical tourism area of Kerala

Authors: M.N. Anish; P.B. Dhanish; R. Sridharan

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Calicut, 673601, India ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Calicut, 673601, India ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Calicut, 673601, India

Abstract: This paper identifies and prioritises strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) pertaining to the medical tourism sector of Kerala. Twenty one factors corresponding to SWOT are identified through literature review and expert opinion. The pair-wise comparisons used in the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) help to analyse the situation more precisely than the standard SWOT analysis. The most crucial factors of SWOT are identified through the hybrid SWOT-AHP method. Initially, the ranking of each SWOT group is identified. The result obtained for each of the parameters of SWOT is 42%, 12%, 29% and 17%, respectively. This hybrid SWOT-AHP method aids in determining the relative weights of SWOT. 'Strength' emerges as the most important group and 'medical doctors of international fame and repute' of strength group emerges as the most important factor. The identified factors of SWOT groups aid in developing appropriate strategies for the medical tourism sector of Kerala.

Keywords: medical tourism; Kerala; SWOT; analytical hierarchy process; AHP; strategy.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSSS.2017.087435

International Journal of Society Systems Science, 2017 Vol.9 No.3, pp.256 - 276

Received: 01 Dec 2016
Accepted: 01 Apr 2017
Published online: 15 Oct 2017 *

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