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Glite Dictionary
health tourism

health tourism

3.5
Traveling to another country to get medical treatment or wellness care
  • noun
  • /hɛlθ ˈtʊrɪzəm/
translation icon : turismo de salud
  • During the pandemic, health tourism gained popularity as individuals looked for safer destinations for surgery.

Examples

  • "Health tourism" offers foreigners exclusive access to top-of-the-line medical facilities, efficient service, and the latest drugs, while the population is severely deprived of the most essential drugs and medical services.

    Academic text (1997)

  • You may consider health tourism.

    Blog text (16)

  • Many people seek health tourism to take advantage of affordable medical procedures abroad.

  • Countries promoting health tourism often advertise their advanced medical technologies and relaxing wellness retreats.

Synonyms

medical tourism
vshealth tourism
1 3.5

Travel to another country to get health care, often at lower cost

includes both medical treatment and wider wellness activities rather than only care

How Medical

health tourism
3.5

Surface Forms

health tourism singular
health tourisms plural

Morphology

health + tourism

The meaning 'traveling to receive medical treatment or wellness services' is directly and transparently built from 'health' (relating to medical/wellness) + 'tourism' (travel for services), so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer the compound. This compound follows a common, cross-linguistic pattern (cf. 'medical tourism') and uses standard noun-noun composition, making it readily comprehensible.

Etymology

Health tourism comes from the words health and tourism; imagine people travelling like tourists but to see doctors or relax at a spa. So it means 'to travel to another country or region to get medical treatment or wellness care'.