From Patient to Guest: Current trends in the German health care industry and their impacts on the tourism sector

Abstract

Fuelled by demographic and psychographic change, the German health care system has been under increasing pressure over the past decades to a point where the system has been seen as no longer economically viable. This has set in motion a string of reform measures which have aimed to reign in the spiralling costs. Now, with a much greater focus on prevention, competition within the health care system and more personal responsibility, the German health sector is by many no longer perceived as a burden on the national economy but rather as an opportunity for furture economic growth. One important reason for this development has been an expansion in what is known as the second health care market. This paper outlines the shift from a public health insurance system to a modern health economy by focusing on the health tourism sector which has experienced a boom in recent years, driven particularly by strong demand in the senior market segment.