Using The Resource-Based View To Explore The Jamaican Health Tourism Sector As A Service: A Preliminary Examination

Abstract

Tourism plays a key role in the economy of the Caribbean Island of Jamaica, generating substantial revenues and contributing to employment.  Jamaica endeavors to grow its economy and achieve developed nation status within the next two decades and is looking to tourism to help the country reach this goal.  Specifically, Jamaica seeks to diversify its tourism offering by making a significant foray into what has been projected to be a highly lucrative health tourism market.  While the potential for Jamaica to capitalize on the opportunities presented by this sector is substantial, much remains undiscovered about Jamaica’s current position as well as what might be required to advance the nation in this area.  The purpose of this paper is to provide a preliminary examination of Jamaica’s health tourism sector within a resource-based view framework, highlighting the manner in which customers might serve as valuable resources and to examine a key element of the service delivery process.