Page 185 - GHES-3-1

Global Health Economics and
Sustainability
Analyzing MHTW tourism for sustainable development

Figure 6. Keyword cluster network map for medical, health, therapy, and wellness tourism and sustainable development (2014 – 2024)

in the atlas represent the co-occurrence relationships became clear during the examination of the keyword burst
between the different keywords. The more connected analysis in the domains of medical treatment, health, and
and thicker keywords indicate a higher centrality in the recuperative and health-related tourism in the context
research field, that is, these keywords are more frequently of sustainable development that certain terms surged to
mentioned simultaneously in the relevant literature. The prominence at specific times, reflecting shifts in research
interconnections and distances between clusters can reflect priorities and thematic interests.
the evolutionary paths of the research field, for instance,
the transitions from competitive advantages to related For example, “health tourism” emerged as a crucial term
industries. Gaps in the relevant literature may be identified in 2016, achieving a burst strength of 2.43 and remained
by observing sparse or unconnected regions between focal until 2019. This finding underscores growing
clusters in the clustering map, which indicate directions that explorations of how tourism can be integrated with health
have not been comprehensively explored by extant research. services to promote well-being and ensure sustainable
development. “Medical tourism” exhibited a substantial
Overall, Figure 6 provides a macro perspective on the presence in 2017 with a high burst strength of 3.56, and its
academic dialog and knowledge structure of the fields of relevance continued through 2019. This discovery indicates
medical treatment, health, recuperative and health-related a peak in research on cross-border health services and on
tourism, and sustainability. Researchers can identify the sustainable development of such practices during this
research trends, discover the key concepts in the field, and period. “Sustainable tourism” also rose to prominence in
study their interactions by analyzing this map. Thus, this 2017 with a burst strength of 1.92, remaining a significant
map can guide scholars to future research directions. study topic until 2018. This period marked an increased

4.7. Burst analysis of keywords focus on integrating sustainability into tourism practices
to ensure long-term benefits for both the environment and
Table 7 provides the top 25 keywords for the citation surge local communities.
(citation bursts) in the fields of medical treatment, health,
recuperative and health-related tourism, and sustainability The use of the keyword “information” rose significantly
between 2014 and 2024. A citation spike is a sudden and in 2021, evincing a burst strength of 2.04. The importance
significant increase in the number of citations to a keyword of this keyword was maintained through 2022, indicating
in a certain period and usually signals widespread attention the growing role of information dissemination in
to a topic or concept in the field. The spike intensity promoting sustainable health tourism. “Sustainability”
(strength) indicates the concentration of the keyword emerged strongly in 2021 with a burst strength of 1.71 and
spike: the larger the value, the more significant the citation remained relevant through 2022. “Happiness” appeared as
increase of the keyword in the relevant time period. It a prominent keyword in 2022 with a burst strength of 1.88,

Volume 3 Issue 1 (2025) 177 https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.4149