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ABSTRACTMedical tourism has grown extensively over the past decade. Although social media is perceived to be an effective communication channel for both tourists and tourism providers, empirical analyses of how social media are used for medical tourism marketing are rare. Based on the “6Is” Social Media Monitoring Framework, this study examines how medical tourism providers distribute information, engage with online users, and influence the travel decisions of potential medical tourists. Findings indicate that medical tourism providers performed well in maintaining customer intimacy, although could do more to stimulate customer involvement, interaction, and gather customer insights. The study discusses ways to improve social media marketing.

The sustainable growth of the tourism industry is attributed to the involvement of tourists in the process of value co-creation. This research aims to systematically review the existing literature on value co-creation practices in tourism and conduct a comprehensive analysis of this research area. The paper synthesizes past studies on value co-creation in tourism, encompassing theories, context, methods, and characteristics, to analyze the progress made in value co-creation research over the past two decades. Furthermore, this study investigates the role of value co-creation as an antecedent, mediator, and control variable, as well as its outcomes in the context of tourism management. The findings of the study propose an integrated framework for tourism value co-creation. Additionally, the study identifies key themes present in the current literature on value co-creation and highlights overlooked areas, suggesting new research directions to advance this field. The theoretical and practical implications of the study are also discussed.