“Without Tits There Is No Paradise”: Medical Tourism and Cosmetic Surgery in Colombia

Globalization has allowed for the international flow of information, goods, services and, oddly enough, medical patients. Medical tourism is a growing globalized industry, where the ability to pay and willingness to travel have become prerequisites for medical care. The case study of cosmetic surgery in Colombia reveals that the advertising and information provided online compliments the literature’s descriptions of what is desirable and sought out by medical tourists. Johnston et al. (2012) established that the medical tourist’s interest in the characteristics of the country they visit is minor. However, the underlying national stereotypes or aesthetics may have an unconscious effect of association on the decision of medical tourists. For the medical tourism industry, the national stereotypes and aesthetics are a marketing opportunity to distinguish themselves from their international competitors beyond the comparable affordability of their services. Cosmetic surgery in Colombia indicates that, although medical tourism is a massively globalized industry, the roots and ongoing success of specializations in countries may have cultural origins that are not purely the product of foreign market demands.