The health tourism first, was proposed by the International Union of Tourism Organizations in 1973. And according to the UNWTO, health tourism is a travel which aim at improving and maintaining health care. Although health tourism was first defined in 1973, traveling abroad and finding quality health and wellness services are not a new phenomenon. In ancient Greece, for example, worshipers of Asclepius, (the god of Greco-Roman medicine), visited his temple at Epidaurus, where they were healed. Also, spa and public baths have long been popular destinations for people seeking medical treatment. In the seventeenth century, the rise of spa towns in attractive places in Europe such as the Pyrenees attracted wealthy people from all over Europe. In the following centuries, with the increase of travel and tourism, spas and health resorts in different countries of the world usually attracted customers from abroad.
Although medical tourism has evolved over time, medical tourism has existed for thousands of years in Europe, Iran, India and Asia. From the 18th to the 20th century, most wealthy patients from developing countries traveled to medical centers in Europe and the United States for medical treatment. This trend was reversed in the late 20th century. In the 21st century, the globalization of communication and transportation technologies, leads rich people to travel from developed countries to medical destinations in the developing countries, and recently it increased significantly.