TURSAB President Firuz Baglikaya said, “We expect to receive more than 1.8 million health tourists in 2023, with an increase of approximately 30%. Likewise, we anticipate an increase in health tourism income.”
President of the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TURSAB), Firuz Baglikaya said, “We expect to receive more than 1.8 million health tourists in 2023, with an increase of approximately 30%. Likewise, we anticipate an increase in health tourism income.”
In his statement to the AA correspondent, Baglikaya reminded that, according to TUIK data, the number of visitors coming to Turkiye for health and medical reasons, together with citizens living abroad, exceeded 1.4 million last year.
Stating that the upward momentum continues this year, Baglikaya said, “The number of visitors coming to our country for health and medical reasons in January-March 2023 increased by 37.5% compared to the same period of 2022 and reached 474 thousand 114. We expect the rise in health tourism to continue in the coming period.”
Emphasizing that Turkiye is one of the most important destinations in the world in the field of health tourism, Baglikaya said:
“The clinical branches most preferred by international patients coming within the scope of health tourism are gynecology, internal diseases, ophthalmology, medical biochemistry, general surgery, dentistry, orthopedics and traumatology, infectious diseases and otorhinolaryngology. Apart from these, hair transplantation, aesthetic and beauty applications also attract great attention.
According to the information we received from our travel agencies working as authorized intermediary institutions in the field of health tourism, we can state that a significant portion of the guests visiting our country for health purposes come for hair transplantation. The most important center for hair transplantation in terms of destination is Istanbul. Due to the increasing demand, many health tourists started to receive health tourists in Antalya and Izmir within the scope of hair transplantation. This is an extremely welcome development. We expect the number of people who come for hair transplantation this year to increase by around 20% compared to 2022.”
“Income from health tourism increased by 10.7% in the first quarter and reached $453 million 714”
Stating that Turkiye has grown in double digits in the field of health tourism, Firuz Baglikaya said, “We expect to receive more than 1.8 million health tourists in 2023 with an increase of approximately 30%. We also anticipate an increase in health tourism income. The figures also confirm our expectation of this rise. In the first quarter of this year, income from health tourism increased by 10.7% compared to the same period of 2022 and became $453 million 714. Therefore, we can state that the increasing trend in income from health tourism will continue.”
Stating that the promotional activities carried out by travel agencies abroad activate the field of health tourism, Baglikaya said that the Ministry of Health has a great role in the development of health tourism.
Stating that USHAS, which was established under the leadership of the Ministry of Health, has been operating intensively since 2019 to make Turkiye one of the world’s leading value-added service exporters, Baglikaya continued:
“Lastly, the Ministry has launched the HealthTurkiye roof brand in order to promote our country in the field of health tourism and to provide more qualified service to the tourists coming to our country. Covering all components working in this field, HealthTurkiye includes its web portal, International Health Services Call Center serving 24/7 in 6 languages, patient satisfaction surveys, USHAS Academy, international promotion and representation organizations. Established in line with the Presidential Annual Program, the umbrella brand is working to ensure that our country gets the share it deserves from the health tourism market.”
“Our country can continue its rise in health tourism with the promotion and marketing efforts to be made”
TURSAB President Baglikaya stated that Turkiye, which has a very high potential in the field of health tourism, can continue its rise in this field with the promotion and marketing activities to be carried out, “Of course, at this point, it is of great importance to support travel agencies, which take on a very important task. At the same time, the support of our Ministry of Commerce is very important in this regard. Our Ministry of Commerce also carries out serious incentives for our agencies and health institutions for the development of health tourism, https://healinturkiye.gov.tr portal plays an important role in the promotion of our agencies and health institutions.”
Stressing that professionalism is very important in health tourism, which is an extremely sensitive area, Baglikaya said:
“Persons and organizations who are experts in their fields need to do this job. Therefore, only clinics that are authorized by the Ministry of Health and that serve in that branch should operate in the field of health tourism. Strict supervision against under the stairs clinics is important. Because the smallest mistake to be made in this area can threaten human life and negatively affect the image of the country. So we have to be very sensitive about this issue.”
Source: AA / Prepared by Irem Yildiz