As the nation intensifies efforts to promote health tourism, Türkiye has experienced a noticeable increase in the number of medical tourists.
According to Firuz Baglikaya, head of the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies, in a recent interview with the semi-official Anadolu Agency, the number of tourists travelling to Turkey for health and medical reasons increased by 37.5 percent compared to the same period in 2022.
According to Baglikaya, "We anticipate receiving more than 1.8 million medical tourists in 2023, representing a nearly 30% increase from the prior year."
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has on numerous occasions claimed to make his country into a "global center" in the field of healthcare.
Erdogan stated at the opening ceremony of a municipal hospital in the northwest province of Kocaeli in April, "We are determined to make Türkiye a global center of attraction in healthcare, not just a provider of services to its citizens."
Experts and business insiders agreed that a sustainable development policy is required to achieve the development goals.
"A comprehensive vision in all involved state institutions is needed to achieve the fixed targets," Aziz Ciga, chairman of a venerable health service company based in Istanbul, told Xinhua.
"We have great resources across Türkiye to explore and exploit, however, only a fraction of the potential has been tapped," Ciga pointed out, calling on the authorities to adopt a holistic approach to develop the sector.
Referring to the advantages of Türkiye in medical tourism, Ciga stated the country is well renowned for cosmetic surgery, hair transplant, and beauty applications.
Many foreign patients travel to Istanbul for hair transplants these days because the city is home to some of the best hair transplant facilities in the world that offer cutting-edge procedures at reasonable prices.
The cost of hair transplant surgery in other nations ranges from 8,000 to 30,000 dollars, but patients can have their hair transplants in Turkey for between 2,500 and 7,500 dollars with the cost of their lodging and transportation covered.
According to Servet Terziler, president of the Turkish Health Tourism Association, around one million people travelled to Turkey for hair transplants last year, generating over 2 billion dollars in revenue for the nation.
According to Terziler, the nation has set a target to generate a 20 billion dollar profit from health tourism over the next few years.
He further said that 30% of medical tourists to Turkey are from Arab countries and 70% are from Europe.
Many Turkish medical tour businesses offer their customers packages that incorporate medical
According to experts, the health tourism industry will expand with new rules and investments, which will help lessen the tremendous economic hardships the nation and its people are experiencing.