THE DEVELOPMENT OF HEALTH TOURISM IN TURKEY ; HOSPITALS AND HEALTH CARE RESOURCES

Turkey, especially over the past 10 years has proven itself in the field of medical tourism. Through to modern hospitals and qualified manpower, as well as successful treatment has established itself worldwide. In particular, the health policy pursued by the Republic of Turkey with quality checks on management and services have been steadily increasing over the years.

As a result of the successful work done in this area, the number of tourists wishing to undergo treatment in Turkey in the last 10 years has increased tenfold. Especially “Medical Tourism”, “Thermal Health Tourism and Spa-Wellness” and “Elderly Age and Tourism for Persons with Disabilities” have become very important service areas which the number of patients visiting was 74,000 in 2008, it became about 1 million in 2019.

The strengths of Turkey compared to other countries are as follows:

- To be considered among the leading countries of the world in the field of health

- To have a wide range of tourism opportunities that will positively affect the demand for health services (cultural tourism, faith tourism, sea tourism, nature tourism, health-spa tourism etc.)

- To have a quality service sector

- To be among the first countries to offer health tourism services and to have experience in this field.

- To have relatively cheaper service charge compared to developed countries providing health services

- To regulate the health sector with various legal regulations, strict audits and supports