D-8 Eyes the Potency of Health Tourism

Istanbul, Turkey | March 20, 2008 by D-8 Secretariat

Though renown for its white sand beaches and sun, Turkey has not yet optimized its potentials in health tourism. The modern health infrastructure in Turkey so far has not yet been maximized to share the pie and only gained 500 million dollar of this 35-billion dollar industry, reported by Turkish media.

Turkey, with foreigners figure looking for health treatment at 250,000 per year is left behind tiny country as Singapore that hosts 1 million patients per year looking for medical cure. Other countries such as South Korea, Singapore, Bahrain, and Malaysia develop themselves in the market by providing the latest modern equipment and government backing in easy visa and ticket support to clients.

This supports so far has made it easier for a Turkish patients for example, to go to these countries in a 14-hours flight trip, rather to go to places such as Hatay, Gaziantep, or Mersin by bus. However, the increasing number of modern equipped hospitals in Turkey has increased the potential in health tourism. Head of Turkish Association of Health Tourism, Dursun Aydin, said “We are among the highest country in term of health-tourism potentials; however, we fell off far behind in optimizing it. If we develop our sector for more, I believe that within 5 year we can hit our target of 10 billion dollar.”

Turkey held an event for Health Tourism in March 14-17 at the Maritim Pine Beach Resort Hotel in the Mediterranean city of Antalya.  Attendees included representatives of hospitals, private clinics, spa establishments, insurers and tourism agencies. Issues, which concern both domestic and global health tourism, was covered during the presentations and panel discussions of the four-day program. Expert speakers on the subject of health tourism brought in from overseas to address the delegates. Opening speeches were made by Health Minister Recep Akdağ and Culture and Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Günay. On the second day discussions was held on thermal tourism. Turkey hopes to become the world’s number one in the health tourism sector by 2023.

D-8 Organization will have program of Tourism in Ministerial Level in Iran this year. To back up this, D-8 secretary general has already scheduled to meet the secretary general of UN World Tourism Organization in Madrid, Spain very soon.

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