According to the data of the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK), the number of tourists who preferred Turkey for treatment in the last 10 months of 2021 was 370 thousand 335, while the income obtained was 704 million 261 thousand dollars.
According to the data of the Ministry of Health, the number of foreign patients who visited the country in the 10-month period was recorded as 718 thousand 164. It is considered that the statistics presented by TUIK on health tourism revenues do not show the full number of patients, since they are determined through surveys conducted at border gates.
With the studies carried out under the leadership of the Ministry of Commerce, it is aimed to attract more health tourists and generate income. In this way, it is aimed to increase the share of Turkey in the health tourism pie.
Global health tourism market reaches 100 billion dollars
While the expenditure per tourist in the sector is recorded as approximately 1900 dollars, it is estimated that this figure actually approaches 10 thousand dollars. The most preferred branches by tourists coming to Turkey to receive health services; hair transplantation, aesthetics, cardiac surgery, orthopedics, oncology and IVF treatment.
70 percent of those who prefer Turkey in these areas come from Europe and 30 percent from the Arab world. In the last 10 years, Turkey has gained great momentum in health tourism. The sector reached an economic size of 3 billion dollars in 2019, seeing the peak, and an export of 2 billion dollars was realized. Due to the pandemic, the sector closed 2020 with a 65% decrease compared to 2019. Although it observed a decrease at the same rates in 2021, it gained momentum in the last quarter with the effect of normalization, and in 2021, more than 2 billion dollars were entered into the country. In 2022, the sector is targeted to grow and reach a size of 5 billion dollars. It is stated that with the normalization, 2022 and 2023 will be the year of growth for Turkish Health Tourism.
Approximately 2,000 hair transplants are performed daily in Turkey. There is a serious staff shortage in the industry. The Ministry of Health and the Ministry of National Education accelerated their efforts to train qualified and foreign language-speaking personnel in this field in order to meet the need for at least 15 thousand personnel.
According to the “Global Survey 2020 Reports” of the International Society of Aesthetic Surgery (ISAPS), Turkey has been one of the 5 countries where the most plastic surgery is performed in the world during the pandemic period. Despite the pandemic, the sector achieved a growth of 1.8 percent. Turkey was mostly preferred in the field of hair transplantation and rhinoplasty.
25.8 percent of the patients in the sector in Turkey come from abroad, especially from Germany, England and France. We receive patients mostly from Germany in this field.
Kaynak: https://www.turizmgunlugu.com/2022/04/11/turkiye-saglik-turizmi/
