Turkey's health tourism field has seen significant growth since the pandemic. This is reflected in Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK) data. Ten years ago, only 1% of tourists visited Turkey for health and medical reasons. Still, this figure has now increased to 5% due to the pandemic.
During the first quarter of this year, the number of health tourists compared to total visitors rose significantly to 5.03%. Analysts predict that if this trend continues and reaches 5-10% throughout the year, it could dramatically boost foreign currency coming into the country from tourism.
$2 Billion Health Tourism Revenue
Last year, Turkey's health and medical tourism industry generated more than $2 billion in health tourism revenue. In the first three months of this year, Turkey's health tourism segment earned $453 million from travelers. On average, health tourists in Turkey spend $1103 per person, double that of visitors who come for other reasons.
745 thousand patients in 6 months
According to statistics, the number of individuals who traveled to Turkey for health-related tourism was 240,000 in 2012. However, this number has significantly increased to 1,258,000 in 2022. In the first half of this year, 745,000 tourists had already traveled to Turkey for medical purposes. Experts have observed a substantial rise in foreign visitors traveling to Turkey for health and medical reasons, increasing foreign exchange over the past three years.
2906 Health Facilities Maintain Certification
Based on official data, Turkey has 615 hospitals, 162 medical centers, 810 health facilities, and 1309 doctors' offices that can obtain a health tourism authorization certificate. This means that there are currently 2906 facilities that have these certificates. As the health tourism sector in Turkey continues to grow, there is expected to be a demand for new health facilities and hotels, mainly due to the rise in foreign visitors.