New investment areas and strategic shift in health tourism

According to the GHTC Global Healthcare Tourism Council's Amman Declaration, health tourism covers eight different segments. It was stated that Turkey, having lost its leadership in medical tourism to Asia-Pacific countries due to cost increases, needs to pivot towards other areas such as thermal and advanced active living.

Changing Route in Global Competition

Turkey was the world leader in medical tourism until the last three years, including the pandemic period. However, the loss of accessible price advantages due to rising costs in recent years has caused patients to turn towards Asia-Pacific countries such as India, Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore.

Segments to Focus On

Experts argue that instead of competing with Far Eastern countries, the focus should be on areas where accessibility is maintained, such as thermal tourism and advanced active living. It is projected that by concentrating on these two segments, an annual revenue of 50 billion Euros can be generated solely from European countries.

Turkey has been among the preferred countries for the past five years in branches such as physical therapy and rehabilitation, oncology, general surgery, and organ transplantation. It is emphasized that specialty hospitals should be established instead of general hospitals.

Demand for a Ministry of Health Tourism

Having achieved significant success in public-private partnerships, Turkey is in need of an independent Ministry of Health Tourism to coordinate these collaborations. It is stated that if this step is taken, the revenue generated from the eight segments could rise to 100 billion Euros.

Human Resource Planning Towards 2030

To prevent potential shortages of skilled human resources in the future, intermediate staff planning needs to be done starting today. Alanya University's training of intermediate staff in elderly care, culinary arts, and physical therapy is cited as an example of this transformation.