Turkish health tourism sector targets $20 billion income

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News | 4/14/2010 12:00:00 AM |

The Turkish Health Tourism Association, or TUHETO, is promoting health tourism to Turkey at a number of events in Ukraine, Dubai, Switzerland, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan during April, May and June. The association aims to attract an income of $20 billion from health tourism to Turkey in the long-term

The Turkish Health Tourism Association, or TUHETO, is promoting health tourism to Turkey at a number of events overseas during April, May and June.  

İbrahim Artukarslan, a founding member of the TUHETO advisory board, said Wednesday the association’s goal is to attract an income of $20 billion from health tourism to Turkey in the long-term. The association recently organized a promotional workshop in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

“People from Kazakstan have been traveling overseas for health treatments and operations for many years now, with top destinations including Israel, India, Spain, the United States and Hungary. When we asked representatives of the local health sector representatives why Turkey is not among these countries, the response was that they are very keen about health tourism to Turkey but have not had the chance to meet with the representatives of the Turkish health sector so far,” Artukarslan said.

He said Turkish businesses active in the sector have to plan their packages in a very careful and detailed manner to preserve the good reputation Turkey’s private health care sector enjoys.

“We need to consider very carefully the legal and insurance aspects of package tours to Turkey, which include, for example, in vitro-fertilization treatments or eye surgery. One mistake in one operation could ruin our reputation,” he said.

[HH] Soaps great PR for Turkish hospitals

The scenes shot at private hospitals for Turkish soap operas broadcast in Arab countries have also notably contributed to the growth of health tourism to Turkey. “Of course, any appearance and publicity is good. Private hospitals are attracting more health tourism from Arab countries, where people have seen the hospitals on the soaps,” he said.

The upcoming activities TUHETO is organizing in order to promote health tourism to Turkey include promotional activities in Baku, Azerbaijan, on April 29, attendance at the Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai on May 4, a meeting of 600 Kazakh doctors in Almaty on May 13, promotional activities during a visit of Russian dentists in Antalya on May 18, a workshop in Kiev, Ukraine, on May 21 and promotional activities in Zurich, Switzerland, on June 5.

Turkey Aims to Lead the Global Health Tourism Industry
Istanbul, Turkey | March 26, 2010 by D-8 Secretariat

Based on DEİK’s health report, Turkey will be among countries to lead the global health tourism market, eventually by offering affordable prices in health care services.

A recent report presented to Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek by the Foreign Economic Relations Board, or DEİK, says Turkey has a great potential to grow in the health care tourism sector. To actualize that, however, the industry is in need of incentives from the government, mainly concerning a Value Added Tax reduction. If the necessary Value Added Tax, or VAT, incentive is passed for Turkey’s health tourism, then the country could begin earning $8 billion from the industry beginning in 2015, according to a report released by the Foreign Economic Relations Board, or DEİK.

Turkey’s tourism industry, which is not just about the sea, beaches and sun anymore, has started to compete with Far East, said the report.

Based on DEİK’s health report, Turkey, India, Israel and Singapore will start leading the global health tourism market eventually by offering affordable prices in health care services. Turkey currently lures in about 30,000 to 40,000 international patients and slowly but surely is eliminating its competitors. If the industry is offered a VAT reduction, then starting in 2015, some 1 million patients could be lured into the country, bringing in an income of $8 billion.

According to the report, India, Turkey, Thailand, Singapore and Taiwan lead the current global health tourism industry. The cheapest country to provide health services depends on the illness. According to the report, the most expensive country is the United States. In the U.S. a by-pass surgery costs about $129,000. The same surgery costs about $11,000 to $15,000 in Turkey. The country that attaches the lowest price tag to the aforementioned surgery is India with $8,666. Liposuction costs about $3,333 in Turkey while the same surgery costs only $1,200 in Thailand, $2,500 in India and $3,000 in Singapore.

Surgery with the gamma knife, a device used to treat brain tumors with a high dose of radiation therapy and the most accepted and widely used radiosurgery treatment, costs $8,676 in Turkey. The price tag for gamma knife treatment is $40,000 in the U.S. while it costs $25,000 in the United Kingdom and $20,000 in Germany. Spine surgery costs $7,125 in Turkey while it costs $12,000 in India, $9,000 in Singapore, $7,000 in Thailand and $5,900 in Taiwan.

The report was presented to Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek by DEİK and highlighted the importance of providing incentives for the industry in order to help Turkey grab a valuable spot in the international health tourism market. Healthcare services help lure in an influx of foreign currency to the country. Therefore, tax returns should be distributed for the purchase of tools used within the industry as well as for all health services, according to the report. If health tourism is exempt from taxes, that would help eliminate short term losses, and in the long run it would help the country gain.

There is a revival in health tourism activities in Turkey’s southeastern cities, according to Dr. Azmi Ofluoğlu, board chairman of the Universal Hospitals Group. Wealthy Middle Easterners, who might face trouble getting visas for Western countries, began choosing Turkey as a health care services destination, he said. Investors need to look at the action in the southeast and figure out ways to benefit from the situation, Ofluoğlu added.

News source: Hurriyet Daily News/Referans

Association of Health Tourism Turkey 4th INTERNATIONAL HEALTH TOURISM CONGRESS, Istanbul, Turkey, 28-30 October 2011. IPMI Magazine Homepage - IPMI Magazine Conferences and Events

Tuesday, 27 September 2011 09:59 The Association of Health Tourism, Turkey, would like to confirm your invitation as a participant to the 4th INTERNATIONAL HEALTH TOURISM CONGRESS which will be held in Istanbul between 28-30 October 2011 and organized in conjunction with the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Culture and Tourism of The Republic Of Turkey. The congress will bring together most of all the personalities who matter in the health and Medical tourism industry.


Open publication - Free publishing - More istanbulAttendance is expected from private and public health care managers and directors, health tourism facilitators, insurers, buyers and sellers both from within and outside of Turkey.It shall be great opportunity to meet with and discuss topics related to the development and promotion of health tourism, cross- border patient transfer and a host of related topics with about 500 participants, 150 of them international from over 50 countries.It shall be a pleasure to have you in Istanbul, the meeting point of Europe, Asia and the Middle East, for this important event.