Health Tourism: What is it and how does it work?

Health tourism is the term given to travel from one country to another to benefit from medical operations and treatments, health-related services and studies. While the primary purpose of health tourism is to receive medical services, it also aims to include cultural tours and sightseeing. This interaction has led to the emergence of a very large tourism type globally.

Turkey’s outstanding tourist attractions, quality hotels, and hospitals and clinics offering high-level healthcare services have made it a significant player in health tourism.

Reasons for Health Tourism

The primary purpose of health tourism is to receive treatment, surgical operations, and quality services. When considering the differences in exchange rates and service prices between countries, many people turn to health tourism to both receive treatment and see a new country.

At the same time, access to healthcare can be both costly and time-consuming in many countries. When considering the advanced technology and processes available in hospitals in Turkey, this emerges as a very logical process.

Another reason is that some countries stand out even more in certain healthcare services. For example, it would not be wrong to say that Turkey is well-suited for this purpose with its healing waters and hot springs, hair transplant services, and experienced hospital staff.

Types of Health Tourism

Of course, health tourism types also vary depending on the nature of the service offered. The first is medical treatment tourism. The most preferred medical treatment service primarily covers travel for surgical procedures, medical treatment, and dental treatment. In the same way, although Istanbul is mostly preferred, Ankara, Izmir and other cities have started to gain importance due to their aesthetic operations, dental clinics and advanced hospitals over time.

Another type of tourism is thermal tourism. As is known, there are thermal water resources in a very large part of Turkey. In cities such as Nevşehir, Kayseri, Bolu and Izmir, where volcanic mountains are concentrated, both health facilities are developing and hotels that can provide international services are available. This takes thermal tourism and spa facilities one step further.

Another topic that has started to gain importance in our country in recent years is elderly and disabled care tourism. The primary purpose here is to facilitate access to healthcare for the elderly and disabled, in addition to disabled care. Although it is usually sold as a package, these services are actively provided by almost all hospitals and clinics.

How the Process Works

The first step in health tourism is onsite consultancy service. For this reason, many organizations provide active consultancy support from different countries. In this process, called research and consultancy service, patients receive detailed information about the process by receiving support from various opportunities.

The next step is communication and planning. In the communication stage, detailed information is provided about both hospitals and accommodation options. Treatment costs, accommodation locations, transportation, tour fees and places to visit are determined. In addition, visa procedures and other important issues are completed in this step.

The travel-accommodation and treatment process is considered the most important step in health tourism. Inpatient treatment is carried out here, which is the main purpose. Afterwards, the patient’s treatment is completed within the process, and follow-up can be provided if necessary.

With developing technology, the follow-up process can be carried out remotely as well as face-to-face.