The rise of medical tourism in Turkey and the unique case of patients from Germany

Abstract

Travelling to a foreign country to receive medical care that may also incorporate an extended holiday is often categorized as medical tourism, a unique industry differentiated from general health and wellness tourism. In recent years, approximately eleven million foreign patients travel abroad to consume cheaper, better, and faster medical treatments globally. Some claim that the rise of elderly population and the healthcare costs in developed economies with the availability of high quality medical services in developing countries has primarily triggered the medical tourism market growth. As one of the developed countries, Germany does not seem to promote medical tourism at the governmental level, but still attract patients who seek high quality medical treatments. As a popular tourist destination, Turkey has lately become an attractive destination with 50 Joint Commission International certified medical facilities for foreign patients where the government accelerated its efforts to improve medical tourism. Since Turkish medical tourism sector is well expected to continue its upward trend for near future, the study tries to scrutinize how Turkish government promotes and regulates its health and wellness tourism sector. To do so, the study uses secondary data to examine current trends of medical tourism in Turkey by elaborating the unique case of German patients. Findings of the study present current capacity and potentials of medical tourism for Turkey, and offer several policy recommendations to Turkish stakeholders who aim to improve economic gains over the sector.