Turkish health tourism sees $10B in revenue in 2017

Turkey, defined as a "paradise country" by travelers, is on the top of must-see places list of tourists. In addition to consolidating its position as an indispensable holiday stop for tourists from around the world, especially from Asia, Europe and the Middle East, Turkey has also set a higher standard of success with the concept it has created in health tourism in recent years. Turkey has become a center of hair implantation, welcoming people from more than 70 countries who demanded hair implant services.

Turkish Medical Tourism Development Council Member Özlem Safiye Kurt said that Turkey is a pioneer and reference country in hair transplantation in the world.

Indicating that there was a 31 percent increase in health tourism last year, Kurt stated that more than 1 million people came to Turkey for health tourism in 2017, leading to a foreign exchange inflow of more than $10 billion. "We aim to increase this figure to a much higher point by 2023," she said.

"Turkey is one of the leading countries in the world in the field of hair transplantation. Our doctors dealing with health tourism have serious hand skills attracting attention from around the world, she said, adding: "Our achievements in this area are spreading throughout the world with every passing day. Hair plantation operations continue in a quality and safe way in almost all parts of Turkey."

Underlining that hair transplantation quality and success in Turkey is above world standards, Kurt noted that Turkey has come under the spotlight in this area on a global scale. Kurt further pointed out that there is great interest from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the Middle East and from Germany, the U.K., the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and France in Europe. She emphasized that Turkey's geographical position, hospitality and beauty make a positive contribution to developments in health tourism.

According to Kurt, tourists receive hair transplantation services in Turkey at half the price of the one that they receive in their own country - which make them leave Turkey happy. Hair transplantation operations are quite expensive worldwide. So, paying half the price they would pay in their home country, tourists have the operation in Turkey, where they are also nicely hosted.

ISTANBUL / DAILY SABAH WITH AA