Revenues from health tourism may rise to $5 bln: Minister

ANKARA 

With the support the government provided to the sector, revenues from health tourism may increase to $5 billion in the short-term and rise further to $10 million in the medium-term, Trade Minister Mehmet Muş has said.

Speaking at a meeting in Ankara on June 6, Muş recalled that data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) showed that revenues generated from people who visited Turkey for receiving health services amounted to $1 billion in 2021.

“Revenues from those services grew 68 percent on an annual basis to $332 million in the first quarter of 2022. However, it is considered that actual figures are estimated to be much larger. Revenues from health service exports are estimated to be somewhere between $2.5 billion to $3 billion in 2021, while revenues are forecast to climb to around $4 billion in 2022,” Muş said.

The minister added that the Trade Ministry and TÜİK teamed up to launch a work to collect more accurate data on the number of people visiting Turkey for health tourism and revenues of the industry.

Muş said that with a presential decree issued in April, the scope of the government support for the health tourism was widened. “Those supports are designed to meet the needs of the sector and boost revenues in a sustainable manner.”

The Heal in Turkey portal is part of those efforts to promote the country’s health tourism industry, the minister added. The new portal was launched at the Health Services Export Summit and New Supports event, which Muş attended.

“The portal will include a call center, and foreign customers will be able to make suggestions or voice their complaints. The call center staff will swiftly respond to complaints and meet the needs of foreign patients,” the minister said.

The number of foreigners, who visited Turkey to receive health services, increased from 216,000 in 2011 to 1.5 million people, Muş also said.