Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

Samsun Chamber of Commerce and Industry (STSO) hosted by the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (TOBB) International Health Tourism Council held in cooperation with the “International Health Tourism Regional Meeting”, especially in the Black Sea Region, our country's health tourism was discussed.

Speaking at the opening of the meeting, which aims to contribute to the development of Samsun's health tourism potential and to provide data on the health sector, Salih Z. Murzioğlu, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Samsun CCI and Vice President of the Board of Directors of TOBB, expressed his satisfaction with the cooperation and hosting the sector representatives.

- Issues will be meticulously evaluated at TOBB

Pointing out the importance of health tourism in his speech, Murzioğlu said, “Türkiye's health tourism in the field of branding in the process of determining the road map in this way, we stand together as the Black Sea Region attain a shared goal. I would like to emphasize that the issues to be transferred here will be meticulously followed by the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye. We are pleased to see that our country has come to an important stage in health, from medicine to medical devices, from health materials to city hospitals, with public and private hospitals. When we go abroad, they say that we are an exemplary country in the world. Thanks to our wide range of products and strong infrastructure, we made good use of the opportunity that arose during the pandemic and started a new breakthrough. This picture of success with human resources increases tourism revenues and the business volume in the health sector. In Türkiye, more than 4,500 companies, facilities and organizations have authorization certificates.Our authorized health facilities also make a significant contribution to exports. TOBB Türkiye International Health Tourism Council President Mr. Dr. Özgür Öztan and TOBB Board Member responsible for the Council Mr. Hakan Ülken reached me and told me that they wanted to hold a Health Tourism Regional Meeting in Samsun, I stated that we would gladly host it. I would like to state that I fully believe that we will benefit from the meeting in question with Samsun's health cluster, its position in the health sector, the efforts of our Black Sea regional chambers, and the support of the valuable managers of our public institutions.”

- Health tourism is one of the important opportunities on a global scale

Mr. Murzioğlu noted that although the TOBB Türkiye International Health Tourism sector council was newly established, it has accomplished many important works in a very short time and continued his words as follows: “With the valuable support of our Ministry of Trade and Ministry of Health, significant developments have been achieved in the fight against negative perceptions in our sector. Again, revolutionary support programs for our sector were implemented. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Dr. Özgür Öztan, the President of our Sector Council, and all our representatives for their successful work. I would also like to thank our Ministry representatives who are with us today for always being with us and for their contributions. We are entering a period in which new risks and opportunities are emerging on a global scale.

The health tourism sector is one of these areas of opportunity. Due to its location, our country is one of opportunity in the field of international health tourism. We have the power to shape the demand for health tourism in the world with the quality of both our health services and tourism services. We are also lucky as a region. We have good physicians and good hospitals. I do not want to be modest here; we have health institutions accredited at international standards. On the other hand, we have quality geothermal resources, companies that manage the tourism value chain very well with their agencies, accommodation facilities and transportation facilities. In this sense, I see 2024 as a very important opportunity for Türkiye, especially in health tourism. Unfortunately, as much as we have strengths and opportunities, we also have weaknesses and risks. This is the main reason why we are here today. We need your opinions and suggestions for the development and institutionalization of the sector. I hope that the result will be beneficial for our country, I thank you all for your participation, and I extend my regards.”

- Black Sea Region plays an important role in health tourism

TOBB Türkiye International Health Tourism Council President Assoc. Prof. Dr. Özgür Öztan said that the main purpose of our regional meetings is to determine the problems and needs experienced by stakeholders in the sector by spreading across Türkiye. Stating in his speech that TOBB Türkiye International Health Tourism Council took its place among sector councils in 2021, Öztan said, “As we all know, health tourism is one of the sectors with a significant increase in service exports in recent years and it is predicted that the market will grow significantly in the coming years. Service exports have an important place in Türkiye's economy, especially in today's conditions, as they provide net foreign currency inflow, are a source of employment and create added value. Today, there are 4,226 health institutions authorized in the health tourism sector in Türkiye and approximately 3 percent of these authorized institutions provide services in the Black Sea Region.The Black Sea Region has the trinity of sea, sand and sun, which are indispensable values of tourism, and is also home to alternative tourism types. Public and private hospitals in the Black Sea Region, especially in Samsun and Trabzon, offer high-tech health services in many areas with their strong infrastructure and qualified human resources. The Black Sea region has an important position to benefit from health tourism. In Samsun, 37 percent of the authorized health institutions in the Black Sea Region are located here. Samsun is one of the important metropolitan cities of Türkiye. We follow that there are very valuable works for the sector.For this reason, we wanted to organize our Black Sea Regional Meeting in Samsun. I would like to thank everyone who contributed to our being here today. We believe that the Black Sea Regional Meeting will have a great impact on the sector. I believe that moving forward together will strengthen us all in developing the Health Tourism sector. We firmly believe that we will bring Türkiye to the point it deserves in the Health Tourism sector in the 101^st anniversary of our Republic.”

- Panels

Op. Dr. Genco Çetinkanat, Vice President of TOBB Türkiye International Health Tourism Council, gave a speech on “Overview of Türkiye and World Health Tourism Sector.”

Afterwards, “Health Tourism Panel” was organized under the moderation of TOBB Türkiye International Health Tourism Council Member Temel Uzlu.

In the panel, Deputy Governor of Samsun, Canik District Governor Vehbi Bakır, Deputy Director General of International Service Trade of the Ministry of Trade Alperen Kaçar, Dean of the Faculty of Tourism of 19 Mayıs University Prof. Dr. Yetkin Bulut, Head of Health Services of Samsun Provincial Directorate of Health Specialist Dr. Kemal Serhan, President of Samsun Health Tourism Association (SASTUD) Prof. Dr. Fatih Özkan and President of the Central Black Sea Health Tourism Association Pharmacist Ömer Bir made speeches to the participants about problem determinations and solution suggestions.

The program, which was attended by Samsun Governor Orhan Tavlı and Samsun Metropolitan Municipality Deputy Mayor Nihat Soğuk, as well as representatives of public institutions and organizations and non-governmental organizations, ended after the evaluation of the results of the surveys conducted before and during the meeting and the Q&A session.