Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

The event, hosted by ATSO Chairman Yusuf Hacısüleyman, was attended by Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism Nadir Alpaslan, Antalya Governor Hulusi Şahin, Republican People’s Party (CHP) Antalya Deputy Sururi Çorabatır, TOBB Board Member and Aydın Chamber of Commerce Chairman Hakan Ülken, TOBB Türkiye International Health Tourism Council Chairman Assoc. Prof. Dr. Özgür Öztan, Antalya Provincial Director of Culture and Tourism Dr. Candemir Zoroğlu, International Health Services Corporation (USHAŞ) General Manager Behlül Ünver.

- Our country is a country of opportunities in health tourism

TOBB Board Member Hakan Ülken thanked Yusuf Hacısüleyman, President of the Antalya Chamber of Commerce and Industry, for their cooperation and support. In his speech, in which he evaluated the effects of the development in technology, the pandemic process and the subsequent regional wars on the economy, he stated that every country is trying to position itself in the new world order and stated that health tourism is one of the areas of opportunity in economy and trade.

Ülken said that our country is a country of opportunities in health tourism due to its geographical location, and that both our health services and tourism services are qualified to shape health tourism in the world with their quality. He continued by saying that we have the capacity to play the first place in the world in every field of health tourism with our geopolitical position, natural resources and trained human capital.

In his speech, Ülken touched upon the importance and value of Antalya in tourism and health tourism and said, “It is the common denominator of all of us that this health service we provide in Antalya with competent organizations specialized in many branches is of better quality, more qualified, and that its contribution to the country’s economy continues to increase. I would like to thank all stakeholders and valuable members of the public who contributed to the organization of this event for their successful work. We are here to receive your opinions and suggestions for the development and institutionalization of the sector. I hope the organization will be a blessing.”

- “Tourists now come for the doctors”

Yusuf Hacısüleyman, who made the opening speech of the meeting, stated that Antalya’s success in tourism should not only consist of sea, sun and sand, and emphasized that mass tourism is not only accommodation, but also morale, entertainment and health needs. President Hacısüleyman said, “People need entertainment, morale and health services when necessary. Our hospitals and physicians have responded to this need with high satisfaction so far. This is how Antalya has grown health tourism. Now, people come here not only to have a vacation, but also to say ‘this physician is in Türkiye, this hospital is in Antalya’. There is a system that is comfortable, clean, friendly and provides world-class service. Of course, there is a great devotion and quality service understanding of our hospitals and physicians here. This positive image was created by all of you in this hall.”

- “Now every step must be perfect”

Emphasizing that Türkiye is now one of the leading countries in health tourism, Hacısüleyman said that this success should be looked at not only economically but also in terms of reputation and trust, “During the pandemic, while the health systems of many developed countries collapsed, Türkiye was standing upright. We owe this to our health system, physicians and bureaucrats working in this field. Years of health accumulation adds strength to us in the international arena today.”

Hacısüleyman stated that health tourism is growing by combining with new concepts such as “wellness” and accounts for approximately 5 percent of the world tourism revenues in this field. Stating that this rate could reach 20 percent in the next 5 years, Hacısüleyman said, “People are now more willing to spend money to feel good. We have a structure to meet these demands.”

Stating that Antalya’s health tourism is being worked on with all its stakeholders, President Hacısüleyman said, “As Türkiye, we should not make any more mistakes in the next process. We are a country that has tourism experience and is shown as an example in the world. From now on, every application, every regulation and every step we take must be perfect. This suits us,” he said.

- “Antalya is the heart of the region”

TOBB Türkiye International Health Tourism Council President Assoc. Prof. Dr. Özgür Öztan stated that they held the third meeting of the work they started in İstanbul in 2023 in Antalya and said, “Our aim is to identify the problems in the field of health tourism and develop solutions, to build a bridge between sector representatives and the public and to move our country forward in this field. As the Health Tourism Council operating under TOBB, we hold regular meetings, analyzes and collaborations for the development of the sector. We keep the pulse of the sector with our members from every region of Türkiye.” Stating that health tourism is a market worth more than 300 billion dollars today, Öztan said, “Türkiye’s potential in this field is very high. 114 of our more than 860 health institutions are located in the Mediterranean Region. Antalya is the heart of this region. With its modern infrastructure, qualified human resources, suitable climate and tourism opportunities, Antalya is an important attraction center for health tourism.”

- “Türkiye at the top of the world in tourism”

Stating that Türkiye has reached a very important point in tourism in 50 years, Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism Nadir Alpaslan said that Türkiye has become one of the most ambitious countries in the world in tourism. Reminding that the World Tourism Organization announced the 2024 figures, Alpaslan said, “Türkiye has become the 4^th country hosting the most tourists in the world. This is a good success and this success is not a coincidence.”

Alpaslan noted that the country’s tourism revenues have increased even more in the last 5 years and that they have become a qualified tourism, adding that the Turkish Tourism Development Agency has also played an important role in this success. Alpaslan said:

“Our President very strongly supported and declared tourism as a strategic sector. In this way, we acted very quickly together with our tourism sector by taking the support of our public institutions and organizations in Türkiye behind us. Taking into account the examples in the world, we established the Türkiye Tourism Promotion and Development Agency in 2019. Here we have a very strong decision-making structure with both the public and private sectors. In the last 5 years, Türkiye Tourism Promotion and Development Agency has achieved great success and results. As you know, Türkiye has experienced very important crises in the last 50 years and within the framework of these crises, tourism in Türkiye has suffered severely and faced consequences. After the establishment of the Turkish Tourism Promotion and Development Agency, we have become sensitive to crises and have achieved a strong structure. During the pandemic, we could not even leave the house, let alone travel. Nevertheless, thanks to the work done by the Turkish Tourism Promotion and Development Agency, we became the country in the world that contracted the least in the pandemic and grew the fastest afterwards.”

Alpaslan pointed out that Antalya is the capital of the country’s tourism and one of the most important tourism destinations in the world, and emphasized that they are working to make it an even bigger brand with product diversity.

- “The target is 100 billion dollars in tourism revenue”

Pointing out that Türkiye needs to increase its tourism potential and targets, Alpaslan said, “Our country has a tourism value of over 60 billion dollars today, and we have a target of reaching 100 billion dollars in the near future. In order to reach this target, we need to increase the product diversity in tourism in 81 provinces in addition to our Antalya as Türkiye and increase it to 100 billion dollars. Recently, culture, faith and gastronomy tourism has come to the forefront as a very important share, and we are working at this point.”

Pointing to a huge potential in health tourism, Alpaslan said, “There are countries with a high level of development and personal welfare in the world population. Health is extremely important for these people, and if you can provide qualified services in this sense, you can get a very large share of this cake. As Türkiye, we want to increase our total tourism revenues to 100 billion dollars by getting a much larger share from this cake with qualified health institutions, personnel and these opportunities in tourism, for this we attach importance to health tourism.” Alpaslan stated that there are 18 million visitors to Antalya and over 60 million visitors to Türkiye, and that Türkiye has become a brand in terms of health potential, and that they will reach the targets they want in health tourism as soon as possible by promoting this much better to the world.

- Vali Şahin “We made a leap in both health and tourism”

Antalya Governor Hulusi Şahin also noted that Türkiye has achieved significant success in the health sector in the last 20-25 years and said, “Physical capacities have been renewed, the number and quality of physicians and health personnel have increased. At the point we have reached in the health sector, we have become a world-class service provider. We have successfully passed the test of this during the pandemic process. We have taken giant steps in tourism in 30-40 years in Türkiye in general and Antalya in particular.”

- Strategy and future were discussed at the panel

Following the speeches, the panel titled “Public Strategies and Roadmaps in the Field of Health and Tourism” brought together the stakeholders of the sector. The panel was moderated by Yusuf Hacısüleyman, Chairman of the Board of Directors of ATSO, and the speakers of the panel were Nadir Alpaslan, Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism, and Behlül Ünver, General Manager of International Health Services Corporation (USHAŞ). During the panel, the strategic importance of health tourism for Türkiye, Antalya’s potential in this field and the guiding role of public policies were discussed comprehensively. In the session where new opportunities arising from the integration of health and tourism were evaluated, current public strategies as well as future road maps were shared.