'Health Tourism is not managed from a single hand in our country'

Many hotels and tourism companies from Turkey participated in ITB Berlin, one of the world's largest tourism fairs. Many representatives of the Health Tourism industry, which has made a name for itself in recent years in our country, participated in the fair. Participating in the Berlin ITB fair, TURSAB Board Member and MedWorld A.Ş. Elif Ural, Chairman of the Board of Directors, answered our questions about "Health Tourism" to Aşkın Koç.

Aşkın Koç: We came to Berlin ITB after a long break. How did you find the fair?

Elif Ural: The fair took a long break during the pandemic period. It hasn't been a short break like Madrid, so people have to get used to it. The locations of the stands and countries have changed this year. We are only on the first day of the fair, I hope the next days will be better.

Aşkın Koç: Is there a special section on Health Tourism at the ITB Berlin Fair?

Elif Ural: Yes, for the first time, there is a special section on Health Tourism at the fair. It made us very happy when we first heard about it. But when we got here it was a bit of a disappointment. What we were told was that the health tourism centers and health tourism agencies all over the world would all be in a separate section. But when I came here, I saw that there is only a health tourism operator from Germany and clinics and agencies from Turkey. Wrong section. Especially in an unvisited part of the fair. It didn't go well this way. In my opinion, it would be better to include health tourism within the countries instead of a separate section.

Aşkın Koç: Are you going to start a study for this next year?

Elif Ural: Especially as TURSAB and the Ministry of Trade, I think a study should be started on this. Because Germany is an important destination for us. We cannot promote Health Tourism very well in Germany. Germany is on the list of target countries in the Ministry of Commerce. We need to talk more about German insurance. In real terms, we need to present ourselves very strongly in Health Tourism at ITB Berlin at this fair.

Aşkın Koç: In all my news and interviews for ten years, we have been saying that Health Tourism is the sector of the future. But we still see that the sector has not fully settled. There are people and businesses like you who are devoted to this business. But everyone works individually. It seems that it has not been institutionalized like other sub-branches of tourism. What do you think is the reason for this?

Elif Ural: I was at the Italy booth a while ago. Health Tourism in Italy was within the Italian Ministry of Health. Private clinics and private health hotels were promoted together with Italian Municipalities and within the Ministry of Health. We also have many institutions and structures related to the sector. But we cannot manage health tourism on behalf of the country in full unity and solidarity. There are separate administrations for ministries, separate unions, and separate institutions. We, as TURSAB, are responsible for all health tourism agencies in Turkey, and we are also trying to do something. Actually, we're going back and forth. The market has huge potential, but we still have a long way to go. But I hope we will work harder.

Aşkın Koç: What services do you provide in the field of Health Tourism in Antalya?

Elif Ural: We established MedWorld Tourism travel agency in 2018 and we provide services with 10 offices in various countries. In 2019, we established Medworld Health Service A.Ş. Rixos Downtown, which is Turkey's first Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Center with accommodation within the Resort hotel. We established Medworld Global Health Services Inc. Pine Beach Belek in 2021 and Lara Smile A.Ş Oral and Dental Health Polyclinic in 2022. At first, we said that everyone comes to Antalya for a holiday, would they come for health? But we built it believing that people would. We said, what do we lack from Czechia or Hungary, we can compete with them. Our health capacity and price policy are much better than theirs. Only our promotion in the sector was missing, there was none. We started promotions individually first, then we received the support of ministries. We are getting positive results. 95 percent of the audience sees the sector, but 5 percent of the audience does health tourism in real terms. But in our country, we can increase it to 50%. We are increasing our physical therapy center with accommodation to 3. We are increasing our physical therapy center with accommodation to 3. Again, we opened a dental hospital in Kundu that will fully serve Health Tourism. We serve football players in England. We have agreements with many football teams. Germany is a very important market for us. The proliferation of such centers will take the industry further. However, it is necessary to develop more institutional structures with offices in countries.

Aşkın Koç: There are more than a thousand dental clinics in Antalya, what do you think about this?

Elif Ural: Having a lot of something in one place is actually good. But this number is quite high. Excessive numbers lead to price reductions and unfair competition. The limit shown in other branches of health should also be applied in dental clinics. The Ministry of Health needs to stop this immediately and the ministry needs to develop a price policy in this regard.

Aşkın Koç: Thank you for the information you provided. We wish you success in your work.