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Türkiye's Ministry of Trade announced that 1.5 million health tourists visited from abroad last year, resulting in $3 billion in revenue.
In a statement, the ministry highlighted that the global health tourism market has seen significant growth in recent years worldwide.
The number of international health tourists visiting Türkiye increased sixfold between 2012 and 2024, while health tourism exports grew fourfold.
The statement emphasized the role of the "Heal in Türkiye" portal, which was launched with the support of the Directorate General of Service Exports under the Ministry. The portal serves as the visible face of brands in the health tourism sector and their related promotional strategies. Currently, the portal features 201 institutions operating in the health tourism field, and the number of applications to be included is steadily increasing.
The growing Turkish health tourism sector has been experiencing a wave of negative media coverage in the British press.
Especially major British outlets, including Mirror, Daily Mail, The Sun, The Express, The Independent, and The Telegraph publish frequent articles on Türkiye's health sector, focusing on negative stories and complaint from British customers. According to an international media review conducted by FL PR & Communications, British media organizations have targeted Türkiye's health tourism sector with manipulative news stories.
Furkan Luleci, founder of the London-based global PR firm FL Communications, has described these reports as part of a systematic effort to damage the reputation of Turkish health tourism.
These reports focus on medical complications, risks, and alleged poor practices in the Turkish health sector, often using isolated cases to create a broader negative perception.
These articles focus on procedures such as hair transplants, dental treatments, obesity surgeries, and cosmetic operations, often using dramatic headlines and exaggerated narratives. Some reports involve undercover journalists posing as patients to gather material for their stories.
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