Turkey is an up-and-coming medical travel destination that actually has many more JCI-accredited than better known medical tourism hotspots such as India and Thailand. In fact, with 18 medical facilities carrying JCI certification, Turkey has the most of any nation by a wide margin.
Among other treatments, medical tourists in Turkey seek eye surgery, fertility treatment, cosmetic surgery, and dentistry. Prices are competitive by Western standards, comparable to Asia and South America. Memorial Health Group, which carries JCI accreditation, features a large IVF and Genetics Center and is setting up an international patient center designed to better service foreign patients, particularly English-speaking ones. Dünya Eye Hospital offers medical tourism health packages that include travel, lodging, treatment, and a half-day city tour.
Turkey features a rich set of archeologically and historically significant sites, many in its largest city, Istanbul. Other popular destinations include Troy, Ephesus, and the Mediterranean resort towns on the Antalya coast (earning it the moniker “tourist capital of Turkey”).
Turkey Factoids
• Straddling two continents, Turkey features a rich and diverse culture having both Western and Eastern influences.
• A sharp rise in tourism since 2002 has seen the number of foreign visitors to Turkey double to over 24 million per year, landing Turkey in the top ten list of tourist destinations in the world.
• Turkey has emerged as a major European shopping hotspot. Istanbul’s Cevahir Mall is the largest in Europe and seventh biggest worldwide.