1st Alanya Health Tourism Summit
March 19, 2016 | Alanya
1st Alanya Health Tourism Summit
March 19, 2016 | Alanya
A Pioneering Meeting Shaping Türkiye's Health Tourism Policies
The Alanya Health Tourism Association (ALSTUD), established in 2015, foresaw that health tourism would become one of Türkiye's most strategic service export areas in the coming years and has acted in line with this vision.
The most concrete reflection of this foresight was the 1st Alanya Health Tourism Summit, which was organized even before the relevant regulations were published and the sector's legislative infrastructure was shaped.
The summit was held on March 19, 2016, in collaboration with the Antalya Public Hospitals Union (AKHB) and the Western Mediterranean Development Agency (BAKA), bringing together approximately 400 participants from the public and private sectors, academia, and civil society organizations.
With significant participation from across Türkiye, this event is one of the first national-level strategic meetings in the field of health tourism.
A strategy shaped by academic depth and workshops.
The summit addressed all components of the sector in detail through academic sessions, workshops, and scientific survey analyses. The survey and analysis studies, conducted in collaboration with Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University, Akdeniz University, and Atılım University, scientifically demonstrated that Antalya's health tourism infrastructure is above average in terms of marketing and service quality.
In addition, the four different workshops organized have generated numerous suggestions and outcomes in areas such as health tourism congress and fair modeling, international promotion strategies, marketing elements, legislative shortcomings, and training for sector professionals.
Government Incentives and an Export-Oriented Approach
For the first time at the summit, and in a pioneering move in the field, state incentive mechanisms in health tourism were discussed; detailed presentations were given by representatives of the General Directorate of Free Zones, Foreign Investments and Services within the Ministry of Trade. These presentations included:
Incentives for service exports to health tourism companies,
The institutional support structure under the umbrella of the Service Exporters Association (HİB),
Incentives for promotion, rent, employment, and consulting,
Uluslararası fuar katılımları ve B2B organizasyonları için verilen %70’e varan devlet destekleri,
Issues such as these were communicated directly to field actors for the first time. In this respect, the summit served as a practical guide that broadened access to the incentive system and paved the way for health tourism companies to grow through incentives.
A Model Expanding from Alanya to All of Türkiye
This summit has contributed not only to the accurate analysis of Alanya's but also Türkiye's health tourism potential, to increasing its international competitiveness, and to the development of the sector in compliance with legislation. Structural problems such as ethical issues in the sector, unscrupulous practices, the competence of intermediary institutions, medical visa processes, and pricing were discussed and documented on this scale for the first time.
Mersin City Hospital Commercial Procurement Delegation Organization
April 10-12, 2017
Mersin City Hospital Commercial Procurement Delegation Organization
April 10-12, 2017
February 3, 2017 Türkiye's first city hospital, which opened in Mersin on [date], represents significant potential in the field of health tourism. With the support of the Western Mediterranean Development Agency (BAKA) and the Hestourex organization, the Alanya Health Tourism Association has carried out an important project aimed at directing cancer and oncology patients from Russia and the Middle East to Türkiye.
Within this context, those who participated in the Hestourex visit through the organization carried out by our association. a plane full of doctorsThe patient was brought to Mersin City Hospital via a connecting flight and had the opportunity to inspect all units of the hospital on-site. This visit stands out as one of the important steps that will contribute to Türkiye's health tourism.
This activity contributed to the development of international collaborations aimed at increasing our country's capacity in the field of health tourism and provided an opportunity to promote the potential of Mersin City Hospital in the region.
Activity Date: February 3, 2017
Health Tourism Regulations Workshop
May 19-21, 2017
Health Tourism Regulations Workshop
May 19-21, 2017
As the Alanya Health Tourism Association, we raised the urgent need for a regulation in the field of health tourism in 2017. In two separate workshops we held in Alanya on May 19, 2017, and in Konya on July 7-9, 2017, we published a declaration stating that the Ministry of Health should urgently issue a regulation to regulate the provision of health tourism services in both private and public hospitals.
Throughout this process, we emphasized the need for a sustainable framework in the health tourism sector that complies with international standards. Finally, to evaluate the applicability of the relevant regulation issued by the Ministry of Health on July 13, 2017, we held a meeting between August 11-13, where we examined the initial regulation in detail and identified shortcomings encountered in the field.
We would like to specifically mention that, prior to the regulation being issued, our association held workshops and made suggestions regarding the regulation of the sector, thus playing a significant pioneering role in this matter. As the Alanya Health Tourism Association, we continue our efforts to increase our country's international competitiveness in the field of health tourism and to improve the quality of services.
Period of Activity: 2017
Workshop on Problems and Solutions Regarding Health Tourism and Tourist Health in Public Hospitals
November 18-20, 2017
Workshop on Problems and Solutions Regarding Health Tourism and Tourist Health in Public Hospitals
November 18-20, 2017
As the Alanya Health Tourism Association, we raised the urgent need for a regulation in the field of health tourism in 2017. In two separate workshops we held in Alanya on May 19, 2017, and in Konya on July 7-9, 2017, we published a declaration stating that the Ministry of Health should urgently issue a regulation to regulate the provision of health tourism services in both private and public hospitals.
Throughout this process, we emphasized the need for a sustainable framework in the health tourism sector that complies with international standards. Finally, to evaluate the applicability of the relevant regulation issued by the Ministry of Health on July 13, 2017, we held a meeting between August 11-13, where we examined the initial regulation in detail and identified shortcomings encountered in the field.
We would like to specifically mention that, prior to the regulation being issued, our association held workshops and made suggestions regarding the regulation of the sector, thus playing a significant pioneering role in this matter. As the Alanya Health Tourism Association, we continue our efforts to increase our country's international competitiveness in the field of health tourism and to improve the quality of services.
Period of Activity: 2017
Health Tourism Professionals Training Workshop
December 18, 2021
Health Tourism Professionals Training Workshop
December 18, 2021
Alanya Health Tourism Association (ALSTUD); December 18-19, 2021 On [date], USHAŞ, TÜRSAB, the Ministry of Trade, Alanya University, and Alaaddin Keykubat University organized a two-day workshop, taking significant steps towards creating a training module for health tourism professionals within the scope of state incentives. This workshop served as a starting point for supporting the training and development process tailored to the needs of professionals in the sector with state incentives.
During the two-day workshop, detailed reviews and evaluations were conducted in two separate sessions, in collaboration with expert academics and international patient units of major chain hospitals. You can access the reports of this workshop from our activity reports.
✓ Our Strategic Outcome and Contribution
As a result of the reports produced at this workshop and the recommendations ALSTUD submitted to government officials; April 20, 2022 With the regulation change made on [date], health tourism trainings were introduced for the first time. within the scope of incentives This need was first raised and legalized in Turkey by ALSTUD.
As a result of these efforts, a regulatory change on April 20, 2022, ensured that multidisciplinary training for health tourism professionals within universities was included in the scope of incentives.
We would like to emphasize that the Alanya Health Tourism Association was the first to bring up the need for this regulation to be included in the incentive program to the attention of state authorities. Our association has once again demonstrated its ability to contribute to the development and amendment of this regulation during this process.
As the Alanya Health Tourism Association, we continue to take innovative and effective steps in the health tourism sector, leading the transformation of the sector.
Workshop on Converting Hotels into Health Tourism Hotels
As is known, pursuant to Article 2 of Annex 2 of the Decree Law No. 663 on Certain Regulations in the Field of Health... USHASIt has been tasked with issuing authorization certificates to institutions that act as intermediaries in the field of international health services.
In this context, authorization applications submitted before the specified date will be finalized by the General Directorate of Health Services of the Ministry of Health; applications will be submitted to USHAŞ from May 13, 2024 onwards. Preliminary applications will be received online through the USHAŞ website, and the process and its progress can be followed through the website.
According to the Regulation on International Health Tourism and Tourist Health published in the Official Gazette dated 13/07/2017 and numbered 30123, the authorization certificates of intermediaries holding "International Health Tourism Authorization Certificates" remain valid, and their follow-up will be carried out by USHAŞ (Turkish Health Services Inc.).
Go to the Official USHAŞ Website →
Hestourex World Health and Sports Tourism Congress
The third HESTOUREX World Health, Sports, and Alternative Tourism Congress and Fair, organized with the aim of diversifying tourism, extending it to 12 months, creating high value-added tourism activities, and increasing business volume, Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye It was held under their patronage in Antalya between April 4-7, 2019.
ALSTUDAll purchasing delegations were contacted, B2B meetings were organized, and sector meetings were held, particularly in Antalya, bringing together all healthcare institutions in our country that export or are candidates to export health tourism services, within the scope of the Ministry of Trade's state incentives, and the ALSTUD association managed all processes and incentives within the scope of the organization.
At HESTOUREX, officials selected and invited from all over the world, in the form of purchasing delegations, are introduced to the infrastructure and potential of our country in health, sports and alternative tourism. It is the most comprehensive bilateral business development platform in the field of tourism in the world.
Through HESTOUREX, international bilateral and multilateral cooperation agreements will be made every year to develop high value-added health, sports, and alternative tourism; and to achieve our country's 2023 targets of 50 million tourists and 50 billion dollars in tourism revenue.
• A total of 5,211 purchasing delegations from 165 countries participated in HESTOUREX between April 4-7, 2019.
• Over 27 billion TL worth of business connections were made at HESTOUREX between April 4-7, 2019.