Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace… and its hospitals. Yes, the hospitals ! Welcome to Istanbul ! Besides its world-famous UNESCO World Heritage Site, the beautiful historic areas also attract thousands of tourists every year from all over the world to meet with eyes, hair, teeth and other healthcare specialists.
The key-assets: modern facilities, highly qualified staff, medical treatment costs four to ten times lower than in Western Europe, and of course: the Bosphorus.
For example, at the biggest private ophthalmological hospital in the world, a young 21-year-old German patient arrived straight from Hanover to have his myopia corrected. « I would like to have my eyes operated because my plan is to join the police force and, for that, I need very good eyesight. » But wasn’t it possible to do this operation in Germany?
The techniques in Germany are not bad, but they are not the most advanced and it is not the safest but, above all, the intervention cost is 4000 € whereas, in Turkey : it is 1700 € all inclusive.
Every year around 20,000 foreign patients come to this hospital to treat their eyes. 450 consultations and 115 operations per day. The clinic operates almost without delay and with state-of-the-art equipment. The hospital offers each patient a personalized package which includes the plane ticket for a stay of three nights and four days, the airport-hospital/hotel transfer, the translator to the intervention, the pre- and postoperative check-up, the medicine and, of course : the tour of the Bosphorus. All this for 1700 euros.
How do they manage to charge so little if they take care of the hotel flight and the costs there? It does not seem expensive to you, firstly because the purchasing power is higher for a foreign patient than a Turkish citizen. And then you know, the first private eye center in the world has a very strong negotiating power. For example the clinic buys all its equipment in Germany and in the United States. It represents 60% of the supplier’s turnover, with the possibility to acquired the equipment 40% cheaper, which finally impacts our prices – with a very competitive rate.
Money matters of course. But what about the follow-up ? Istanbul is far from Hanover indeed. What if Mathias has a problem? How to do ? Some clinics have opened six pre and post operative branches in Western Europe, including two in Germany, in other words at least, Mathias can be taken care of not too far from home.
Will Turkey reach soon one million health tourists?
Of the 26 million tourists that Turkey received in 2009, 200,000 came for health reasons. Turkey wants to become the leader of medical tourism in Europe, and for that the government has done things right now. We understand, as a medical tourist brings to the country between 3500 and 4000 € while a normal tourist is 700. Will Turkey reach soon one million health tourists?