Covit 19 Pandemisinin Türkiye Sağlık Turizmine Etkileri (The Effects of the Covit 19 Pandemic on Health Tourism in Turkey)

Abstract

Tourism is one of the sectors most negatively affected by COVID-19, a type of coronavirus that has been effective all over the world since the beginning of 2020. As in the whole world, all types of the tourism sector in Turkey have been adversely affected by this COVID-19 pandemic. One of the types of tourism that feels these negativities the most is health tourism. In this study, which was carried out to examine the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic especially on Turkey's health tourism, firstly the current situation of health tourism in Turkey before the pandemic was put into consideration. In this study, which is carried out with the document analysis method, one of the qualitative study methods, the Health Tourism data of the Ministry of Health was examined and the health tourism data of 2019 and the health tourism data of 2020 were compared. Health tourism data were tabulated in the form of the nationality of the incoming patients and the clinic they received health services, and the data obtained were interpreted. As a result, there has been a serious decrease in the number of tourists coming to Turkey, especially due to the travel restrictions imposed by the countries to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus. In addition, as a result of Turkey's success in combating COVID-19, vaccination studies, vaccine supply and healthy tourism certificates, there has been a slight increase in the number of tourists coming for health tourism.