Health Tourism In Turkey A Booming Industry

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - FEBRUARY 15: A patient undergoes a hair transplant procedure at the luxury Esteworld Clinic on February 15, 2017 in Istanbul, Turkey. Esteworld clinic is one of many Turkish run health clinics tailoring vacation packages to tourists wishing to undergo specific medical surgeries, generally offering a three day hotel deal with airport transfers, sightseeing, meals and the surgery. The company provides health tourism to clients in more than 100 countries and has seen business boom over the past 5 years despite Turkey currently going through a tourism crisis. The Health tourism market is growing rapidly with the number of medical tourists traveling to Turkey for plastic surgery, hair transplants and organ transplants, doubling in the past two years. Clients predominately from Arab and European countries often come in tour groups with hair transplants, breast and nose surgeries being the most popular choice. Turkey's health ministry is looking to increase the numbers of medical tourists to two million by 2023 by introducing tax-free health care zones targeted specifically at foreign patients in the hope of reaching 20 billion in revenue from the health sector by 2023. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)