A general evaluation of health tourism for the world and Turkey: A time series analysis for Turkey

The importance of health for people all over the world is unquestionable. In order to stay healthy or recover, which is the main reason for the desire to live longer, human beings have been in a constant search at individual and increasingly social levels. Thanks to the rapidly developing technology, it can be observed that new travels have been added to the travels made to see the historical and natural beauties, swim in the sea and sunbathe. The travels made to recover or ensure the continuity of well-being have also been involved in the tourism sector. The classical tourism movement for holiday has changed in the recent years. This type of tourism, which is called health tourism, aims to provide high quality, low-cost health services by going to destinations other than where people live. This type of tourism is known to have developed very rapidly in the world lately. Turkey is extremely lucky in terms of touristic potential. Due to its geographical location, its climate diversity, natural beauties, historical background, abundance in terms of healing underground water resources make Turkey rich in terms of tourism. Both in these aspects and in terms of health services being high quality and economic, health tourism in Turkey has been preferred by the citizens of many countries in the recent years. Key Words: Health Tourism in the World, Health Tourism in Turkey, Health Tourism, Time Series Analysis, Tourism.