Evaluation of professional tour guides' perceptions about health tourism

Objective: In the globalizing world, increased freedom of travel between countries, ease of transportation and improvement in the quality of health services in many countries around the world have increased the importance of the concept of health tourism worldwide. Health tourism is one of the fastest growing and developing sectors in the world. The need for people to travel and stay somewhere other than where they live for treatment has led to the emergence of health tourism, which is a special type of tourism. All activities carried out during intercity or international travel for the purpose of receiving treatment and having a holiday constitute the concept of health tourism. It is a matter of debate whether the need for field expertise is necessary for health tourism, which is not considered to be very different from other tourism activities. For this reason, the main purpose of the study is to evaluate the thoughts of professional tourist guides about health tourism and their perceptions of health tourism. Materials and Method: In the study, in-depth interview technique, one of the qualitative research methods, was used. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 30 professional tourist guides working under the Aydın Chamber of Tourist Guides (ATRO). The data obtained were analyzed and interpreted by content analysis and suggestions were made. Results: Most of the guides think that health tourism has a significant potential and that the growth in the sector is sustainable. However, there are significant differences among guides regarding the definition and types of health tourism. From this point of view, it is necessary to increase the level of knowledge of professional tourist guides on health tourism. Conclusion: In the conclusion part of the study, the perceptions of professional tourist guides were evaluated according to the findings and determinations were made based on the results. It was concluded that professional tourist guides have health tourism awareness, but there are still deficiencies. Keywords: Health Tourism, Health Tourism Awareness, Professional Tourist Guide