Determination of health workers' opinions and suggestions about health tourism activities in health institutions: The case of Kuşadasi

Objective: This research was conducted in order to reveal the opinions and suggestions of healthcare professionals working in healthcare institutions with health tourism authorization certificates operating within the borders of Kuşadası, regarding health tourism activities. Material and Method: The research was conducted between July 2024 and April 2025, in this context, 41 health workers working in health institutions with health tourism authorization certificate in Kusadasi were interviewed. A semi-structured interview form, one of the qualitative research methods, was used as a data collection tool. The forms prepared by the researcher were sent to the participants and the data were collected and analyzed. Results: As a result of the interviews conducted with the healthcare professionals participating in the research, it was determined that the number of expert personnel with foreign language skills in the health tourism sector is insufficient, and although government incentives are generally used, there is a lack of coordination between stakeholders and the level of knowledge about these incentives is low. In addition, the fact that facilities that do not have a health tourism authorization certificate provide services damages the reliability. This situation has revealed the need to increase the effectiveness of audit mechanisms. It has been observed that there are inconsistencies in pricing in the sector and therefore service quality and patient satisfaction are negatively affected. The findings show that communication, education and infrastructure-based improvements in the field of health tourism will contribute to sectoral development. In particular, strengthening the physical infrastructures of health institutions is of importance in terms of compliance with international standards. It was understood that the promotional activities were largely carried out via the Internet and social media, and it was emphasized that strategic promotional activities should be planned for the target audience in this direction. xii Conclusion: In this research, it was concluded that institutionalization in the health tourism sector should be strengthened and coordination between stakeholders should be increased, promotional activities are of great importance for competitive advantage at national and international levels, and the regulations to be made regarding the identified deficiencies will contribute to the development of the sector.