Health tourism awareness in hotel managements and travel agencies operating in Kuşadası

Objective: Health Tourism is a rapidly developing, promising and constantly developing tourism branch around the world. Health tourism, which is spreading rapidly both in the world and in our country, has also become the key to taking place in the international tourism market. For this reason, this study was carried out in order to raise awareness of health tourism in 5-star hotel businesses operating in Kuşadası, A group travel agencies without health tourism authorization certificate and travel agencies with health tourism authorization certificate and to make suggestions for this area. In this way, it will be possible to develop health tourism in Kuşadası and take place in the international market. Material and Methods: In the study, semi-structured questions on health tourism awareness were prepared by taking the opinions of experts. A sufficient number of interviews were conducted with the participants by using the in-depth interview technique, one of the qualitative research methods. The data obtained from the interviews were tabulated, analyzed and interpreted according to content analysis. Results: In the study, as a result of the interviews with 10 5-star hotels operating in Kuşadası, 8 A-class travel agencies without health tourism authorization certificate and 8 travel agencies with health tourism authorization certificates, hotel businesses and agencies with authorization certificates have high health tourism awareness; It has been found that group A travel agencies are at a moderate level. Conclusion: In the conclusion part of the study, the results obtained from the tables were evaluated, determinations and necessary suggestions were made. Not many studies were found in this area. For this reason, it is foreseen that the study will fill the gap in the literature and shed light on this issue, as well as raising awareness of health tourism for hotel businesses and travel agencies. Key words; Health Tourism Awareness, Health Tourism, Kuşadası