Motivators and Perceptions of Residents in North Cyprus towards Medical Tourism in Turkey

Health is the most important factor in humans’ life. A quality healthcare service for reasonable price is one of the basic rights of a person. Health tourism and medical tourism is one of the trend topics in the world but for North Cyprus residents only few researches have been conducted. This thesis will examine North Cyprus residents’ per-ceptions toward medical tourism in both North Cyprus as well as in Turkey. The main reason for researching North Cyprus resident’s perception is to find out why they are choosing Turkey as a main medical tourism spot instead of staying in North Cyprus. In addition, it is examined what are the motivator factors for North Cyprus residents to travel Turkey for medical treatment purpose. The survey conducted with 430 North Cyprus residents. According to results of this research, it is find out that North Cyprus residents have a positive perception towards medical tourism In Turkey. Also when it is compared with medical tourism in North Cyprus, the results showed that residents are expecting more inconveniences than the Turkey’s medical tourism. Keywords: Medical Tourism, Turkey, North Cyprus, Residents, Perceptions, Motiva-tors.