Turkey Medical Tourism in 2036: Reading the Growth Forecast

What should healthcare providers do with a long-term market forecast?

Use a market forecast to test your plans, not to promise future revenue. A large market can still leave some providers with weak demand or poor service. Which patients can you serve well, and what facts support that choice?

The FMI press release published by NewsTrail on 21 September 2026 is a useful place to start. It promotes research under FMI’s byline; it is not a news feature reported by an independent writer. We have not confirmed that FMI paid for this piece, so we do not call it a paid article.

That matters when a headline reaches a board meeting, a sales deck or a page aimed at patients. This article looks at market data and its use in communications; it does not offer medical or investment advice.

What does the forecast measure, and what remains unclear?

The forecast is a market estimate from a research firm, not a confirmed sum spent by patients from abroad. FMI’s public Turkey medical tourism report projects USD 4.2 billion in 2026 and USD 9.1 billion in 2036, with 8% compound annual growth. Its contents cover tourists from within Türkiye and abroad. The public summary does not give the sample used for this report or the full model behind its figures.

Compound growth means that each rise builds on the previous year’s total. For a simple example, 100 units growing by 8% become 108 units. Another 8% rise takes that to 116.64 units. This shows how the maths works; it does not promise that demand will rise at the same rate each year.

A forecast can make sense without matching the data in your budget. Before comparing figures, check whether they count the same people and purchases. Travel spending, treatment revenue and patient numbers are different measures. A shared currency does not make them the same.

• Time: Keep figures for a past reporting year, an estimated base year and a future year clearly apart.
• People: Ask whether the figures include travellers from within Türkiye, people who live abroad or only patients from abroad.
• Spending: Check whether the total covers treatment alone or also travel and places to stay.
• Prices: Check what the report assumes about inflation and exchange rates; do not fill the gaps yourself.
• Access: Record which methods you checked and which parts of the research you could not see.

When the scope differs, place the sets of figures next to each other with clear labels. Do not join them into a single growth curve. That chart suggests a link which the sources may not support. A short note beside the chart is more useful than a caveat hidden in small print.

Nor does a rise in market value prove that more patients had treatment. Prices and the mix of care can change revenue without an equal change in patient numbers. If you miss this, you could use a revenue target to plan beds or staff without sound grounds.

What do Türkiye’s observed figures add to the picture?

Past figures offer a separate point of reference and show why growth may not follow a smooth path. USHAŞ’s health tourism statistics, sourced to TurkStat, list 1,398,580 visitors and about USD 3.022 billion in revenue for 2025. The 2024 figures are 1,506,442 visitors and about USD 3.023 billion. These are the yearly values shown when checked on 21 September 2026.

Visitor numbers and revenue did not change at the same rate in those two years. This challenges a story of steady growth without explaining what caused the change. A total for the whole country cannot show how one hospital, treatment or source market fared.

A provider also needs a view built from its own records. Count each stage on its own: unique enquiries, completed clinical reviews, suitable patients and appointments attended. Keep cancelled bookings in view, with reasons recorded only when known. Do not turn a staff member’s guess into a confirmed cause.

Think of a person who fills in a web form and later calls your office abroad. Two contacts do not always mean two people seeking care. Use a clear, controlled process to match records and keep health data safe. The monthly report should show both the number of contacts and the number of people who made them.

Apply the same care to claims about your campaigns. Bookings may rise when a new specialist joins, prices change or a clinic has more space for patients. Record such changes before giving a campaign all the credit. Clear limits help readers see what the report can and cannot tell them.

Which service choices should come before a larger campaign?

Choose the patient group and service you can support before you spend more on promotion. A dental clinic and a hospital offering complex surgery need different plans. Start with the care you can provide, the staff you have and your follow-up plans. Then decide which market and message fit that service.

A city name is not a measure of care quality. A patient looking at Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir or Antalya needs the provider’s exact address and a clear care plan. Travel plans should fit the clinical plan, rather than set it. The same applies to time off work and plans for a companion.

Imagine a Turkish-speaking person living in Germany who first hears about a clinic through family. That may prompt an enquiry, but it cannot replace a clinical review. Speaking Turkish does not mean the person knows medical terms. Ask which language and format they prefer for written notes about their care.

A first-time visitor may have a different concern: who will respond once they are home? A warm welcome and a smooth airport transfer do not answer that question. Explain who does what before the trip, and check that the team can do what your message says. A good welcome should go hand in hand with clear plans for care.

• Define the service: Name the treatment, the team and the limits of what they can assess before the patient arrives.
• Explain the quote: Use clear sections to show what is included, possible extra charges and the terms for cancelling.
• Name the contact: Make clear who handles travel and booking questions and who can address clinical concerns.
• Plan the handover: Explain whom to contact for follow-up care and how to raise a concern before the person leaves.

These tasks help teams explain care; they cannot replace a clinician’s treatment plan. The treating team must decide what is right for each person. Marketing staff should not promise an outcome or make a clinical judgement. Their role is to share approved facts clearly and keep the limits of those facts in view.

Use the patient’s language at every step. Review quotes, booking messages and follow-up notes in that language. A polished English page cannot fix a confusing booking message. Our guide to health tourism communications across borders looks at this wider task.

What counts as credible evidence in healthcare communications?

Sound evidence supports a clear claim about a named provider; a headline about national growth cannot do that job. A forecast does not prove treatment quality or patient safety. An expert quote in a published article proves that the quote appeared. Neither, on its own, proves a rise in trust, bookings or revenue.

Keep earned coverage, paid placements and copies of press releases in separate groups. Earned coverage means an editor chose to run the story through an independent editorial process; buying space is a different route. Several copies of a release do not become several independently reported stories. The number of people who could see a piece is not proof of how many read it.

Evidence: Healthline’s 9 November 2025 report includes Acıbadem’s Metin Çakmakçı as an independent expert source. The original Healthline article with the expert’s comments proves that they appeared; FL PR’s Acibadem earned media case study describes the agency’s work. The case study is the agency’s own account. Neither source proves that the article led to more patients or income.

Who you want to reach also shapes the work. In its official account of the Acıbadem London Office project on The BMJ platform, FL PR states an aim to reach healthcare professionals. That is a different goal from reaching patients directly. The post shows whom the agency sought to reach; it is not proof of independent editorial endorsement or patient referrals.

A person seeking care may need a plain guide to each step. A clinician may want to check a specialist’s credentials and find a clear route for professional contact. Those needs call for different content. Our media relations work with expert sources and spokespeople brings source choice and review into that process.

How can providers turn this into a practical 90-day plan?

Use the next 90 days to check your facts, service promises and measures before making broader claims. This is a suggested way to work, not a tested industry benchmark. Adapt it to your team’s time for work and review. Give each task an owner.

In the first month, set out where you are now. Review enquiries by service, country and language. Find questions that come up often and points where people stop replying. Mark missing facts as unknown; silence does not tell you that someone has ruled out care or found the price too high.

In the second month, improve the content patients see. Compare the website, quote and staff replies for promises that do not match. Read the Turkish copy aloud and edit the English on its own so it sounds natural. Ask the care and service teams to clear up doubts before you publish a simpler version.

In the third month, test a small PR programme. Choose whom you want to reach and one area of care. Track relevant enquiries, how fast staff reply and the stage each clinical review has reached. Include known reasons for cancelled bookings and questions the content failed to answer.

Do not reward teams for pushing every enquiry towards treatment. Clear facts may help a person choose not to go ahead, or lead a clinician to turn down a case that is not suitable. Keep those outcomes in the report. The share of enquiries that become bookings is too narrow a measure of how well you inform people.

A long-term forecast should prompt useful questions today. What can you prove, what can you deliver, and what should you measure next? Explore our PR and communications expert insights for more guides to these choices.

Frequently Asked Questions

These answers explain what a forecast can tell you and how care teams can use it.