Turkey continues to be one of the top destinations for hair transplant with the sector seeing a boom in demand for its all-inclusive packages, according to the sector representatives.
Stating that Turkey is very good in hair transplantation, which is an important part of health tourism, and has advantages especially in terms of price and performance, Turkish Health Tourism Association (TÜSATDER) Head Servet Terziler said, "People come and get a hair transplant for an average of 1,500-2,000 euros (TL 27,462-36,616), including everything, like hotel, airport transfers and hair transplantation for two nights."
"In Europe, the prices are around 5,000 euros in newly opened clinics. Local doctors do it for about 8,000 to 10,000 euros," he said, "Thus, Turkey maintains its quality and price advantage in this regard."
Turkey hosted approximately 550,000 hair tourists in the first half of 2022 after COVID-19 hiatus, Terziler said, and that this number was around 750,000 in pre-covid year of 2019.
The turnover, meanwhile, has said is expected to reach $2 billion (TL 35.9 billion) this year which was $1.5 billion in 2019.
In 2022, the total health tourism turnover is expected to reach $4 billion.
"Some 60% of incoming patients come on recommendation," Terziler went on to say as when "European people come here and meet the style of service they admire in private clinics and hospitals, they are very satisfied and recommend it to others when they return to their countries."
"Health tourists come to our country from more than 100 countries for hair transplantation. Mainly continental Europe, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, England, Spain, Italy, France, Netherlands and Germany are among the leading countries," he said.
"Apart from continental Europe, we host health tourists from many countries such as Brazil, Argentina, Canada and even Australia, New Zealand and Israel."
Stating that the nonsurgical method is applied in hair transplantation in Turkey, Terziler said, "The U.S., for example, currently uses the surgical technique. People do not want the nape of the hair transplanted to be cut. Therefore, our non-surgical technique is now very good and affordable, making it a center of attraction for Turkey."
For the last eight years, Turkey has been seeing a rising trend in the sector, Terziler went on to say.
"Especially during the pandemic process, the very good treatment in Turkey and the very good infrastructure of the intensive care units have increased the demands for general health services in addition to aesthetic, hair and eye treatment in our country," he said.
Usame Karakış, who runs a health tourism company, also spoke on their services.
"We pick up our guests from abroad with VIP vehicles from the airport and place them in their hotel. The next day, we perform the procedure in private hospitals under hygienic conditions," he said.
After the procedure, Karakış said, they take their guests back to their hotel after a tour of Istanbul in VIP vehicles and an interpreter, and the next day they fly back to their country.
"People living in any country in Europe come to our country very easily and in a short time, and they return to our country by doing both their transactions and their holidays at affordable prices and in a high quality way," he said.
Hair transplant coordinator at a PRIVATE medical center, Yakup Uçar further commented: "Beyond being satisfied, our patients direct their friends who want to have a hair transplant but are not sure where to do it as soon as they return to their country."
There are three leading reasons why Turkey is at the forefront in hair transplantation, according to him.
The first is that doctors go through a quality education process and have many years of experience. The second is price policy. The third is Istanbul's extraordinary tourism potential.
"Our country is on the way to become a training base for hair transplantation and other aesthetic treatments. Foreign experts return to their country after receiving training here," he said.