Türkiye's Black Sea province of Trabzon, which emerged as a health tourism hub in recent years and attracts tourists from numerous countries, has recently initiated a special program that would facilitate services, by offering them in several languages.
The ceremony for the opening of the "Health Tourism Service," set to provide services in a total of five languages within the Farabi Hospital of Karadeniz Technical University (KTU) was held with the participation of local officials, Anadolu Agency (AA) reported.
Speaking at the opening of the service situated in the hospital's Block A, Trabzon Governor Aziz Yıldırım noted that significant steps have been taken in health care in Türkiye in the last 20 years.
Acknowledging that Trabzon is one of the cities tourists are interested in, Yıldırım said: "Many tourists from the Middle East, the Gulf and neighboring countries visit Trabzon. Some of our guests come specifically to benefit from health services, while others benefit from health services when they come for tourism purposes."
He further pointed out the importance of foreign languages in providing services to tourists, adding that it is exceptionally advantageous to have employees who speak different languages, which provides comfort for their doctors as well.
"With the strides it has made in the field of health in the last 20 years, Türkiye has left the world behind in many areas, and health tourism is one of them," he said.
Emphasizing that even better service would be provided to tourists through such centers, Yıldırım congratulated those who contributed to the opening of the Health Tourism Service.
Rector professor Dr. Hamdullah Çuvalcı explained that they started their work about three years ago after obtaining the "International Health Tourism Authorization Certificate" from the Health Ministry.
"We served about 4,500 patients in 2023. Approximately 3,500 of these patients come from Georgia," he noted.
Indicating that services within the Health Tourism Service would be provided in English, Arabic, Russian, Ukrainian and Georgian, Çuvalcı added that they aim to increase their bed capacity according to demand in the future.
After the speeches, Governor Yıldırım cut the ribbon with protocol members and inaugurated the service.
