İSTANBUL NEWS
Istanbul Airport named ‘World’s Best Airport
Istanbul Airport has received five honors in the 2023 Global Traveler Tested Reader’s Survey Awards by Global Traveler, including “World’s Best Airport” and “Europe’s Best Airport,” the airport’s operator İGA Istanbul has announced.
This has further cemented İGA’s position as a leader in global aviation.
Istanbul Airport also received awards for being the “Airport with the Best Food and Beverage Area,” the “Best Airport Shopping Experience,” and the “Airport Offering the Best Duty-Free Shopping Experience in Europe,” the statement added.
As part of Global Traveler magazine’s annual survey, readers determine the best in the world by voting on the travel-related services they have received, destinations and hotels they have visited, airlines they have traveled with, and cruise trips based on their real experiences.
“Receiving awards in these categories reflects our commitment to ensuring an exceptional travel experience for all passengers from different demographics, cultures and backgrounds,” said Gökhan Şengül, İGA Istanbul Airport’s director of corporate communications.
The mega airport served 70.4 million passengers in the first 11 months of 2023, up 19 percent from a year ago.
The international passenger tally rose by 21 percent year-on-year to 53.5 million, while nearly 17 million domestic passengers went through the airport in January-November, marking a 14 percent increase.
Commercial plane traffic at the airport grew by 20 percent to more than 455,000, with international plane traffic rising 21 percent to 341,000, according to data from the General Directorate of State Airports Authority (DHMİ).
Türkiye ranks among top 10 health tourism countries globally
“Türkiye has emerged as one of the top 10 destinations for international patients worldwide,” as reported by the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TÜRSAB), signaling the increasing prominence of medical tourism in the nation.
Elif Ural, a member of the TÜRSAB board, recently informed Anadolu Agency (AA) that in the global ranking of medical tourism destinations, leading positions are held by Mexico, India, Thailand, Brazil, Türkiye, and Singapore.
Ural elaborated that medical tourism globally is divided into three main categories: medical, thermal, and elderly-disabled tourism.
“As part of our initiatives at TÜRSAB, we are collaborating closely with our TÜRSAB Nature and Adventure Tourism Specialized Presidency to enhance our efforts within the framework of Türkiye’s ‘Century’ objectives,” she remarked.
Ural highlighted the rapid expansion of hospitals, medical facilities, healthcare professionals, and travel agencies, all contributing significantly to the surge in medical tourism, supported by Türkiye’s robust tourism infrastructure.
29 countries targeted
Ural stated that USHAŞ targets 29 countries for health tourism to Türkiye, which are the U.K., Germany, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Serbia, Kosovo, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Algeria, Morocco, Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan, Senegal, Mauritania and Nigeria.
She emphasized that Türkiye’s health tourism revenues have been growing steadily, except for the decline in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Health tourism revenues were at $1.49 billion in 2019, though this figure reached $2.3 billion in 2023, according to Turkish Statistical Insitute (TurkStat) data. However, despite the pleasing increase, we know that we still have a long way to go, and as TÜRSAB, we will continue to put in the effort to utilize Türkiye’s potential,” noted Ural.
Ural stated that foreign patients visiting Türkiye come within the framework of medical tourism.
“Patients coming to Türkiye receive treatment mostly from units, such as gynecology, internal medicine, ophthalmology, medical biochemistry, general surgery, dentistry, orthopedics, traumatology, infectious diseases and ear-nose-throat branches, according to data from USHAŞ,” she explained.
“Apart from these, we also attract great interest in the fields of aesthetics and hair transplantation; however, we do not have data on the income items of incoming patients, as they are undisclosed,” she said.
“Foreign patients go around the city where they are staying, shop and taste different flavors from our cuisine under the conditions permitted by the treatment. Those who come for aesthetic and hair transplantation reasons stay in accommodation facilities, as well as those who come for thermal tourism, medical spas, and elderly and disabled tourism mainly use accommodation facilities. We can say that it is a segment that attracts attention in general because it has a high added value,” she added.
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