Health and Welness Tourism in Izmir
Izmir is in excellent location for health and wellness tourism due to the unique natural and thermal
resources the area owns. The interest to Izmir’s health tourism potential is increasing gradually by the fastest growth in private health sector, the increasing number of modern lodging
facilities, very good value-price ratio, high percentage of repeat health guests, qualified thermal and health service, the good results from thermal treatments, friendliness, hospitality and
tolerance to different cultures.
Global competitiveness researches indicate that the international tourists looking
for differentiated tourism experiences is increasing rapidly, and health tourism is one of the fastest growing sub-segments. Taking the Izmir city in consideration, it used to be an important
destination of Turkish tourism though it’s been loosing popularity to Antalya and Istanbul. It could be said that the long-term competitiveness of the Izmir’s tourism as a global tourist
destination may depend on product innovation and improving access to high value niche. When the resources and potentials of the region are taken into consideration, the health tourism seems to be
the innovative product which is very suitable for the region. Thus when Izmir was a candidate for EXPO 2015 the theme selected was “health” since this theme is very suitable with what the city
can offer.