ELİF URAL: “The pie in tourism is big; cooperation, not competition, is necessary.”
"We are working to make Turkey a global brand in health and sports tourism"
After the Antalya Tourism Fair, we met with Turkish tourism professionals at WTM London 2025 in London. Elif Ural, TÜRSAB Board Member and Head of Health Tourism Specialization, talked about both TÜRSAB's activities and Turkey's rising role in health tourism.
After the Antalya Tourism Fair, we are once again with Turkish tourism professionals in London. As TÜRSAB, you play an active role in fairs. Could you tell us a bit about what you've done, the process, and your future plans?
As TÜRSAB, we have 15,000 active travel agencies. These agencies operate in different regions, different tourism branches, and destinations. We conduct work in many areas such as incoming, outgoing, health tourism, and sports tourism. We support all these activities.
We have various specialized presidencies within our structure. As the board of directors, we determine which fairs to attend, which trade delegations to organize, and which areas to highlight through consultation. We have done excellent work in every branch of tourism and in every country for the past three years.
Currently, we are at WTM London. As TÜRSAB, we are present here with a large stand and provide space for our travel agencies. Last year, at the same fair, we organized a special commercial event for our health tourism agencies. We brought 30 health tourism agencies selected from Turkey and enabled them to hold meetings at free stands here. We are continuing with these types of projects.
There is also an election process coming soon. What are your expectations for the new term?
Yes, there is an election ahead of us. We will continue to work voluntarily for TÜRSAB with the new management, new president, and our current team members. Our goal is to contribute to Turkish tourism.
You also serve as the Head of TÜRSAB Health Tourism Specialization. Could you summarize your work in this field?
Yes, in addition to my board membership, I also serve as the Head of Health Tourism Specialization. TÜRSAB has become one of the most active institutions working in the field of health tourism in this country.
In the last three years, we have held approximately 50 meetings with our Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Health; 35 of these were in different cities. In these meetings, we explained health tourism incentives to our agencies. We taught these supports not only to health agencies but to all travel agencies. We also introduced regulations and created roadmaps for the new period.
In the new period, with the support of our Ministry of Commerce, we will include two more different specialized fields within the scope of incentives. We have completed these works, and we will share the good news soon.
You also have your own special brands in the field of health tourism. Could you tell us about them?
Of course. After many years of operating in the sports and wellness sector, we turned to health tourism before the pandemic. For the first time in Turkey, we established inpatient physical therapy and rehabilitation centers. In Antalya, we serve with a total capacity of 400 beds across three centers, located within five-star hotels.
Our physical therapy and rehabilitation centers are among the only examples licensed by the ministry. We want such investments to increase. Because every service that provides foreign currency inflow to the country also contributes to the promotion of cities.
Furthermore, with our Lara Smile brand, our dental polyclinics serve the British, German, and Norwegian markets. We have insurance agreements. Now, we are opening Antalya's largest hair transplantation and aesthetic clinic. In addition, with our Lara Smile Premium brand, we have made a special agreement with the British government. We are creating a premium clinic in the UK to serve public employees.
How do you see the future of health tourism?
Turkey has a very strong potential in health tourism. We often emphasize this in our Ministry of Commerce meetings: every euro of foreign currency entering the country through service exports is very important for us.
The pie is very big, and we have many competitors, but instead of competing among ourselves, we should support each other. As Turkey, the larger share we take from this pie, the stronger we will become.
