Evaluation of the Awareness of Tourism Faculty Academicians towards Health Tourism

Abstract

Health tourism is one of the important alternative tourism types due to the economic contributions. The international standards introduced have made it obligatory for developing countries to develop in quality and character as well as in developed countries. These developments not only affect all stakeholders of the tourism sector but also affect areas such as plan, policy and employment. In this study, it is aimed to evaluate the awareness of tourism academicians who have an important position among the tourism stakeholders towards health tourism. In this context, in order to obtain primary data, interviews were made with 19 academicians working in the tourism faculties of 3 universities in Ankara and Konya. According to the findings obtained, academicians stated that the potential of health tourism exists and Turkey has an advantageous position especially in medical tourism, however, they emphasized that there was inadequacy in marketing activities and publicity. According to the results of the study, it has been determined that academics have general knowledge in health tourism, but they do not have in-depth knowledge about the practices of health institutions.