A Comparative Evaluation of the Health Tourism Capacity of Selected Provinces in Türkiye through Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Techniques
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63556/tisej.2026.1710Keywords:
Multi Criteria Decision Making, Medical Tourism, Health Tourism, SAW, Standard DeviationAbstract
The objective of this study is to evaluate the health tourism capacity of provinces in Türkiye comparatively by Standard Deviation (SD) and Simple Additive Weighting (SAW). The assessment was conducted based on the following criteria: total healthcare personnel, authorised healthcare facilities (hospitals, medical centres, clinics, and other healthcare facilities), authorised intermediary organisations (travel agencies), licensed accommodation facilities, and the number of beds in licensed facilities. The scope of the research encompasses 41 provinces, with complete data on the specified variables. The research data were obtained from the statistics of the Ministry of Health and the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TÜRSAB). The analysis revealed that the following criteria explain differences in provincial health tourism capacity using the SD method: authorised healthcare facilities, total healthcare personnel, authorised intermediary organisations, licensed accommodation facilities, and bed numbers. The SAW method posits that Istanbul, Antalya, Muğla, Izmir, Ankara, Balıkesir, Mersin, Bursa, Nevşehir, Aydın, Kocaeli, Adana, Sakarya, Konya, Trabzon, Samsun, Gaziantep, Kayseri, Hatay, Denizli, Tekirdağ, Diyarbakır, Şanlıurfa, Eskişehir, Manisa, Kahramanmaraş, Afyonkarahisar, Edirne, Ordu, Rize, Mardin, Sivas, Yalova, Malatya, Isparta, Elâzığ, Zonguldak, Düzce, Batman, Çankırı, and Hakkâri are the provinces with the highest to lowest health tourism capacity. It is recommended that health policies be developed to address inequalities in health tourism capacity between provinces and to enhance capacity. The study comprehensively and uniquely assessed the health tourism capacity of Türkiye's provinces using SD and SAW methods. In this context, the study has demonstrated significant variations across provinces and is anticipated to serve as a valuable reference point for future research.
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