Medical tourists need a medical visa and specific health documentation to enter Turkey as the country encourages international tourism again. International travel to Turkey has resumed. Now, only two countries, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, remain on the banned list. Turkey is promoting itself as a travel destination again and mainly targeting Germany. It also welcomes American travellers.

All incoming travellers must have travel insurance that covers COVID-19& for the duration of their trip to Turkey for medical visa. Travellers are not required to present proof of a negative COVID-19 test, but if a visitor shows symptoms of COVID-19, a PCR swab test may be performed. A positive result leads to a 14-day quarantine at a state medical facility.

Turkey’s tourism industry introduced the& Safe Tourism Certification Programme and was designed jointly by the country’s tourism, health, transportation, and interior ministries. It has also received the& World Travel Tourism Council’s Safe Travels stamp&, confirming that the country is a safe destination for travellers. Istanbul Airport was also the first airport accredited by the& Airport Health Accreditation programme& launched by the Airports Council International (ACI) World and ACI EUROPE.

In a separate move to become a preferred hub for Chinese travellers, Istanbul Airport has launched a Chinese Friendly Airport project. Measures are now in place to make Chinese travellers feel at home at the airport. The China project will offer dedicated check-in islands for China flights, digital welcome activity on boarding bridges and Weibo and WeChat integration at the airport to engage with Chinese travellers as quickly as possible. Flight announcements are in Mandarin for all flights to Chinese destination cities, and hot water dispensers are available on arrival and departure floors. The airport also has enabled WeChat Pay, which Chinese travellers widely use.