Hosted by the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality and organized by İZFAŞ and TÜRSAB for the second time this year, the TTI Health Health Tourism Fair hosted visitors from all over the world and also hosted the Izmir Meeting of the Aesthetic Plastic Surgery Association (EPCD). More than 300 experts from all over Turkey participated in sessions organized in many areas from health tourism to innovations in plastic aesthetic surgery, developing technologies and surgical practices in the scientific event held simultaneously with the fair.
Izmir hosted a scientific meeting that brought together over 300 experts from all over Turkey. The Izmir Meeting of the Aesthetic Plastic Surgery Association (EPCD) was held at Fuar Izmir within the scope of the TTI Health Health Tourism Fair.
Prof. Dr. Özmen: A very smart step
Aesthetic Plastic Surgery Association Board Chairman Prof. Dr. Selahattin Özmen stated that organizing such a fair is a very smart step regarding health tourism and said, “I went to Dubai years ago, we participated in a health tourism fair as Koç University, I see that what was done there is happening here today. It is good to have such a fair and the participation, but it is still very new and I have no doubt that it will be magnificent in a few years.”
Özmen, who also emphasized that the area where the event was held was chosen very well, said, “It is very close to the airport, it is very big. Our Association Secretary General Prof. Dr. Yiğit Tiftikçioğlu suggested to organize this meeting together with TTI İzmir Health Tourism Fair. We said let’s never miss something like this, because health tourism is a very new and promising subject. For this reason, we decided to organize such a meeting here. As a country, we are very far ahead in the field of health tourism worldwide. Health tourism is very important for Turkey, it has a very serious income. When evaluated well, there are also people who come with the patient, it contributes to tourism and hotel management. Patients come to us from the Balkans, the entire Arab world, as well as America, England, Europe and many other places in the world. This is a very positive added value for our country. We need to evaluate this, I think such fairs are very important in terms of accelerating this business and reaching the best place. We should definitely continue this. "Apart from plastic surgeons, other branches such as eye, orthopedics, dentistry, all of them need to participate. We have very good surgeons, very good doctors, we need to evaluate this, this infrastructure is not available anywhere else," he said.
Thanks to President Tugay
Prof. Dr. Özmen stated that their colleague, Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Dr. Cemil Tugay, was extremely helpful to them while organizing the congress, and said, “Plastic surgeons are people who are used to working hard, overworking. We are not people who come and go and do desk work. We would like to thank Dr. Cemil Tugay very much, he is also a very hardworking person. I know this very well, everyone should know this very well.”
Prof. Dr. Yiğit Tiftikçioğlu: A first in Turkey
Congress President and Secretary General of the Aesthetic Plastic Surgery Association Prof. Dr. Yiğit Tiftikçioğlu also stated that Turkey was one of the first countries in Europe and even in the world where plastic surgery developed and its foundations were laid. Prof. Dr. Tiftikçioğlu said, “The Health Tourism Fair organized by İZFAŞ is a first in Turkey. Health tourism has been gaining increasing importance in Turkey for the last 10-15 years. There was no such organized fair in this field. We have participants and professors from all over Turkey, we have nearly 300 registrations for the scientific meeting.”
Yiğit Tiftikçioğlu also thanked Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Dr. Cemil Tugay for his contributions and said, “Throughout history, Izmir has been the capital of health and the face of our country opening to the West. Izmir also has a great potential in health tourism. We have good hospitals, a good airport and very good doctors. I think the share from health tourism will increase in the coming years and I believe that this fair will gain much more importance.”
