The Relationship Between Health Tourism, Exchange Rates and Employment in Türkiye: An Empirical Analysis

Abstract

Health tourism has become a strategic sector in countries like Türkiye, especially in recent years, and has created important relationships between foreign exchange income, employment and exchange rate. It can also be an employment opportunity for newly graduated healthcare professionals. However, while changes in exchange rates can have a positive impact on the sector by creating advantageous situations for foreign patients, excessive depreciation of the TL can put the sustainability of health tourism services at risk through the cost of device imports, foreign experts and medical supplies. For this purpose, the relationship between health tourism revenues, employment and exchange rates was examined in the study.
In the study, unit root tests were first applied to Turkey's quarterly data between 2012Q1-2022Q4 and then the Toda Yamamoto Causality Method was applied. The findings show that the causality relationship between the variables is significant. There is a bidirectional causality relationship from health tourism revenues to both exchange rates and employment. The findings obtained are very important for policy makers and decision makers.