The Health Free Zone (SASEB) is a new global phenomenon. Dubai Health City, which was declared to be established by the Emir of Dubai in 2002, is the first Health Free Zone realised in the world. In the following years, Boao Lecheng City of Hope is realised on the Chinese island of Hainan, followed by other SASEB initiatives in South Korea, Indonesia, and Nigeria. Countries that have implemented and want to implement the SASEB project see the project as an important tool in achieving the health tourism goals. The Turkish SASEB project, which was brought to the agenda by the former Minister of Health in 2010, attracted great attention from the public and remained on the agenda of the health sector for many years. With the change of the Ministers and top bureaucrats, changes were observed in the government's interest in the project in a decreasing direction. Although there were local initiatives in some cities such as Izmir, Bursa, Istanbul and Ankara to realise the project, but none of them were successful. In this study, it has been investigated whether there is a need for a Health Free Zone in Türkiye or not. Questionnaires and scales developed by the researcher self were used in the study. In order to test the validity and reliability of the questionnaire, first a pilot study was conducted with 54 people, and after the arrangements made within the framework of the findings and recommendations, it was presented to the Ethics Committee of Istanbul Gedik University. After the approval of the Committee, the main survey study is conducted between 15 November 2022 and 15 November 2023. The data obtained in the survey conducted with 491 people included in the sample group formed by the stratification method were subjected to t-test, one-way ANOVA, correlation and regression analyses using SPSS v.23 statistical program. The results of the research showed that the majority of the sample group (59%) answered that there is a need for a Health Free Zone in Türkiye. Afterwards, the basic characteristics of the building and the expected benefit were measured. In addition, it was found that Turkish SASEB, if established, contributed 44.8% to the increase in health tourists coming to Türkiye and to the increase in health tourism revenues.

Health Free Zone, Medical Tourism Turkey, Health Tourism, SASEB.