On October 15, “Health Tourism Conference 2025: Future Directions of Wellness and Medical Tourism” held in Baku, organized by the State Tourism Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
The conference brought together representatives of government institutions, local experts in the field, and delegates from sanatoriums, medical, and wellness centers. Specialists from countries such as Türkiye, Hungary, Thailand, the United Kingdom, China, and Germany also took part. In total, about 250 participants discussed the future prospects of wellness and medical tourism, as well as opportunities for international cooperation.
Azada Huseynova, Deputy Chairperson of the State Tourism Agency who spoke at the conference, discussed the work carried out by STA in the field of health tourism, the existing potential, and directions for its development in the country.
Azada Huseynova emphasized the state's support and the attention of the country's leadership in the development of the two main directions of health, medical and wellness tourism and noted the necessity of encouraging the participation of interested parties for the expansion of the sector.
A two-day conference featured an exhibition of health and wellness tourism institutions, bringing together around 40 local sanatoriums, resorts, medical rehabilitation and spa centers, hospitals, clinics, and international partner companies showcasing their services and products.
During the event B2B meetings were held to explore cooperation opportunities. Two panel sessions were held namely, “Integrating Global Wellness Trends: Building a Competitive Wellness Tourism Model in Azerbaijan” and “The Path to Developing Medical Tourism in Azerbaijan: International Standards, Certification, and Strategic Partnerships”.
The sessions explored topics such as developing a wellness tourism model in Azerbaijan, integrating international best practices, enhancing competitiveness in the field, ensuring spa and thermal therapy standards, destination certification, professional training, and advancing the future directions of medical tourism in the country. Participants also discussed international accreditation, effective cooperation mechanisms between the healthcare and tourism sectors, strengthening institutional capacity in medical tourism, ethical medical practices, and approaches to ensuring sustainable development.
It should be noted that the first health tourism conference was previously held in Shusha on October 28-29, 2024.
