The Business Of Baldness Tourism Thrives As More Young Men Travel For Hair Transplants In Europe

15.08.2023 - 16:15 / forbes.com / In Europe

At airports around Europe, particularly those with flights to and from Istanbul, it’s not uncommon to see men, their heads freshly shaved — some wearing caps intended to cover red scabs, others wearing forehead bands to prevent postoperative swelling — and all showing the unmistakable signs of recent hair transplant operations.

Although clinics offer hair transplants in most major European cities, the undisputed capital of this thriving industry is Istanbul, Turkey’s capital, with hundreds of flights arriving and departing with pre- and post-operation patients at what is now known as “the hairport.”

The national flag carrier Turkish Airlines is jokingly called "Turkish Hairlines” and the airport is plastered with hair transplant and cosmetic medical advertisements.

Turkey's health ministry says that it expects two million health tourists this year (including plastic surgery, dental care and other procedures) and hopes to snare $20 billion in revenue from the sector.

Hair transplantation is the most popular procedure right now with more than 2,000 performed daily.

”From the first signs of baldness, growing numbers of young men do not hesitate to have their hair implanted,” writes Le Monde, reporting on the monthly boom in flights from Parisian airports to Turkey every month. “Direction: Turkey, its unbeatable prices and its chain operations.”

Of course, patients arrive not just from Paris and French young men are not the only seekers of hirsute heads. Baldness, according to studies, affect one of every four men, is more likely to occur among Caucasian populations and has even been measured by country.

A research by the World Population Review, based on data from Vantage Hair Clinic and published by the Daily Mail, ranks the 21 ‘baldest countries’, with the United States and Europe high on the list.

“Male pattern baldness, which typically begins with a receding hairline or bald spot on the top of the head, eventually affects two-thirds of men. The good news is that there are some promising new treatments and fresh surgical techniques available,” according to the story.

The Czech Republic with 42.8%, has the most bald men in the world. Spain, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Italy, Netherlands, U.S., Canada and Belgium follow in the ten first places with percentages ranging from 36% to 42 % of the male population experiencing some degree of hair loss.

The prevalence of baldness that seems to be affecting men at younger ages plus the associated psychological impact and social stigma have impelled a thriving industry that ranges from aspirational products to prevention to treatment and, finally, to hair transplants directed toward millennials who are more ready to talk about their hair loss and to look