Last week Korčula Island hosted conference initiator MEP Ruža Tomašić, political officials, representatives of four Croatian ministries and the European Commission, foreign investors and directors of institutions to discuss the future of health tourism on the island.
The pool area of the Korkyra Hotel in Vela Luka was the site of the presentation of local family farms, while the conference was split into two panels – health and healthcare tourism, wellness and wellbeing tourism.
As was pointed out by Katarina Bikić, chief of the Vela Luka District, health tourism sis currently the main strategic development goal of both the tourism and healthcare sector. Health tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors in the world and is expected to become one of the most common reasons for travel. Vela Luka seemed a logical location for the first such conference due to the well-known special hospital for medical rehabilitation and treatment of rheumatoid diseases Kalos, based around the proven medicinal benefit of the mud in Vela Luka Bay.
“My husband and I often visit Kalos and I felt such a quality institution should not be disregarded, so I had the idea to hold such a conference. In this century many people ponder their health more than ever. Health tourism is growing not only because of the aging population, but also young people who work 24h a day and during vacation want to pay attention to their health. If only Kalos used all of its potential, Vela Luka residents could make a living for the entire year and beyond, with other islands copying this good practice,” explained Tomašić and cited special guests of the conference, investors from Germany, The Netherlands, Dubai and Qatar. Tomašić remained with investors on the island for the rest of the week showing them around potential investment zones.
While the main motive of health tourism is the treatment of illness, the main motive of wellbeing tourism is prevention of illness and maintenance of health, and improving those types of tourism will include the entire island, from farmers to accommodation and additional services.
Translated from Dubrovački Vjesnik, for the original click here.
