ZAGREB, May 6, 2019 - The European Spas Association (ESPA) will hold its annual congress in the thermal spa of Tuhelj on May 8-10, to be attended by representatives from 21 European countries.

The event will present trends, innovations and best practices in spa and wellness tourism, a sector in which Croatia has been strengthening its international position.

The event is organised by the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) and the Croatian National Tourist Board.

"In recent years, tourism officials have been increasingly working on development and promotion of health tourism, and this year investments worth around 7.5 million euro are expected in that sector. The sector's annual revenue is estimated at 500 million euro, which is little considering the country's potential and the relatively high daily consumption, which amounts to 60 euro in spa tourism and 240 euro in medical tourism," said HGK Tourism Sector head Ana Klarić.

She said that tourists visiting Croatia for spa and medical tourism stay an average of 13 days in the country and that most of them come from Germany, Slovenia, Austria and Italy. They mostly come for dental services and plastic surgery, Klarić said, noting that those services are of very high quality and are very competitive at EU level, as are personnel and equipment.

More tourism news can be found in the Travel section.

The Bizovačke Toplice spas and health centre near Osijek has broken new records – in the first three months of this year, the revenues from private guests grew by 66 per cent compared to the same period last year. The number of private overnight stays increased by 30 per cent and the number of guests by 40 per cent. This is the most substantial increase since the modern spa complex, one of the best in Croatia, opened its doors three years ago, reports Večernji List on April 20, 2019.

“The number of patients paying for accommodation and having physicians’ referrals has fallen, while the number of those paying for the full service (accommodation to Sunčane Toplice and health services to Lječilište) has increased. The demand for special physiotherapeutic techniques for which we systematically educate our physiotherapists has also expanded,” explains Sandra Mihaljević, the director of the Bizovačke Toplice health centre.

Most private guests come from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany and Austria. In addition to physical-therapeutic procedures as recommended by their doctors, they ask for massages and specialised pain and stress relief techniques.

Bizovačke Toplice also specialises in working with amputated patients. “We have established a team of physiotherapists and have excellent business cooperation with the prosthetic supply services, so the rehabilitation of amputees is a complete process – from taking patients out of the hospital, bringing them directly to us or taking them to their homes,” said Mihaljević. If a patient has to spend a certain period of time at home, he or she is visited by prosthetics experts and the patients also receive administrative help, since they are often single persons who do not have anyone who can help them.

“Each person whom we help stand up from a wheelchair and have a somewhat independent life is a huge success for us,” she says. The plan is to build a new therapeutic facility. “It will significantly increase the capacity of the therapeutic part of our health resort and further increase the number of patients. We will complete the offer of Bizovačke Toplice, which will reach the very top of the rehabilitation institutions in Croatia,” says Marcel Medak, CEO of Bizovačke Toplice.

Devastated and bankrupt, Bizovačke Toplice was sold at the seventh auction to Jako Andabak for 14 million kuna in 2014. The first wave of investment began right away – 10 million kuna was invested in the largest wave pool in Croatia. The construction of the modern health resort cost some 22 million kuna.

At the same time, indoor pools have been reconstructed, and sports facilities and the environment were also renovated. This all cost 20 million kuna. A total of 54 million kuna has been invested in the renovation of the complex. And the most significant investment is about to begin –Hotel Termia will be demolished and replaced by a larger facility, with four stars and 160 rooms, which will be 40 rooms more than now. That investment will reach between 16 and 17 million euro.

Translated from Večernji List (reported by Suzana Lepan Štefančić).

More news about Bizovačke Toplice can be found in the Lifestyle section.

The company which was supposed to lead the project will be liquidated, but the city authorities say this is good news.

More investment into Croatia's wellness tourism industry.