The Ministry of Tourism encourages development of new products and destinations for medical and health tourism

The Ministry of Tourism will continue promoting the sustainable development of new products and destinations for medical and health tourism. Analyses indicate that these types of services are growing on the international market at a rate of 15-20% per year, with the World Tourism Organization identifying them as the most dynamic segment within the sector. This was stated by the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Irena Georgieva, at the opening of the first conference on Medical and Health Tourism in Bulgaria – State of Play and Development Opportunities, which was organized by the Ministry of Tourism and the Bulgarian Medical Union.

Deputy Minister Georgieva emphasized that spa, wellness, and medical spa tourism are playing an increasingly important role in travel and are leaders in the development of Bulgarian health and medical tourism. Spa tourism ranks second in country, after the cultural one, among the specialized tourism types. Bulgaria offers high-quality service by very good professionals at competitive prices, being among the countries with the largest numbers of hospital beds in Europe. We rank second, after Iceland, in terms of mineral water reserves. Combined with liman mud, medicinal peat, numerous herbs, and favourable climate, they may play a part in the prevention and treatment of over 90% of the most common diseases paid for under clinical pathways by the European health insurance funds and covered by retirement funds, it was made clear by Irena Georgieva’s words.

With its huge natural resources Bulgaria is staking a serious claim to transform itself into one of Europe’s health hubs, meeting the highest standards. Our attention is mostly focused on users hailing from the Balkans, Eastern and Western Europe, but also on customers from remote prospective markets, whom with attract with the very good price performance of services. According to the updated Strategy for Sustainable Development of Tourism in Bulgaria with a 2030 time horizon, 2/3 of those foreigners practicing spa and medical spa tourism in our country have already visited the country before, 84% consider Bulgaria an attractive destination for this type of tourism, while nearly 60% state complete satisfaction with their stay, further indicated Irena Georgieva. Health tourism is among the priority ones, with a development strategy due to be developed. We are working for the notable presence of Bulgarian health resorts at exhibitions and specialized catalogues of international tour operators, explained the Deputy Minister.

She underlined that all these efforts are also attested by the first standalone Ordinance on the Terms and Procedure for the Certification of Medical Spa Centres, Spa Centres, Wellness Centres, and Thallasic Therapy Centres to the Tourism Act. That secondary legislation introduces for the first time the minimum mandatory requirements to such facilities.

We are currently developing medical spa and spa destinations for the territory of Bulgaria, with over 30 Municipalities have stated their interest in the initiative. These will be combined and will build on the established 8 cultural-historical destinations and the proposed 12 wine-culinary destinations, she summarized.

Involved in the conference were over 20 leaders in medicine and over 100 experts from the tourism and health services in Bulgaria, Austria, Serbia, and Israel. Galinka Pavlova, Deputy Chair of BMA< also took part. Petar Galev, health journalist from Credo Web, was the event moderator.