The European Spas Association represents spa facilities across Europe. It lobbies on their behalf with the EU, supports its members, and promotes quality standards and marketing initiatives for the spa industry. Thermal spas can play an important role in health tourism by providing prevention, wellness, and medical rehabilitation treatments to address rising healthcare costs and noncommunicable diseases. The association advocates for greater resources devoted to prevention and benchmarks successful spa countries like Hungary that attract both domestic and international visitors with their historic facilities and quality services.

1. European Spas
Association
Health Tourism
Role of Thermal Spas
João Pinto Barbosa
Bursa (Turkey)
03.11.2012

2. Summary
European Spas Association
Who we are ?
Health Tourism
Role of Thermal Spas
Facts, Trends, Opportunities and Ideas

3. ESPA
European Spas
Association

4. http://www.europeanspas.eu/members/

5. • Lobbying in the EU
• Supporting the Members
• Promoting the “Concept”

6. Quality
Standards

7. EuropeSpa med
is the seal of quality for health resort
hotels and clinics as well as medical
wellness centers. Guests are treated
over a period of at least two and
ideally three weeks according to a
medical plan drawn up by a doctor

8. Marketing
B2B business to business |B2C business to consumer | P2P people to people

9. www.europeanspas.eu www.espa-ehv.eu
REAL TIME IS A MINDSET

10. Health Tourism
Role of thermal spas
Thermal Tourism, Wellness Tourism, Medical Tourism

11. A
THERMAL
CONTINENT

12. Source: Dr. Janka Zalasekova (SK)

13. HEALTH SYSTEMS IN EUROPE ARE IN CRISIS
• Investment to prevention to an average 3% from all cost for
healthcare
• Budgets spent for healthcare and treatment 97%. On average
between 20% and 30% are for medicaments.
• High number of inactive people through ill-health. Healthy
population is prerequisite for economic productivity and
prosperity
• Medical care reimbursements are diminishing every year
Source: OECD Health Data (2006)

14. By 2020 top 5
disease
conditions share
underlying factor
of stress
Spain, Portugal
and Italy report
overweight and
obesity levels
exceeding 30%
among children
aged 7-11 y.o.
Source: WHO

15. THE ROAD TO WELL-BEING
• We must have WELLNESS as the overarching objective of our
policies
• We must keep our people OUT of hospital beds
• We must push more resources and more political commitment
towards PREVENTION
• Our aim is to ADD TWO HEALTHY LIFE YEARS to the average
lifespan of Europeans
Source: John Dali, EU Comissioner for Health and Consumer Policy

16. “Health is a state of complete physical,
mental, and social well-being and not
merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
World Health Organization
“Health is a cumulative state,
to be promoted throughout life
in order to ensure that the full
benefits are enjoyed in later
years”
World Health Organization

17. WHERE DO THERMAL SPAS FIT ?
.
PREVENTION – WELLNESS – MEDICAL REHABILITATION – HOLISTIC TREATMENTS

18. BENCHMARK
.

19. HUNGARY
Profile of Health Tourism
• Hungary is rich with geothermal water resources, and bathing
culture dates back to pre-Roman times. Thermal and medical
waters are the country’s key foundations for medical and
wellness tourism and can be found in over 80% of Hungary.
• 58% of medical and thermal tourism-related guest nights are
generated by Hungarian travelers. Domestic travelers
generate 24 million visits annually at the country’s
thermal/medical baths.

20. •
• Holiday checks (purchased by companies for their employees
or given to disadvantaged groups) can also be used for
preventive/spa treatments.
• International travelers typically prefer to visit historic facilities
(e.g., Turkish and baroque-style baths in Budapest), as well as
dental clinics and wellness and medical hotels (e.g. for
balneotherapy).
• A key attraction for international travelers is the high quality
of services and medical personnel, as well as the good
price/quality ratio (as compared to prices in Western Europe).
•
Source: adapted from Global Spa Wellness

21. Source: Budapestwinter.com

24. Source: Heviz Marketing

25. Source: Hungariandentalclinics.eu

26. Source: Csilla Mezosi

28. #1 Partnerships and Collaboration
• Build collaborative relationships with key players in both
sectors, thermal and medical, including government entities,
industry associations, and other businesses (e.g., medical
providers such as hospitals/clinics, medical tourism
facilitators, travel agents, accommodations providers, etc.).

29. The 7 Keys
•Geographical proximity
•Cultural proximity
•Destination image
•Destination infrastructure
•Destination environment
•Risk and reward
•Price
Source: ITMJ Medical Tourism Marketing: A model of destination attractiveness

30. #2 Differentiation and Branding
• Develop a strong and unique brand for
your offerings by emphasizing
authentic, location-based, and
signature services, treatments, and
experiences that draw directly from
unique local history, culture, traditions
(e.g., hammam, massage) and natural
assets.

31. • Consider providing more eco-friendly, organic, natural, and
locally-sourced products, services and treatments.
• Improve differentiation and create a USP for your standard
service/product offerings for both medical tourism and
wellness tourism by identifying what you are really good at.
• Focus on the areas in which you have a well-developed and
recognized specialization or strength.

32. #3 Product Development
• Build integrated packages that cater to tourists who want to
“change their lives” on holiday, including offerings such as:
body-mind-spirit offerings, healthy eating, detoxification, anti-
aging skin care (from the inside out), stress management,
work-life balance, life coaching, and so on.

33. #3 Product Development
• Capture the “borderline”– those who may pursue one or two
spa/wellness related offerings as part of a leisure or business
trip – by partnering with other tourism providers to build
packaged spa/wellness offerings with other kinds of tourism
experiences (e.g., culture, nature, sports, adventure,
business, gastronomy…).

37. #3 Product Development (Medical Tourism)
• Recognize that there are opportunities for the spa industry in
medical tourism, and pursue these opportunities carefully and
collaboratively. Build packages of pre-op, post-op,
rehabilitation, and therapeutic services for different profiles
of medical tourists
• Create relaxation and stress relief packages for the family
members of the medical tourists.

38. #4 Health Promotion: Promote via Research Data
• Use existing data from research to market relevant and
unique spa services
• Explore ways for individual spas to get involved and support
specific research studies.
• Evidence based therapies is a Key Success Factor in the
market

39. #5 ENGAGE
Source: Nielsen Consumer Survey 2009

40. Turkey on
Total Facebook users: 31.415.080
(40,38% penetration of population)
Position in the ranking by countries: 7º
Grew by more than 664.260 users in the last 6 months
Source: Socialbakers 1.11.12

41. João Pinto Barbosa
European Spas Association
Marketing Manager
marketing@espa-ehv.eu
www.europeanspas.eu
europeanspas europeanspas