New cure for old sanatoriums - Serbian and Balkan spa resorts prepare unique tourist product for European market

(Banja Koviljaca)

In spite of excellent geothermal resources, authentic nature and enviable sites, spa resorts in Serbia have been trying hard for decades to be seen as different from regular hospitals. A trend that is already present in the world - a blend of wellness and health care, is coming to Serbia as well, but so slowly that there is no too much room for optimism.

It is not hard to conclude that it is necessary to accelerate that process if we don't want to be removed from the world map of spa resorts. Foreign spa resorts are no longer associated with illnesses, but with rest, enjoyment, recreation and relaxation. Burdened by unresolved ownership relations, unsuccessful privatizations, old equipment and, primarily, the fact that the state has no clear development strategy for them, Serbian spa resorts are having difficulties to keep the pace with Europe.

Therefore, people at domestic resorts have decided to cope with this problem in association with their neighbors, who face similar difficulties, and to try together to promote and improve spa resorts in the Balkans. Thus, the spa associations of Serbia, Turkey, Greece and Bulgaria announced the formation of the Balkan Association of Spa Resorts in 2013.

Common past, common future

- We believe that the formation of the Balkan Association of Spa Resorts would increase the influence of spa resorts on competent ministries in their respective countries – Vladan Veskovic, secretary of the Serbian Association of Spa Resorts, says to eKapija.

The state's nonchalant attitude toward the spa tourism and difficulties to persuade competent ministries to invest in these centers were not the only motives for the spa associations, which will organize the 2nd Balkan Spa Summit in October 2012, to launch an initiative to form aforementioned association. Their intention is also to define specific features and unique characteristics of spa resorts in each country. In that way, they will preserve their authenticity, which is extremely significant. We should also mention that Hungary, Romania, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina are expected to join this year's summit.

(Vrnjacka Banja)

- Alignment of services at spa resorts in the Balkans with, for example, German standards would bring numerous benefits and certainly raise our rating in the tourist market of Europe. However, for many reasons, that would take too long, and we are running out of time. Besides, it would be very difficult to avoid copying Western Europe's spa resorts through such standardization. Therefore, we will define specific features of each country - says Vladimir Vešković.

- Later on, they can merge into a unique product in the European market - the spa resorts of the Balkans. Our motto is: "We have a common past, let's create a common future."

On "no man's land"

What is the biggest obstacle to the development of Serbian spa resorts, which were much ahead of Slovenian and Croatian ones only half a century ago? Is there a space to make progress and what must we insist on when it comes to this branch of tourism? Is privatization the only way to push spa resorts forward and, if it is, how to organize it?

- We have no clear strategy for the development of the spa tourism, which is today in the highest demand all around the world – Svetlana Dragic, director of the agency C.T.D.3 that designed a study on the basis of which 11 resorts in Serbia got the status of a spa resort, explains to eKapija. Aside from working for ten years on the design of studies for the determination of the territory of spa resorts, C.T.D.3 also works on the design of a development program for spa resorts in Serbia.

For the tourist development of spa centers, which do not comprise only a rehabilitation center or a special hospital, but can also be a complex spanning up to 4,200 hectares, money is necessary to introduce commercial facilities, but that is where a problem emerges.

(Svetlana Dragic)

- Rehabilitation centers and hospitals don't know who to turn to. And while other competitors receive help from their countries to build welness centers, sports facilities, fun parks and hotels, the Serbian Health Ministry refuses to give anything for commercial facilities – says Svetlana Dragic, adding that about EUR 300 million have been invested in the construction of aforementioned facilities next to rehabilitation centers in Hungary.

On the other hand, people at the Ministry of Economy and Regional Development claim that they are not the ones to turn to for financial assistance.

- The Ministry cannot invest in hospitals because they are not in our jurisdiction. Our strategy was to invest private funds because private investors are interested in spa resorts – Goran Petkovic, state secretary for tourism in the Ministry of Economy and Regional Development, explains to eKapija.

Privatization is (not) the only solution

Serbian spa resorts thus found themselves on "no man's land," in the country that is not willing to invest in their development. One of the suggested solutions, and maybe the most logical one, was privatization, but it turned out that the things were not going as smoothly as expected. A question that immediately emerged was - how to sell spa resorts (accommodation facilities only or health centers as well)? For some of them, unfortunately, there were no potential buyers (Mataruska and Bogutovacka were offered for sale more than ten times). To make things even worse, it turned out that ownership relations were not completely resolved either.

Four health institutions in spa resorts Prolom, Lukovska, Brestovacka and Gornja Trepca (Atomic Spa) have so far been privatized as public companies in compliance with the Law on Privatization. This proved to be a more than excellent step because they are now constantly making progress.

However, people at the Serbian Association of Spa Resorts claim that there are some positive examples of spa resorts that are still owned by the state (such as Niska, Ribarska, Sokobanja, Vrnjacka, Koviljaca, Junakovic and others).

(Atomic Spa)

- Our suggestion is to first do everything to rehabilitate hotels in spa resorts that are unsuccessfully privatized and then to consider the sale of rehabilitation centers, if necessary – Vladan Veskovic claims.

However, the Ministry of Economy claims that there is no further development without privatization.

- Foreign investors request from us to put both medical and accommodation facilities under control, while certain officials in spa resorts do not like that idea. One thing is for sure - nobody will invest a dime in spa resorts owned by government institutions – says Goran Petkovic.

What impedes the sale is the fact that most special hospitals cannot be sold due to court restrictions because the Pension and Disability Insurance Fund claims a stake in them. As it was announced earlier, the Fund claims a stake in nearly 90% of 32 spa resorts in Serbia. Until these court disputes are over, their privatization is put on hold.

Cure for sanatoriums

What all sides in the story agree upon is that it is necessary to make a special plan for privatization and development, as well as to change the current Law on Spa Resorts.

The Serbian Association of Spa Resorts is about to finish a new Bill on Spa Resorts and plans to deliver it to the Ministry as soon as possible.

(Goran Petkovic)

- We hope to be a part of the task force that will design the final version. The new Law on Spa Resorts must be applicable and sustainable - says Vladan Veskovic from the Association of Spa Resorts.

Aside from aforementioned privatization, the recently promulgated Law on Public Private Partnership may also contribute to the development of spa tourism.

- Serbia puts efforts into attracting international companies engaged in spa tourism to Serbia, which could enter the market either through a public-private partnership or through a privatization - Rafael Pupovac, director of the National Tourism Development Corporation, stated earlier.

The host of the 3rd Balkan Spa Summit will be Serbia. Therefore, the effort of Serbian spa resorts to improve their image and competitiveness in order to become destinations where "you come old and leave young" is more than significant.

Milica Stevuljevic