In 222 Healing Places, Only 23 Spas

Spas in Croatia still mainly rely on contracts with the Croatian Health Insurance Fund (HZZO). Instead of patients recovering in pools, entrepreneurs would rather host visitors in the health tourism sector who need a break. You can read the complete list of healing places in Croatia here.

Written by: Tatjana Vukić

Croatia has healing mud, clean sea with a high degree of salinity, healing thermal waters, and uniquely in Europe, even a special type of healing oil – naftalan. However, all these benefits found at 222 destinations are used for medical purposes in only 23 of them. Health tourism is still in its infancy, and there are only 18 spas in Croatia, which the state seems unwilling to let go of. Except for Istrian spas, which have been privatized, all other spas are owned by the respective counties. Entrepreneurs have sensed that investing in Croatia’s healing wealth would be worthwhile, but instead of typical patients who have so far recovered in the pools of spa facilities, they would rather host visitors who need a break from the stresses of everyday life in their health tourism establishments. Therefore, they are investing in wellness programs, while attempts like the one in Ivanić Grad to invest in the existing spa have failed miserably. However, the situation could change with the Law on Providing Services in Tourism, which comes into effect on September 15.

Lunch in the Hospital

What has served for years as an excuse for the average business results of Croatian spas is finally falling apart: existing spas will be able to legally engage in hospitality – selling food to their visitors and also offering them accommodation.
– Special hospitals and spas are finally allowed to legally provide commercial accommodation and food services in their facilities, where they currently have around 6,000 beds. This also opens up opportunities for the development of their service offerings. It can be expected that investments in improving the quality of accommodation services, along with high-quality medical services, will quickly prove their worth – emphasizes Ondina Šegvić, director of the Tourism Sector of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce. The Health Tourism Community at the Croatian Chamber of Commerce has been lobbying for years to change the legal framework to move health tourism off the dead center. – All spas and special hospitals in Croatia base their offerings on high standards and high quality of their medical services – says Ondina Šegvić.

It is undeniable that spas improve their results year after year thanks to the quality of medical services. In 2006, according to data from the Croatian Bureau of Statistics, spas were visited by 27,643 tourists, which is 24 percent more than the previous year, and they recorded 211,128 overnight stays, which is four percent more than the year before. However, spas in Croatia still mainly live off contracts with the Croatian Health Insurance Fund, and their leaders have no objections to maintaining this way of doing business.

Three Candidates for Stubičke Toplice

Due to legal changes, as well as the fact that recovery in specialized institutions has become a fashion trend, existing spas are slowly turning to the market. The enormous interest in building a health-tourism complex in Stubičke Toplice clearly shows that entrepreneurs believe it is worth investing up to 180 million euros to share the revenues from health tourism in the coming decades, even if only through public-private partnerships. The Krapina-Zagorje County did not have an easy task in selecting candidates to provide their partnership in Stubak, but in recent days they have decided on three candidates from the local area – the Zagreb company Sunce Koncern d.d. and Ingra d.d., as well as a consortium consisting of the Institute of Construction of Croatia d.d., Konstruktor-Inženjering d.d., Toplice Sveti Martin d.d., Sveti Martin na Muri, and Tehnika d.d., Zagreb. It is now up to them to prepare the tender documentation by October 3 to convince the leaders of Krapina-Zagorje County to entrust them with the construction of a new health-tourism riviera.

Naftalan Still Awaits a Serious Investor

Unlike Stubičke Toplice, the Ivanić Grad spa Naftalan does not seem to have been too attractive to investors so far, even though it features healing naftalan, which is not found anywhere else in Europe. Psoriasis is treated there by Danes, Italians, Slovenians, Germans… However, among the visitors to the local spa, only 20 percent are foreigners. Naftalan announced an international public tender last year for the construction of an indoor and outdoor pool with a hotel and conference center (a project worth over 20 million euros), but serious candidates were not found. Everything has evidently stalled because Naftalan has tried to remain co-owners of the project. Their failure has not discouraged them; they are announcing that they will seek investors through a new tender based on the public-private partnership model. This time, according to announcements from the Ivanić Grad spa, the Zagreb County, which is also the owner of Naftalan, should be involved in the project. Entrepreneurs evidently believe it is better to invest in something new than to spend on already existing facilities.

There is plenty of room to create new niches in health tourism, as healing places are just waiting for someone to declare that their mud, wind, or sea salt works wonders. The authorities have not actually agreed on how many healing places there are in Croatia. The Croatian Chamber of Commerce operates with data on 155 healing places, while the Committee for Health Tourism and Natural Healing Factors at the Academy of Medical Sciences claims that there are as many as 222 registered healing places in Croatia. It would be a huge shame if such potential were only used for treatment, as it is clear that no one enjoys spending their vacation in a hospital. That the healing properties of thermal waters could be much better utilized was concluded by former oilman Rudolf Radiković when he began creating a health-recreational empire in the recognized healing place of Vučkovec two years ago. On 300,000 square meters that he received on a 30-year concession, Toplice Sveti Martin operates, which has already received all possible awards, and Sveti Martin na Muri has earned the title of one of the most desirable rural destinations in Europe.

Relaxation, Not Physiotherapy

– I am from Međimurje and for about twenty years I traveled the world, visiting spa resorts in Hawaii, Dubai, Kenya, and concluded that nothing has a chance if it does not operate 12 months a year. In the Slovenian Prekmurje, which is similar in size to Međimurje, there were 750,000 overnight stays in five spas in 2005, while in all of Međimurje there were only 22,000 – says Rudolf Radiković. Radiković has meticulously planned how the creation of a fashionable destination on the Mura will look. First, he took out a loan worth 5.8 million euros and began investing. The seven million kuna he received last year from selling six apartments in the spas was directed towards new investments. He built a shopping center and sold the local shops for 7.5 million kuna, recapitalized the company, and thus raised capital for further investments. Using a similar system, explains Rudolf Radiković, Toplice Sveti Martin will continue to develop.

Next year, golf courses with nine holes, a golf club, a practice area, a Golf hotel with 318 beds, a pool, a wellness center, and a nightclub will be created in Međimurje… In 2009, six luxury villas with views of the golf courses will be built there. The entire project is expected to be completed by 2011, when Hotel Zrin with another 204 beds will be built. Accommodation in four and four-plus star hotels from the start indicates that Toplice Sveti Martin does not count on clientele who primarily intend to heal their body and spirit in their facilities. – Health tourism is not our priority, although physiotherapy exists here, but more in the sense of relaxation. Toplice Sveti Martin should be a true resort for relaxation. I do not believe that spas managed by state funds and led by political leadership have a chance for recovery – says Rudolf Radiković, who believes that healing places should be used for true relaxation. After all, his spas are among the members of the consortium competing for the construction of a health-recreational complex in Stubak.