site.btaVienna Forum Highlights Bulgarian Wellness Tourism

A forum in Vienna is highlighting Bulgaria as a destination for wellness tourism. In her opening remarks, Tourism Minister Zaritsa Dinkova presented this country as a European leader in this sector. "Bulgaria is among the leading health and beauty destinations in Europe. Few are the countries that can compete with us in spa, balneo and wellness tourism," she said.

In her words, Bulgaria is ready to present to its Austrian partners a different tourist product that is to the benefit of all Europeans' health.

In the last ten years, Bulgaria has developed a lot in this field. The country offers high quality health tourism that includes medical spa, spa, wellness, thalasso and medical tourism, Dinkova explained.

Bulgaria's resources place it in a leading position too. The country has over 600 mineral springs, 75% of which have a temperature of 37C to 101C, she went on to say.

The majority of Bulgaria's resorts are located in ecological areas and natural parks, along the Black Sea coast or in beautiful mountain areas. Bulgaria is among the important producers of agricultural bio products. All of this turns the country in a four-season tourist destination, she added.

Seven balneo and spa destinations have already been created jointly with the Bulgarian Union of Balneology and SPA Tourism to popularize Bulgaria as a place with big potential for treatment and prevention. The destinations include 58 settlements across the country. A total of 267 centres have been certified thus far: 65 medical spa centres, 161 spa centres, and 41 wellness centres.

Bulgaria is part of the German National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds (GKV) system as a country where health insured Germans can reimburse their resources for prevention. Four pilot medical spa centres are also in the system for direct negotiation with the second biggest insurance company in Germany, TK.

"We already have examples of cooperation between representatives of the Bulgarian hotel and tourist business and Austrian insurance companies. Our data show a quick process of recovery of the inbound tourism from Austria after the pandemic's end. The daily flights from Vienna to Sofia and Varna undoubtedly contribute to that," the Tourism Minister said.

On November 21, Bulgaria was presented to a professional Austrian audience as a health tourism destination, with a focus on medical/spa and wellness.

The Austrian market is the second project of the Bulgarian Union of Balneology and SPA Tourism, with which the organization continues its consistent policy of positioning Bulgaria as a year-round destination for health tourism on the international market, the Union said.