Croatia is Preparing for Investments of €400 million in Health Tourism
The seventh Health Tourism Industry Conference (HTI) brought together more than 500 participants from 60 countries. The HTI was held in Rovinj Croatia where the Croatian Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli announced Croatia’s plans of investing around €400 million for health tourism.
Mr Cappelli said: ‘’Medical tourism is one of the most prominent tourism products with a long tradition and history in Europe, and it has been recognized as a branch of tourism which has a very positive demographic, social and cultural effect and plays a great role in the development of continental tourism’’.
Based on the current trends with orientation toward a healthier lifestyle and the aging population of developed countries, health tourism will become one of the main reasons for travel. Therefore, it is important for Croatia to capitalize on its innovations and quality to develop health tourism.
Mr Cappelli added: ‘’Croatia is part of one of the most developed regions of health tourism in Europe, which must make better use of its infrastructure, and in particular promotion. It is a product that is unquestionably important for Croatia as a tourist destination and therefore health tourism in the Strategy for Croatian Tourism Development by 2020 is singled out as one of the ten key products for the development of Croatian tourism’’.
The former Minister of Science Dr. Dragan Primorac said that Croatia has made big steps toward personalized medicine, which is evident by the number of partnerships with foreign experts. Mr Josip Zaher who is the vice president of Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) points out that medical tourism is growing at an average rate of 15-20% each year.
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