Health tourism. Medical tourism What is medical tourism

Currently, the tourism industry in the world is one of the most dynamically developing areas in international trade in services. Over the past 20 years, the average annual growth rate in the number of foreign tourist arrivals in the world has been 5.1%, and foreign exchange earnings - 14%.

The tourism sector is represented by various directions, types and varieties. Medical and health tourism refers to special types of tourism.

The concept of medical and health tourism is determined by its belonging to the tourism industry, as well as its medical and health specialization.

The concept of “tourism” is considered in various aspects. In this work, the definition given in the Federal Law of the Russian Federation “On the fundamentals of tourism activities in the Russian Federation” is taken as a basis. The law states that tourism is “temporary departures (travels) of citizens of the Russian Federation, foreign citizens and stateless persons from their permanent place of residence for health, educational, professional, business, sports, religious and other purposes without engaging in paid activities for country (place) of temporary stay."

In the context of this definition, destinations and types of tourism are identified, which are classified on various grounds.

The concept of health tourism is not clearly defined in the theoretical literature, although it is actively used in publications.

An analysis of the study of theoretical sources shows that a number of researchers (I.V. Zorin, V.A. Kvartalnov, A.S. Kuskov and others) classify medical and health tourism as a category of recreational tourism or resort and health tourism and define it as trips with the purpose of rest, recovery and treatment, restoration and development of physical, mental and emotional strength.

At the same time, many tourism theorists distinguish medical and health tourism as a separate, independent type of tourism, which has its own characteristic features, specific goals and objectives, and development trends. Such researchers should include A.V. Babkina, Yu.A. Alexandrov and a number of other authors.

In this study, we will adhere to the understanding of medical and health tourism as an independent special type of tourism.

The main characterological feature of medical and health tourism is its focus on achieving the following goals: recreation; recreation (restoration); health improvement; treatment.

Based on the opinion of authoritative authors, set out in the textbook by A.V. Babkin “Special types of tourism”, we can define medical and health tourism as a special type of tourism, which “involves the movement of residents and non-residents within state borders and beyond state borders for a period of at least 20 hours and no more than 6 months for health purposes , for the purpose of preventing various diseases of the human body."

The essence of medical and health tourism is determined by such concepts as “medical and health area”, “resort”, defined by the Federal Law of the Russian Federation “On Natural Healing Resources, Medical and Health Areas and Resorts”. According to this law:

- medical and recreational area - a territory that has natural healing resources and is suitable for organizing treatment and prevention of diseases, as well as for recreation of the population;
- resort - a specially protected natural area developed and used for therapeutic and prophylactic purposes, which has natural healing resources and the buildings and structures necessary for their operation, including infrastructure facilities.

Medical and health tourism is based on the science of balneology. Resortology is the science of natural healing factors, their effects on the body and methods of use for therapeutic and prophylactic purposes.

The main sections of balneology are briefly described below.

Balneology is a branch of balneology that studies medicinal mineral waters, their origin, physicochemical properties, effects on the body in various diseases, developing indications for their use in resorts and in non-resort conditions.

Balneotherapy - methods of treatment, prevention and restoration of impaired body functions using natural and artificially prepared mineral waters in resorts and in non-resort conditions.

Mud therapy is a method of treatment and prevention of body diseases using peloids (therapeutic mud of various origins) at resorts and in non-resort conditions.

Climatotherapy is a set of methods for treating and preventing diseases of the body using dosed exposure to climatic and weather factors and special climatic procedures on the human body.

Resortography - a description of the location and natural conditions of resorts and resort areas with a description of their therapeutic factors, balneotherapeutic, climatotherapeutic and other conditions for treatment and recreation.

In accordance with the indicated sections of balneology, types of medical and health institutions are distinguished - resorts, where medical and health tourism is mainly carried out.

A resort (from the German “kur” - treatment, “ort” - area) is an area that has healing factors and the conditions necessary for their use.

In world practice, the concept of a resort includes the concept of both recreation and a sanatorium, that is, sanatorium and resort services are also part of resort and health, or medical and health tourism. Based on the above, a number of authors (I.V. Zorin, V.A. Kvartalnov, S.A. Kuskov) identify this type of tourism as resort and health tourism.

Certain requirements are imposed on resorts as objects of medical and health tourism:

1) the presence of natural healing factors that ensure the normal functioning of the resort;
2) the necessary technical devices and buildings for the rational use of resort factors (swimming pools, mud baths, beaches);
3) specially adapted premises for treatment and housing (sanatoriums, rest homes);
4) the presence of treatment and preventive institutions that provide medical care for patients and vacationers;
5) the presence of health facilities, sports facilities and playgrounds;
6) the presence of public institutions, catering establishments, trade and consumer services, cultural and educational institutions;
7) convenient entrances and means of communication;
8) landscaped territory, engineering structures providing electricity, water supply, and sewerage.

The specialization of any resort is determined by resort factors - natural healing factors used for the purposes of prevention, therapy and medical rehabilitation of patients at resorts. The main resort factors include: landscape and climatic conditions; healing mud; mineral water. Based on these factors, all resorts are divided into 6 types:

- balneological mud resort - a type of resort where mineral waters and therapeutic muds dominate as the main healing factors;
- balneoclimatic resort - a type of resort where the main therapeutic factors are climate and mineral waters;
- balneological resort - a type of resort where mineral waters are used as the main healing factors (for internal and external use);
- mud resort - a type of resort where the main therapeutic factors are therapeutic mud;
- climate-kumis-therapeutic resort - a type of resort where the steppe and forest-steppe climate and kumiss - a fermented milk drink made from mare's milk - are used as the main therapeutic factors;
- climatic resort: seaside climatic resort and mountain climatic resort.

Along with the main types, transitional (mixed) resorts are distinguished, occupying an intermediate position. They use several natural healing factors at once, for example, mineral waters and mud or climate and mineral waters.

Transitional resorts are relatively widespread in Europe and attract a growing number of tourists.

The system of medical and health recreation institutions includes the following types: sanatoriums, sanatoriums, boarding houses with treatment, separately functioning resort clinics, water and mud baths serving vacationers on kursovka.

All medical and health institutions have a strong material base. This is due to the fact that relaxation in them is combined with treatment, which requires serious medical equipment.

The medical equipment of health care institutions depends on two reasons: the main natural healing factors that are used in the health resort, and on its profile.

The most important principles of organizing sanatorium-resort treatment are: complexity, accessibility of treatment, focus, a unified system for monitoring health status and the effectiveness of treatment before, during and after a stay at the resort.

The most important principle of sanatorium-resort treatment is its complexity, that is, the use of a variety of natural healing factors in combination with diet therapy, physiotherapy, physical therapy, drug therapy and other methods.

The main natural healing factor is climate. Along with the climate, mineral waters and medicinal mud are also used. Mandatory elements of treatment and recovery at resorts are therapeutic exercises, health paths, sports games, and physical therapy.

For the effectiveness of spa treatment, general resort, sanatorium and individual regimes are of particular importance.

The general resort regime applies to the entire territory of the resort and is regulated by the rules of procedure at this resort.

It includes the regulated work of resort-wide diagnostic, medical and resort facilities, as well as noise control.

The sanatorium regime is the routine and rhythm of life in the sanatorium, which determines a certain periodicity of influence on the patient.

The sanatorium regime provides both general rules for all patients, as well as individual instructions and recommendations of the attending physician regarding the patient’s daily routine and the implementation of treatment prescriptions.

An individual regimen is compiled individually for each patient and is determined after the first conversation with the doctor. It depends on the nature of the disease and the patient’s condition and can be training, when an increased impact of procedures is used, or gentle - with a limitation in the amount and intensity of the applied therapeutic effect.

Your stay at the sanatorium can be divided into three stages:

- the initial period (adaptation), in which a gentle regimen is applied and treatment procedures are not yet prescribed in full; this period coincides with the examination of the patient and usually does not exceed 2-3 days;
- the main treatment period, during which the treatment complex is fully implemented (on average 20 days);
- the final period (2-3 days), when a gentle regimen is reintroduced and patients rest after completing the treatment cycle.

The specifics of medical and health activities determine the features of medical and health tourism.

Firstly, your stay at the resort, regardless of the type of illness or disease, must be long, at least three weeks. Only in this case the desired healing effect is achieved.

Secondly, treatment at resorts is expensive. Although relatively cheap tours have recently begun to be developed, this type of tourism is designed mainly for wealthy clients who are increasingly focused not on a standard set of medical services, but on an individual treatment program.

Another feature is that people of the older age group go to resorts when chronic diseases worsen or their weakening body is unable to cope with everyday stress at work and at home. Accordingly, these tourists make a choice between resorts that specialize in the treatment of a specific disease, and mixed-type resorts that have a general strengthening effect on the body and promote recuperation.

Recently, the health tourism market has been undergoing changes. Traditional sanatorium resorts are ceasing to be places of treatment and recreation for the elderly and are becoming multifunctional health centers designed for a wide range of consumers.

Modern transformations of resort centers are due to two circumstances. First of all, by changing the nature of demand for medical and health services. A healthy lifestyle is becoming fashionable, and around the world there is a growing number of people who want to maintain good physical shape and need restorative anti-stress programs. These are mainly middle-aged people who prefer active recreation and have limited time. According to many experts, consumers of this type will be the main clients of health resorts and a guarantee of the prosperity of health tourism in the 21st century.

The second reason for the reorientation of resorts is that their traditional support, including financial support, from municipalities and the state is being reduced. Health resorts are forced to diversify their product in order to enter new segments of the consumer market and attract new customers.

While maintaining the therapeutic function, resorts make the program of stay for patients more varied and hold cultural and sporting events. They offer a wide range of health and recuperation services. Thalassotherapy has recently been very popular in seaside hotels; the Anti-Cellulite and Phyto-Beauty-Rejuvenation 2 programs are also in high demand. The duration of treatment courses, development and implementation of resort service standards are becoming more flexible.

Technological features of medical and health tourism are manifested in the following characteristics.

1. Goal: recovery, treatment, relaxation.
2. The organization of this type of tourism requires specific recreational resources (climate, mineral waters, mud).
3. When organizing medical and recreational trismus, it is necessary to ensure the safety of potential clients.
4. Medical personnel must be present at health tourism centers.
5. High level of service and comfort in customer locations.
6. Specific client culture: middle-aged and older people and people with poor health predominate.
7. Seasonality (especially in European resorts).
8. Predominance of intraregional trips.
9. Availability of different food options.

The specific features of medical and health tourism are taken into account when developing resort and health tours.

The programs of medical and recreational tours are varied, but there are general specific requirements for the organization of just such tours. When preparing a tourist product, it is necessary to remember that this is being done for people who want to relax and improve their health. Therefore, it is necessary to plan and create a marketing mix of a tourist product that will most successfully satisfy the needs and requests of customers during a wellness holiday.

The marketing mix is a combination of all the qualities of a service that attract a client: price, convenience, quality of medical care, identification, level, duration.

Health tour programs are built taking into account the fact that consumers of travel services need to devote approximately half of their time to medical and health procedures.

The excursion program of the tours should not be too intense. When organizing leisure programs, it is necessary to give preference to healthier events such as competitions, dance evenings, quizzes, as well as hobby activities that allow you to diversify your leisure time.

Sports programs are allowed in the form of easy walks and hikes in the surrounding area, simple sports competitions, aerobics classes, shaping, swimming and others.

At the same time, it is recommended to create resort and tourist complexes in resort areas that tend to favor family vacations, allowing healthy family members to engage in sports and tourism, and for those in need of treatment to receive treatment and relax.

Resort programs, depending on the location of the tour, may include special sea health procedures, relaxation in solariums, aerariums, mud and hydrotherapy, drinking mineral waters and others.

Meals on health tours must have dietary options.

As a rule, it is not allowed to conduct health and business tours together, since they are contradictory in rhythm and negatively affect each other’s quality.

When working with vacationers when organizing tours and excursions, one should proceed from the fact that the main goal of their stay in this institution is treatment and health promotion. Therefore, it is important to ensure close cooperation between employees of excursion organizations and medical staff of sanatorium and resort institutions.

In many health resorts, the attending physician, taking into account the state of health of the vacationer, along with medical prescriptions, indicates in a special column of the resort book whether it is allowed to participate in excursions, if so, which ones - urban, suburban, bus, walking, how long and how often . This entry serves as guidelines for tour organizers.

In accordance with the profile of the sanatorium, special excursions are developed for vacationers, several options on the same topic.

Health workers from sanatoriums, boarding houses, and territorial resort councils take part in the development of excursion routes and the selection of objects for display. This allows for excursions that are not tiring for vacationers.

Thus, medical and health tourism has its own specific features, goals, consumer segment, and specifics of organizing tours. The conceptual apparatus of this type of tourism has not been formed.

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Relevance of offers

Medical and health tourism does not lose its relevance. No wonder. Many people book tours not only to have a good rest, but also to improve their health.

As part of health and wellness tourism you can:

Prevent the development of various diseases by carrying out preventive measures.
Get rid of existing ailments.

Medical and health tourism is based on balneology (the science of natural healing factors and their effects on the body).

The main sections of balneology include:

Balneology. This section studies medicinal mineral waters and their effect on the body.
Balneotherapy. This section of balneology includes methods of treatment, restoration and prevention using natural and artificially prepared mineral waters. As part of a therapeutic holiday under the balneotherapy program, vacationers are offered various procedures (nitrogen, salt, radon and other baths, facial and head irrigation, shower massage, etc.).
Mud therapy. This section includes methods for the prevention and treatment of diseases using therapeutic mud. As part of health tourism, you will be able to attend procedures such as compresses and wraps, masks, etc.
Climatotherapy. This section includes the study of treatment and prevention methods using dosed exposure to natural factors. Therapeutic recreation will be accompanied by air and sun baths, thalassotherapy, etc.

Therapeutic and health procedures amaze with their diversity.

Important! Any treatment tour is based on your indications and contraindications. That is why every lover of health tourism needs a sanatorium-resort card. It can be obtained at your place of residence after examination by a number of doctors.

In some cases, a sanatorium-resort card for a health-improving holiday is issued at the sanatorium itself.

The main advantages of the proposed holiday

Opportunities for increasing physical tone. As part of health tourism, you will definitely gain strength and receive a huge portion of energy. Returning from a vacation accompanied by medical and health procedures, you will feel invigorated for a very long time.
Improved emotional state. Therapeutic recreation (therapeutic tours, wellness tours) allows you to fully relax and forget about your problems. That is why medical tourism is often chosen by people who live under time pressure, work a lot and are tired not so much physically as emotionally.
General improvement of the body. Those who want to improve their overall health should also be interested in therapeutic recreation.
The possibility of combining medical and health procedures with excursions, seaside holidays, shopping, etc.
Versatility. Health tourism is available not only for adults, but also for children. You can always choose suitable tours.

How to make a choice?

If you choose a sanatorium for health tourism and treatment procedures:

Assess the state of your health and select the profile of a medical or health organization. Sanatoriums today specialize in various areas - from diseases of the musculoskeletal system to sexual disorders. If necessary, consult with your doctor and specialists at a specific health resort.
Determine the location of the health facility. We are ready to offer trips to the health resorts of Sochi, Anapa, Essentuki, Kislovodsk, etc.
Get information about the institution's infrastructure. Only if the infrastructure is complete, you will get all the opportunities for health tourism and can not only improve your health, but also have an interesting time.

Benefits of the services offered

A complete description of health-improving institutions. They include data regarding the number of rooms in each specific sanatorium, a list of services available to vacationers, a list of infrastructure facilities provided in the resort facility, high-quality photographs of the rooms and surroundings of the sanatorium.
Assistance from specialists in organizing health tourism. Our managers are ready to offer you a sanatorium for medical and preventive tourism of any profile.
Possibility of quickly choosing a sanatorium for health tourism.

Contact us! We will do everything to ensure that your vacation, combined with therapeutic, preventive and wellness procedures, is complete and interesting.

Medical tourism occupies a special place in the system of global resort and tourism relations. In terms of person-days of stay, medical tourism occupies less than 1% of global tourist turnover, and in the structure of income - more than 5%, i.e. is the most money-intensive tourism industry. All over the world, theorists of the leisure industry are busy searching for the most exotic entertainment, but what is most valued is the opportunity to restore health during exciting tourist routes.

Medical tourism has become an industry since the 80s. XX century However, the history of its development goes back centuries. Even the ancient Greeks and Romans used healing springs and places with a favorable climate to improve their health. Not only sick people, but also healthy people who wanted to relax and had sufficient funds for this, arrived at the resorts. In Greece Epidaurus and Kos were famous, and in Rome the secular seaside resort of Baiae was famous.

At all times, the motivation for traveling has remained unchanged. The healing properties of natural factors continue to attract patients to resort areas. The flows of tourists traveling for medicinal purposes are not yet as numerous as those traveling for relaxation and entertainment. However, they are growing rapidly and their geography is expanding.

Features of medical and health tourism. Medical and health tourism has a number of distinctive features. Firstly, the stay at any resort, regardless of the disease, must be quite long, at least not less than three weeks. Otherwise, it will not be possible to achieve the desired healing effect. Secondly, treatment at resorts is expensive. Although relatively inexpensive tours have recently begun to appear, this type of tourism is designed mainly for wealthy clients, usually focused not on a standard set of medical services, but on an individual treatment program. Thirdly, people of the older age group go to resorts when chronic diseases worsen or the weakening body is unable to cope with everyday stress at work and at home. Accordingly, these tourists make a choice between resorts that specialize in the treatment of a specific disease, and mixed-type resorts that have a general strengthening effect on the body and promote recuperation.

Modern transformations of resort centers are due to two circumstances. First of all, this is due to a change in the nature of demand for medical and health services. A healthy lifestyle is becoming fashionable, and around the world there is a growing number of people who want to maintain good physical shape and need restorative anti-stress programs. These are mainly middle-aged people who prefer active recreation and are often limited in time. According to many experts, consumers of this type will be the main clients of health resorts, guaranteeing the prosperity of health tourism in the 21st century.

The second reason for the reorientation of resorts is the reduction in their traditional support, including financial support, from municipalities and the state. Health resorts are forced to diversify their product in order to enter new segments of the consumer market and attract additional customers.

The programs of stay at the resorts are becoming more and more diverse and, in addition to various courses of treatment, provide for all kinds of cultural and sports events. They offer a wide range of health and recuperation services. Thalassotherapy has recently been very popular in seaside hotels; the Anti-Cellulite and Phyto-Beauty-Rejuvenation programs are in high demand. The timing of arrivals and the duration of treatment and rehabilitation courses are becoming more flexible.

At the International Congress on Medical and Health Tourism held in Spain in 1999, the importance of the development of this type of tourism for modern society and the need, in connection with this, to conduct a large-scale study of the recreation and treatment market, to develop and implement resort service standards, were noted.

The modern market for therapeutic recreation. The modern market for therapeutic recreation is formed by recreational enterprises that provide medical services (resorts), tourism firms and other enterprises that sell these services (intermediaries).

Medical services are among the most expensive, as they are based on the use of valuable natural healing resources, which requires complex balneotechnical facilities and medical equipment. In addition, this requires specially trained medical personnel, the number of which in health resorts varies from 0.5 to 3-4 people per vacationer. As for specialized dietary nutrition for vacationers at resorts, good clinical sanatoriums offer up to 12-15 types of dietary tables. It is clear that for this the staff must be staffed with appropriate doctors and chefs-nutritionists.

At the same time, at medical resorts the entire structure inherent in simply health centers is preserved. It provides comfortable living conditions for vacationers and the implementation of interesting entertainment and sports programs. Therefore, holidays at health resorts always cost much more than other types of health holidays. Such attractive conditions contribute to the use of resorts not only for medical and health purposes, but also for other purposes. An analysis of the work of well-known resort hotels shows that in the off-season, many medical and health institutions switch to congress and business tourism. For example, in the US, 44% of corporate meeting planners held their events at resorts. The so-called incentive tourism provides 25% of the income of the individual tourism market. It provides full board service as all services are provided under one roof.

Based on the level of medical services provided, resort institutions can be divided into sanatoriums and boarding houses with treatment. The former are distinguished by a variety of treatment services, which allows for comprehensive treatment of vacationers. This is mainly typical for Russian resorts. The latter are hotel complexes with a limited range of treatment services aimed at treating specific diseases, according to narrow special programs, without taking into account other pathologies that vacationers have. Such resorts are widespread in Western Europe and Israel. Most Western resorts have a health-improving focus, while medical services are provided mainly by balneological resorts.

All medical resorts are located in medical areas characterized by a certain set of landscape and climatic conditions and hydromineral resources. The network of medical recreation institutions includes both free-standing health resorts and resort areas and agglomerations, which are territories with a high concentration of medical recreation enterprises united by a general resort economy.

In addition to the network of sanatorium and resort institutions, a network of non-resort medical and health institutions has developed in Russia, which include sanatoriums organized by enterprises for the preventive health of employees not during vacation, but during the working period. They provide services to employees of enterprises before and after their work. Sanatoriums are located in a green zone, close to production. The medical equipment of these institutions is similar to that of a sanatorium, and the sports and leisure complexes are much more modest.

Unlike the Western resort system in Russia:

■ the resort industry was initially dominant in tourism and therefore has the most widespread network of recreation facilities and the most powerful material base;

■ the resort business is put on a scientific basis, both in the field of systematic study and protection of natural medicinal resources, and in the organization of the healing process at resorts.

Only Russian resorts had a serious diagnostic base (functional diagnostic departments) and a comprehensive treatment program, taking into account not only the disease profile at a given resort, but also all concomitant pathologies among vacationers. This allowed:

■ provide an individual approach to each vacationer;

■ determine a special treatment regimen and technology for him;

■ adjust the prescribed course during treatment at the resort, depending on the patient’s reaction to certain procedures.

In addition, Russian resorts are differentiated according to age: for children, teenagers, young and middle-aged people, for the elderly, and the sick. All this required the development of appropriate treatment technologies.

In the process of its development, the resort industry has undergone significant changes. Along with the use of natural healing factors, physiotherapeutic, psychotherapeutic and other treatment methods were increasingly introduced into medical practice. Society's demands on resorts also changed. Not only medical services became important, but also the level of comfort of the rooms, sports equipment, and a variety of other services. The types of medical services are also influenced by fashion. Thus, in recent years, Western resorts have focused their attention on developing various cosmetic services for face and figure correction. This trend has not escaped Russian resorts either.

The main types of world resorts. There are three main types of resorts:

1) balneological;

2) mud;

3) climatic.

On balneological resorts Natural mineral waters are used as the main healing factor. They are recommended for external (bath) and internal (drinking, inhalation, etc.) consumption. Mineral waters help cure numerous ailments. Balneological resorts are mainly visited by people with diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, cardiovascular and nervous systems, musculoskeletal system, etc. Conducted medical studies confirm the effectiveness of treating a number of diseases at balneological resorts. It provides results comparable to conventional medications, but without the side effects. At the same time, the period of remission increases, the likelihood of subsequent exacerbations and their intensity decreases.

Mud resorts tied to deposits of therapeutic mud (peloids). Mud therapy is indicated mainly for pathologies of the joints, nervous system of traumatic origin, as well as for gynecological and some other diseases. Thanks to modern methods and advanced technologies, mud therapy can achieve high medical results, which contributes to the growing popularity of mud resorts among tourists in need of medical care.

Climatic resorts as diverse as the climate itself (Fig. 1.6): forest (plain), mountain, coastal, climato-kumys-therapeutic. Each of them has a unique combination of climatic and weather factors (temperature, atmospheric pressure, solar radiation, etc.), which are used for therapeutic and prophylactic purposes. The profile of the resort depends on the combination of these factors. For example, forest resorts with their characteristic continental climate welcome mainly people suffering from diseases of the upper respiratory tract, asthma, and nervous system disorders, while staying at mountain resorts is recommended for early forms of tuberculosis and anemia.

The most common type of climatic resort is seaside. More and more tourists are discovering the opportunity to combine seaside holidays with effective treatment. The maritime climate allows you to cope with many ailments. It has a beneficial effect on people with diseases of the blood, bone tissue, and lymph glands. At the end of the course of treatment, patients feel better, they can go without medication for a long time or reduce the dose of medications they take.

Another type of climatic resorts is climato-kumys-therapeutic resorts. They are located in the steppe zone and are known for their combined method of treatment, combining the healing properties of the arid steppe climate and kumis - a fermented milk drink made from mare's milk. Kumiss increases the digestibility of proteins and fats and promotes weight gain. The number of climate-kumys-therapeutic resorts in the world is small - only about 40. Approximately half of these resorts are located in the Russian Federation and former Soviet republics (Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan).

Along with balneological, mud and climatic ones, there are transitional resorts, occupying an intermediate position. They use several natural healing factors at once, for example, mineral waters and mud or climate and mineral waters, and cannot be classified into any one of the three main types. Transitional resorts are quite common in Europe and are attracting an increasing number of tourists.

Control questions

1. What do the concepts of “resort business” and “resortology” mean and how do they relate?

2. What do the concepts of “resort” and “therapeutic and recreational area” mean, what are their types and types, features of functioning?

3. What is a sanatorium-resort service and what are its features and place among tourist and other services?

4. What natural and climatic factors exist and what are the features of their use in various resorts?

5. What reformed resort factors are used at resorts in health technologies?

6. What is medical and health tourism, what is its current state and requirements for its organization?

7. What is the medical tourism market like, what are the distinctive features of Russian and world resorts?

Topic 3. Management of the sanatorium and resort sector.

Historical evolution of approaches to resort management. Management of resorts at various levels. Implementation of management functions in health resort institutions. Main forms of resort activities in the Russian Federation. Organization of the work of the sanatorium. Contents of marketing, management and logistics in the field of development of a sanatorium and resort complex. The main economic characteristics of the domestic sanatorium and resort sector.

Introduction

Modern political scientists and futurologists predict that post-industrial society will have information and services as the main sphere of the economy, and the main type of its resources will be environmental health and information technologies. Currently, the share of services in the structure of gross domestic product in developed countries of the world fluctuates between 30-35%. In Sweden this share is 61.4%, in Denmark - 54.7, in Canada - 54.1, USA - 51.4, UK - 50.8, in Russia - only 31.3%.

In the service sector itself, tourism occupies a special place. It accounts for about 10% of the world's gross national product. The material base of tourism consists of accommodation facilities: hotels, boarding houses, tourist centers, holiday homes, motels, campsites, alpine shelters, etc. tourism is becoming one of the leading and dynamic sectors of the world economy. According to forecasts by the World Tourism Organization (WTO), in 2010 the number of international tourist trips doubled to 937 million, and tourism receipts reached 1.1 trillion. US dollars.

Tourism (French tourisme, from tour - walk, trip), travel (trip, hike) in free time. Tourism is the most effective means of satisfying recreational needs, since it combines various types of recreational activities - health improvement, knowledge, restoration of human productive forces. Tourism is an integral part of healthcare, physical culture, and a means of spiritual, cultural and social development of the individual.

According to the assessment of the scale of the tourist movement existing in world practice, tourists “include all persons who have temporarily and voluntarily changed their place of residence for any purpose other than activities remunerated in the place of temporary residence.” Persons who spend less than 24 hours in their free time in any area are considered excursionists. Travel within one’s country is united by the concept of “domestic (national) tourism”, and outside its borders - “foreign tourism”.

The practice of organizing a tourism business, guided by a more precise definition of the main goal, identifies specific types of tourism: recreational, medical and health, sports, business, timeshare, or club holidays, ecological, religious tourism, etc.

This course work examines health tourism in detail.

The purpose of the work is to determine the role of this type of tourism and its significance in the modern life of people.

The object of study is Europe and its health resorts.

The subject of the research is medical and health tourism in Europe.

Features of medical and health tourism

Medical and health tourism as the main type of tourism

Medical and health tourism in importance can be called the main type of tourism, since it is based on concern for human health as the main value of life. Medical tourism has a long, rich history. In each country it developed taking into account the availability of natural resources and socio-economic conditions.

Health tourism is the most widespread and popular area of medical tourism; it has existed since ancient times. Already the ancient Greeks, in order to improve their health, went to the sanctuary of the healing god Asclepius in Epidaurus - there were hotels, baths, palaestra (gymnastics schools). The ruins of structures for treatment with mineral waters from the time of the Roman Empire have been preserved in the areas of many famous European resorts.

Times have changed, but the motivation for traveling remains the same. The healing properties of natural factors, as before, attract patients to resort areas. The flows of tourists for medicinal purposes are not yet as numerous as the masses of those wishing to relax and have fun, but they are growing rapidly and their geography is expanding.

Resortology as the basis of health tourism began to actively develop in Europe, starting from the 17th century. In the 20th century, a whole resort industry emerged in the world, covering almost all countries and continents. On the basis of traditional climatic, balneological, and mud resorts, new forms of healing have appeared - SPA, wellness, fitness. The list of services provided by modern resort and sanatorium establishments often includes check-up programs.

The most widespread and popular are resorts offering several therapeutic and health factors, especially SPA resorts or SPA hotels. The latter can be located not only in resort areas, but also in large cities, and also provide health and relaxation services.

Many resorts offer wellness programs (health, anti-stress, cosmetology) that are suitable for absolutely healthy people. Hotels with thalassotherapy centers are in constant demand at seaside resorts.

Medical and health tourism has a number of distinctive features. Firstly, your stay at the resort, regardless of the type of illness or disease, must be long, at least three weeks. Only in this case the desired healing effect is achieved. Secondly, treatment at resorts is expensive. Although relatively cheap tours have recently begun to be developed, this type of tourism is designed mainly for wealthy clients who are increasingly focused not on a standard set of medical services, but on an individual treatment program. Another feature is that people of the older age group go to resorts when chronic diseases worsen or their weakening body is unable to cope with everyday stress at work and at home. Accordingly, these tourists choose between resorts that specialize in the treatment of a specific disease, and mixed-type resorts that have a general strengthening effect on the body and help restore strength.

European centers of medical and health tourism are widely known throughout the world. The Czech Republic leads in the number of foreign tourists arriving for resort and sanatorium treatment. Every year it is visited by 50,000 people from more than 70 countries. The famous Czech health resort Karlovy Vary receives medical tourists from all five continents. This balneological resort is especially loved by residents of the CIS countries.

There are more than 300 resorts in Germany, which welcome over 1 million people from Europe, the USA and Canada. The mountain and balneological resorts of Austria and Switzerland are also the main European destinations for health tourism. Many world-famous resorts (Vichy, Evian) and thalassotherapy centers are located in France. Italy has a number of excellent balneological resorts. Medical and health tourism is developing rapidly in Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and Bulgaria. Romania and the republics of the former Yugoslavia also offer health programs at seaside and balneological resorts. Spain, Portugal and Greece attract tourists as seaside resorts.

On the American continent, the leader in health tourism is the United States. Most North American resorts are balneological, but they are visited mainly by Americans themselves. There are also climatic resorts, but US residents prefer to receive treatment and relax in the resorts of Cuba, the Bahamas and Central America. Australia has all the natural resources for health tourism, but due to the remoteness of the Green Continent, its resort hotels, like in the USA, are focused on receiving “domestic” tourists.

In Africa, health tourism began to actively develop not only due to an increase in the number of tourists in already known recreation and health areas (for example, in Egypt) but also in Tunisia, Morocco, Kenya and South Africa.

Traditional places of health tourism for residents of the CIS countries remain Israel (Dead Sea resorts), Egypt and Turkey with their sea climatic resorts.

A fairly developed resort infrastructure is also available in the CIS countries. In Russia there are now 45,000 health resorts, the most famous are the resort complexes of Greater Sochi and Caucasian Mineralnye Vody. The resorts of Crimea and Truskavets (Ukraine), Jurmala (Latvia) are also widely known in neighboring countries. However, due to the discrepancy between the level of service and high international standards, most of these resorts attract only residents of these countries.

Over the past 10 years, taking into account the growing needs of vacationers and the latest trends in the development of global health tourism, this area has been developing rapidly in India and the countries of Southeast Asia (Singapore, Thailand, China, Malaysia). As a rule, wellness in newly built luxury SPA hotels and wellness centers also includes methods of oriental medicine, which are increasingly in demand among supporters of a healthy lifestyle.

All over the world, scientific and technological progress is accelerating, urbanization processes are underway, which has both positive and negative consequences for human health. There is a decrease in the functional capabilities of the human body, which is manifested in the deterioration of the activity of its most important life-supporting systems. There is both an increase in the incidence of the population and the emergence of new, dangerous diseases; Stress loads increase significantly, and physical and mental fatigue accumulates in the human body.

At the same time, there is a trend in the world towards realizing the importance of a healthy lifestyle. Caring for health and increasing vital activity has become an integral part of the modern value system. There is a growing number of people seeking to maintain good physical fitness along with spiritual enrichment. The way employers view their employees has also changed.

All this creates the prerequisites for the accelerated development of medical and health tourism throughout the world.

According to the World Tourism Organization (WTO), treatment and recovery are among the most important tourist motivations. Over the past 15 years, the number of trips for treatment has increased globally by 10%. Today, medical and health tourism is acquiring a truly global scale. And we can say that the process of formation of the global medical tourism market is actively continuing.

There are still debates about which types of tourism should be classified as medical tourism and which as health tourism - if the purpose of travel is used as a criterion, then we can distinguish separately medical tourism and health tourism.

Medical tourism is carried out for the purpose of improving health and involves staying in sanatorium-resort institutions. The purpose of “treatment” is distinguished separately in the classification of travelers recommended by the WTO.

Health tourism aims at health prevention and recreation. It is characterized by longer travel times, fewer cities visited, and longer stays in one place. The purpose of “leisure”, along with leisure and recreation, is present in the classification of travelers recommended by the WTO.

In the modern world, the market for this direction in tourism that we are considering is undergoing noticeable changes. Traditional sanatorium resorts are ceasing to be places of treatment and recreation for the elderly and are becoming multifunctional health centers designed for a wide range of consumers.

The development of medical and health tourism in a particular region of the world is favored by certain physical and geographical factors or natural conditions. Such conditions include the presence of certain natural and recreational resources, i.e. resources that provide rest and restoration of human health and ability to work, as well as aesthetic resources - a combination of natural factors that have a positive effect on the spiritual state of people.

Medical and recreational tourism resources are defined in the Federal Law of November 24, 1996, No. 132-FZ “On the Fundamentals of Tourism Activities in the Russian Federation,” the latest amendments to which were made on February 5, 2007, as “natural, historical, socio-cultural objects that can satisfy the spiritual needs of tourists, promote the restoration and development of their physical strength.”

Resorts are areas that have natural resources for treatment and recreation (favorable climate, picturesque landscape, sources of healing mineral waters, deposits of medicinal mud, etc.), as well as institutions, structures, devices for the use of these natural resources for therapeutic, preventive and health purposes .

The main types of institutions at resorts are sanatoriums, holiday homes, boarding houses, resort clinics, resort hotels and medical hotels. Resort facilities and equipment include pump rooms, drinking galleries, balneotechnical structures, mud baths, climatic pavilions, beaches, etc.

The main types of resorts are distinguished depending on what natural healing factors the resorts have and their three main types are determined: balneotherapeutic, mud and climatic. Many resorts have several natural healing factors and, being transitional, occupying an intermediate position, are respectively called balneo-mud, balneoclimatic, climatic-mud, etc. Since in their therapeutic activities they simultaneously use, for example, mineral waters and mud or climate and mineral waters, they cannot be classified into any one of the three types. Such resorts are relatively widespread in Europe and attract a growing number of tourists.

At balneological or balneotherapeutic resorts, the main natural healing factor is natural mineral waters. They are recommended for external (baths, swimming pools) and internal (drinking, inhalation, etc.) consumption. Mineral waters help cure numerous ailments. Among the patients coming to balneological resorts, people with diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, cardiovascular and nervous systems, musculoskeletal system, etc. prevail. Conducted medical studies confirm the effectiveness of treating a number of diseases at balneological resorts. It gives results comparable to the effects of conventional medications, but it eliminates the side effects that are inevitable when taking medications, extends the period of remission, and reduces the likelihood of subsequent exacerbations and their intensity.

Another type of resort - mud - is tied to deposits of therapeutic mud (peloids), which is used as the main or one of the main, along with the climate, natural mineral waters, healing factor.

Mud therapy is indicated mainly for pathologies of the joints, nervous system of traumatic origin, as well as for gynecological and some other diseases. Thanks to modern methods and advanced technologies, mud therapy can achieve high medical results, which contributes to the growing popularity of mud resorts among tourists in need of medical care.

Climatic resorts are as varied as the climate itself. Forest (plain) - 11.3%, mountain - 24.2%, seaside, climato-kumys-therapeutic 4.2% in the structure of climatic resorts in the world - each of them has a unique combination of climatic and weather factors (temperature, atmospheric pressure, solar radiation, etc. .), which are used for therapeutic and prophylactic purposes. The profile of the resort depends on the combination of these factors. Climatic resorts are characterized by a favorable climate and microclimate. If forest resorts with their characteristic continental climate welcome mainly people suffering from diseases of the upper respiratory tract, asthma, and nervous system disorders, then staying in mountain resorts is recommended for initial forms of tuberculosis and anemia. The most common type of climatic resort is seaside. They make up 60.3% of the structure of climatic resorts in the world. More and more tourists are discovering the opportunity to combine seaside holidays with effective treatment. The maritime climate allows you to cope with many ailments. It has a beneficial effect on people with diseases of the blood, bone tissue, and lymph glands. After completing the course of treatment, patients feel better; they can go without medication for a long time or reduce the dose of medications they take. Another type of climatic resorts is climato-kumys-therapeutic resorts. They are located in the steppe zone, and are known for their combined method of treatment, combining the healing properties of the arid steppe climate and kumiss - a fermented milk drink made from mare's milk. To treat patients, dosed use of kumys is used. Kumiss increases the digestibility of proteins and fats and promotes weight gain. The number of climate-kumys-therapeutic resorts in the world is small - about 40. The vast majority of them (about half) are located in the Russian Federation, as well as in the former Soviet republics (Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan).

There are also resorts with special, unique healing factors that have no analogues. The following requirements apply to resorts:

The presence of natural healing factors that ensure the normal functioning of the resort;

Necessary technical devices and buildings for the rational use of resort factors (swimming pools, mud baths, beaches, etc.);

Specially adapted premises for treatment and housing (sanatoriums, rest homes);

Availability of treatment and preventive institutions providing medical care for patients and vacationers;

Availability of health facilities, sports facilities and playgrounds;

Availability of public institutions, catering establishments, trade and consumer services, cultural and educational institutions;

Convenient entrances and connections;

Landscaped territory, engineering and technical structures providing electricity and water supply, sewerage.

Types of resorts

The specialization of any resort is determined by resort factors - natural healing factors used for the purposes of prevention, therapy and medical rehabilitation of patients at resorts.

Main resort factors:

Landscape and climatic conditions;

Healing mud;

Mineral water.

So, all resorts can be divided into 6 types:

Balneological mud resort is a type of resort where mineral waters and therapeutic mud dominate as the main healing factors;

Balneoclimatic resort is a type of resort where climate and mineral waters are the main healing factors;

Balneological resort is a type of resort where mineral waters are used as the main healing factors (for internal and external use);

Mud resort is a type of resort where the main healing factors are therapeutic mud;

Climatokumys-therapeutic resort - a type of resort where the main therapeutic factors are the steppe and forest-steppe climate and kumiss - a fermented milk drink made from mare's milk;

Climatic resort (seaside; mountain).

Along with the three main types of resorts - balneological, mud and climatic - transitional types are distinguished. They use several natural healing factors at once.

In recent years, spa resorts have become widespread.

An individual program developed by spa center specialists not only makes a person healthy, but also contributes to a more positive perception of life. Medical and health tourism remains one of the most promising areas in the tourism industry. The basis of its popularity in the 21st century is the victory of the preventive trend in modern medicine, as well as the fashion for a healthy body and a healthy mind.