Dr Melanie Smith, professor at Tourism and Marketing Institute, answered our questions regarding their one-and-a-half year long research, called WellSpaV4 . In their study they conducted a research into the changes occurring in the Visegrad 4 countries regarding the medical spas, previously subsidized by the government, and which have become favoured destinations of tourists arriving from abroad.  What kind of difficulties do these facilities face? What opportunities do they have in the future? How did the participants conduct the research? We were trying to find the answers to these questions in our interview. 

 

 Dr. Melanie Smith 

 

What are the reasons for choosing this topic? Why did you want to focus on this issue? 

 I chose this topic because I was part of a Balkan Wellbeing research project at METU which finished in 2016 where we identified some of the challenges of spa development and health tourism in the Balkan region. Although Hungary was not part of this project, afterwards, we undertook research which showed that Hungarian spas face many of the same challenges (e.g. infrastructural problems, lack of funding, need for improvements in customer service). When we were looking for a topic for a follow-up V4 project, I had the idea that we should look at spa development in Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Poland. It also fits in very well with METU’s Health Tourism specialization at BSc level and MSc course Health Tourism, Wellness and Spa, as well as my own research and consultancy (e.g. UNWTO/ETC Report on Health Tourism).

 

In this study, which Hungarian thermal and medical spas were examined?  

 We did not select specific spas for this project, rather we gathered opinions from Hungarian (and V4) experts in spa development who had worked in the field for many years (e.g. for Danubius or Ensana; for the Hungarian Tourism Agency in health tourism; in Budapest Spas; or as regional development consultants). On the other hand, we were mostly focused on those spas which would be defined as medical or balneology spas, many of which are owned or run by local municipalities. We were less focused on private spas or wellness hotels. The challenges are very different because balneology spas have to serve both health insurance-funded guests as well as self-paying guests. This means providing both medical and wellness services within the same facility.

 

This study examines the situation of the V4 countries. Are there any difference between these countries or we can see similar tendencies? 

 The data from the V4 countries contains many similarities. This includes the problems of meeting quality standards for paying and international guests without sufficient funding; low salaries and lack of education for employees and the difficulties of recruiting a qualified workforce; as well as addressing special needs of different segments of guests and avoiding conflicts. There was a consensus that the main priorities should be infrastructural improvements followed by creating quality services, especially for self-paying guests. Wellness treatments are growing in popularity especially among younger and foreign guests, but emphasis is still placed firstly on physical health restoration in V4 spas. Medical wellness, preventative care and healthy lifestyle advice is growing but is not yet well established. The main future challenges are connected to further infrastructure, service and quality improvements, for which constant monitoring is required, better segmentation as well as increasing digitalisation. 

Hungarian experts suggest that future developments should take into consideration the needs of different user groups and separate spaces better or target specific groups rather than ‘everyone’ or ‘three generations’. This might help to address conflicts between user groups and issues of overcrowding at peak times too.  

 

@ copyright: Thermal Hungary 

 

METU students may have participated in this research? (If yes, please write something about their tasks) 

This project has been ongoing for a year and a half, so it was originally hoped that METU students would help to organize and be hosts at the live event. Unfortunately, the event took place online, so they were not able to meet the participants except via Zoom. However, some students helped with the research and translations for the Hungarian report and they were invited to attend the online event and download all available materials.

 

What do you think about the situation of Hungarian tourism after the COVID lockdown? 

 The situation is a real tragedy for the Hungarian hospitality and tourism sectors. Although some of the spas were open in between lockdowns, it was mainly for health treatments and not for wellness. Right now, people need as much wellness as they can get! However, there were already problems with some of the Hungarian spas and lidos (strands) being too crowded at peak times, so future management will need to avoid over-crowding. Spas should be extremely clean and hygienic at all times and individual treatments can take place with one therapist. In addition, spas should be thinking about how to introduce COVID recovery and immune-boosting programmes for guests in the future. It could be a great public health initiative as well as business opportunity!

2021. 04. 06.