29 countries, 300 delegates, more than 40 buyers from all over the world. This is what the European Spa and Balneological Congress looked like. After more than 20 years, it was held in Karlovy Vary. Simultaneously with the congress, SPA-CE was held, i.e. B2B meetings between foreign representatives of travel agencies and other organizations operating in the tourism industry, with spa entities. So that the demand for Czech, Moravian and other spas in Europe will increase and replace the drop in guests from Russia and Asia.
Spas and balneology are an inherent part of tourism, in the Karlovy Vary Region they are among the most important industries in terms of share of GDP. It consists of 18%, while almost 17% of all local residents work in tourism. The area thus benefits from the fact that the number of tourists increases. In the first half of this year, 613,000 people arrived in the region, which means more than before the covid-19 pandemic. Apparently, the fact that European spa treatment belongs to the UNESCO World Heritage List from 2021 also plays a role. And the spa triangle of Karlovy Vary, Mariánské Lázně and Františkovy Lázně is part of the international registration Famous Spa Cities of Europe.
“For a long time, the spa was built on the so-called triad, which represented three basic spa elements: treat, host and entertain. This was provided by the four key services of baths, casinos, grand hotels and parks. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, spas regularly became the political and cultural centers of Europe in the summer, where the most powerful kings, emperors and tsars met, as well as the most famous artists such as Goethe, Dostoevsky, Paganini and Beethoven. The demise of dynasties and the emergence of nation states after the First World War led to a decrease in the prestige of spa places. Gradually, the therapeutic component of the spa triad gained in importance. If spas want to return to their former glory and social prestige, they must stop treating only, but must once again entertain and become trendy places capable of attracting current world celebrities,” says Jan Herget, director of the Czech Tourism Office – CzechTourism. At the congress, he gave a presentation entitled “Spa tradition and/or future”. In it, among other things, he recalled how vouchers significantly helped spas during the coronavirus pandemic, showed a benchmark of the influence of spas on hotel prices, as well as spa visuals in the spirit of the “Unexpected Traditions” campaign. He also mentioned the importance of spas for active tourism, which will be a key communication and marketing topic for Czech tourism for the next year.
It was spa programs for the active generation that were discussed very often during the two-day congress, including the fact that spas are becoming more and more specialized. President of the European Spa Association (ESPA) Thierry Dubois said at the event: “The world and people have changed after the covid-19 pandemic and spas must adapt.” Among other things, spas need to prepare a greater range of services. They also changed the role, but did not lose the healing role based on traditional procedures. It is also necessary to combine the requirements and needs of younger and older visitors, i.e. to offer the previously mentioned programs for the active generation.” Last but not least, it is important to support people to perceive often very unique spa places even more as unique and complex tourist destinations.
The importance of spas for the health of the population in Europe as well as for tourism and UNESCO was summarized by the Karlovy Vary Spa Declaration on the last day of the ESPA congress. It states, for example, that by 2050 there will be twice as many people over 65 years of age as today, which means space for spas and the towns and villages associated with them. Spa facilities and localities will not only take care of these people.
The 27th European Spa and Balneology Congress was organized by the European Association of Spas in cooperation with the Karlovy Vary Region, the statutory city of Karlovy Vary, the Association of Medical Spas, the Association of Spas, the CzechTourism agency and other entities. It took place from 4 to 6 October 2023 in Karlovy Vary. It included, among other things, a record for simultaneously drinking water from mineral springs in one place. It happened on the first evening of the event at the Market Colonnade.