French Procedures
“Today almost all SPA and wellness centers offer anti-stress programs, and this is perhaps the most sought-after tourist product,” says Natalya Ochneva, deputy director of Valtex-Travel. “It is best to take an anti-stress program within one to two weeks, choosing a restorative direction with a specific set of procedures. Many such treatment courses are offered by French centers. Of course, France is not a cheap country, but if you choose small resorts, the cost may be quite acceptable. For example, at the resort of Saint-Jean-de-Luz in the SPA Loreamar center, a three-day course will cost from €850. The price includes accommodation, half board, and three procedures per day.”
Saint-Jean-de-Luz is located on the Atlantic coast between Biarritz and San Sebastián. This is an ancient Basque town spread out in a calm bay, so Atlantic waves are almost never seen here. The SPA center offers a large set of restorative programs, for example, a relaxing bath with seawater, jet shower, underwater massage, various types of wraps with seaweed and aromatic essences, and many others. According to Natalya Ochneva, the SPA center opened quite recently, so it is equipped with all kinds of modern apparatuses, and there are also heated seawater pools. Very close to Saint-Jean-de-Luz is fashionable Biarritz, so those who quickly get tired of peace and medical procedures can find entertainment in Biarritz.
More famous resorts of France are located in the province of Brittany. For example, one of the ancient thalassotherapy centers is “Thalgo La Baule” at the resort of La Baule. The most popular “Restoration of Strength” course includes procedures such as pearl baths, hydromassage, Charcot shower, seaweed wrap, mud therapy, manual massage, and water gymnastics. Four procedures are offered per day, a six-day course will cost from €550 per person. The procedure package can be purchased on site or when booking a tour immediately with accommodation. The same set of procedures with accommodation in a four-star hotel for six days will cost from €1,730 per person with half board (price without airfare). The cost includes an initial medical examination, use of the pool and saunas, as well as a robe and slippers. If you wish to expand the set of procedures, you will have to pay an additional €35. Programs are prescribed only by a doctor after a mandatory consultation (which costs €40); for some diseases, procedures may be contraindicated.
Healing Mineral Water
It is more economical to undergo restorative procedure courses at resorts in Eastern Europe. It should be noted that all tour operators note a great interest from tourists in the health resorts of this region this year.
As Irina Petrova, general director of the Moscow company Solvex, says, the resorts of Bulgaria are in great demand, and the volume of sales of medical tours increased by 150% last year. “In recent years, Bulgaria has made a huge leap in the development of its resorts,” says Irina Petrova. “Many new hotels and medical centers have been built based on its own mineral waters. The largest resorts are located in the southwest of the country – these are Sandanski, Hisarya, and Velingrad.”
The oldest Bulgarian resort of Hisarya is known for its mineral water, and treatment there is recommended for diseases of the digestive system, metabolic disorders, and simply for restoring the body's strength.
Velingrad is one of the youngest Bulgarian resorts. Several new high-level hotels have been built there, for example, the five-star Palace and the four-star Olymp. The Palace offers 120 different types of procedures – including aromatherapy, thalassotherapy, and phytotherapy. The cost of one procedure day is from €30 (three procedures), and a day's stay in a standard double room costs from €72 per person.
Resorts in Slovenia are also popular today. The most famous is Rogaška Slatina. Its uniqueness lies in the use of thermal mineral water, as well as sea and salt waters for treatment and health improvement. The best hotel of the resort is considered to be the four-star Grand Rogaška, located in the center of the resort in a historic building from the early 20th century. The elite of former Yugoslavia traditionally underwent treatment here. In 2003, the hotel was renovated, so all rooms are completely updated. The hotel is connected to the medical center by a covered passage. As, indeed, are many other hotels of the resort – Štirija (three stars) or Donat (four stars).
A two-week Body Slim & Anticellulite program with accommodation at the Donat hotel will cost €1,700 per person. The program includes full board based on dietary nutrition (14 days), an examination by a balneologist, a prescribed course of medicinal mineral water Donat Mg, six mineral or herbal baths, medical anticellulite full body massage (five procedures), intensive Pilates gymnastics (six procedures), anticellulite hyperbaric therapy (8 procedures), and daily aqua aerobics in the thermal pool.
Another resort in Slovenia that is in high demand is Portorož on the Adriatic coast. Here tourists are received by one of the most modern thalassotherapy institutes in Europe. The entire complex operates on the basis of five- and four-star hotels and one five-star hotel. By the way, tour operators note that combined tours have become popular recently. For example, travelers spend 10 days at the Rogaška resort, then a health holiday in Portorož and a one-day excursion to Venice.
• By the way, no matter which country you choose for your vacation, you can purchase a certificate for spa for two. This will be significantly more financially advantageous and more convenient in terms of time that you can spend on additional procedures.
Warm welcome
According to Andrea Szegedi, tourism advisor at the Hungarian Embassy in Russia, interest in medical tourism in Hungary is growing. Last year, over 20% of tourists who visited Hungary came for health and medical purposes.
There are over a thousand thermal baths and mineral springs and more than 100 balneological resorts in Hungary. Budapest is the only capital in the world that has the status of a resort city. Therefore, a whole network of hotels and thermal centers is located in and around the city. The second unique resort is Lake Hévíz. Its name means "hot water"; the lake is indeed warm, with water temperature of plus 25-26 degrees Celsius in winter.
About 200 hotels with balneological centers are located around Lake Balaton. Resorts such as Zalakaros, Harkány, and Gyula are also popular. However, the Northern Great Plain region, where about 50 baths are located, is still little known to our tourists. Yet there are world-famous resorts like Hajdúszoboszló, which has the largest bathing center in Europe, and the resort of Debrecen, the second largest city in Hungary. It is worth saying that in terms of their level, Hungarian resorts are even better than Austrian ones, because the local balneological culture dates back two thousand years. And the programs are cheaper than in Austria; it is no wonder that Germans and even Austrians themselves like to come here.
A two-week package with treatment in a four-star hotel with half board in Budapest will cost €1,230, a week from €890. Separately, a one-week package of procedures costs from €150 (5-6 procedures). At Lake Hévíz, a stay in a four-star hotel can cost from €790. The price includes accommodation with breakfast and dinner, one medical check-up, two mud baths, two massages, two underwater massage sessions (hydroxer).
As for innovations in methods of treatment and health improvement, cryotherapy, that is, treatment with cold, has been mentioned more and more often lately. Cryogenic physiotherapy mobilizes the immune system and has a beneficial effect on blood circulation; as a result, many disorders in the body can be cured with cold. This method was first developed in Japan in the 70s of the last century, and today cryotherapy is successfully used in European sanatorium centers. In particular, such treatment is actively offered at the Bavarian resort of Bad Kissingen. The cost of a treatment course there will be €120 per day, including accommodation and full board.