Medical tourism in our time has become one of the most popular types of recreation for tourists. Previously, people often went on vacation only to visit the sea, as well as sunny resorts, see various sights and historical places, now many began to pay more attention to their own health. That is why now tourists often purchase vouchers to hospitals and sanatoriums, going there as part of health tours.
Curative health tourism
Curative health tourism is now developed at a very high level in many different countries. Many cities have unique centers that help to overcome a variety of diseases, as well as providing qualitative diagnostics. Therapeutic tours to India are very popular, which, apart from professional specialists, pleases a healthy climate (especially it is favorable for people who have respiratory diseases). Also tourists quite often go to get well in Thailand and Israel.
Development of health tourism tourism
The method of spa treatment for the purpose of healing with the help of natural resources has been known since ancient times. Then, in places of access to the surface of the mineral waters, people built unpretentious buildings that were prototypes of the current balneological centers. In addition, rumors that these sources have healing properties, spread among the people very quickly, which led to the fact that patients from all over the world were flocking to this place.
Balneology first appeared around the 5th century BC. At this time, Herodotus developed methods of use, as well as indications for the use of medicinal mineral fluids. Aristotle also wrote on this subject. Plutarch noted the presence of therapeutic thermal springs on the island of Evbey, to which patients from even the most remote regions flocked. At the same time, the construction of the first buildings began, in which the travelers who arrived for health procedures were accommodated.
After the Bronze Age, material evidence has already been preserved that during this period, therapeutic procedures were carried out with the help of mineral springs. Archaeologists have found the remains of buildings erected near the springs of carbon dioxide in the area, which is now located in the resort center of Santa Morsch, located in Switzerland. The ruins of a number of ancient aquatic clinics were discovered and excavated in Greece.
The Romans built health-improving facilities in the locations of mineral springs in the territories that they were conquered by. Until now, there are remains of the ruins of such buildings dating back to the times of Roman possession. For example, the remnants of hospitals located on the site of the current resorts of Sinjorz Bay, as well as Beyle Erkulane in Romania (Budapest) are well preserved. In addition, the ruins of the former Roman health centers are located in the Yugoslav resort centers in Dobrna and Varazdiskoe Toplice, on the shore of the lake. Balaton in Hungary, in German Wiesbaden and Swiss Baden, British Bath and French Ex-le-Bene, as well as Timgode in Algeria and Hisar in Bulgaria.
The most famous medieval centers of treatment were Aachen and Plombier-Ben. In addition to them, mineral springs, located in Cauterets and Spas, also enjoyed considerable popularity, and from the 13th c. Patients again reached out to the sources of Abano Terme, which were known in former times. Around the middle of the XIV century. The medical center in Baden-Baden became popular, and also Karlsbad appeared (now this health center is called Karlovy Vary).
During the ХVІ-ХVІІI centuries the work was carried out to create full-scale health centers - balneological resorts, as well as mud baths. Since the XVI century in Carlsbad, they began to charge patients, and there was also a clear schedule for the treatment sessions. In France since the beginning of the XVII century. There was a resort inspection, which is responsible for monitoring the status of the existing treatment centers, as well as the order of operation of such resorts.
The development of health-improving tourism in the European countries received the greatest intensity in the 17th-19th centuries. During this period, the first sanatorium was opened exclusively for children - in the seaside resort of Margate (Great Britain). Further similar children's hospitals have started to build in France, and also Italy.
By the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, the majority of popular European wellness centers appeared today, which in addition to treatment now include tourist and entertainment programs.
Types of medical tourism
Each of the health centers has a separate specialization, depending on some factors. Among them, the types of therapy and rehabilitation used in different centers, as well as what kind of natural and medicinal resources the resort has. Health tourism can be carried out using various methods, the types of which are described below:
- Kind of balneograzic recovery, which uses mineral water, as well as therapeutic mud;
- Balneoclimatic rehabilitation, in which, in addition to mineral springs, the medicinal properties of the climate are used;
- Balneological rehabilitation, in which mineral waters are used, not only inside, but also externally;
- Mud health, in which therapeutic mud is used as a therapy;
- Klimatokumy therapeutic recovery, which takes advantage of the forest-steppe / steppe climatic conditions, as well as the therapeutic properties of the fermented milk, called kumys;
- Climatic recovery, in which climate is used for treatment.
Wellness tourism trips, like other types of tourist rest, organize tourist companies. In this case, various types of medical tourism are often combined holidaymakers.
Medical tourism is also considered sports and recreation tours with recreation. Recreational-recreational tourism is a rest, helping to restore the physical and emotional state of the body. This type of rest is considered the most common in many countries.
Medical tourism in Crimea
The Crimea has excellent climatic and natural conditions, which have to create facilities of a sanatorium-resort type. Crimean health resorts can be divided into 2 types, according to the profile of hospitals and natural resources of the area:
- Southern Crimean coast;
- Primorye steppe zone.
The southern Crimean coast is called part of the coast, which is located at the foot of the Crimean mountains (from the Kandahar mountains in the northeast and ending with Cape Aya in the southwestern part). The main centers of tourist and resort recreation of this region are such cities as Yalta, Sudak, Alushta, as well as Alupka; except for them are allocated settlements Foros, Simeiz, Gurzuf, Koreiz and Partenit, as well as Gaspra.
The southern shore combines the optimum humidity and favorable temperature. And in Yalta it is usually very sunny (about 276 days per year), thanks to which there is always enough ultraviolet.
Growing in the mountain forests, as well as in the parks of plants, they release substances that have a positive effect on the human body. The sea also saturates the air with salts and ionizes it - thus, thanks to the combined effects of the sea and plants, the coast becomes a huge natural inhaler.
Medical tourism in Russia
The center of Russian health tourism (there are sanatoriums with healing mud, as well as mineral springs) are the Krasnodar Territory, as well as the Caucasus. There are medical sanatorium centers in other Russian regions:
- Anapa is a mud and climatic health resort located in the Krasnodar Territory. The main healing power of this region is the mild climate of the Mediterranean;
- Arshan - located in Buryatia popular balneological center of recovery;
- Belokurikha - the well-known Altai center of balneology;
- Vladivostok mud baths, as well as climatic spa centers, located in the Amur Bay;
- Climatic clinics in Kabardinka and Gelendzhik, located on the Black Sea coastal line;
- Darasun is a popular balneological center located in the Chita region;
- Yeisk climate-balneo-mud health center, which is located in the Krasnodar region. - on the Azov coast;
- Caucasian centers of balneology with mineral springs, located in the Stavropol region (Zheleznogorsk and Yessentuki, in addition to Pyatigorsk, and also Kislovodsk);
- Resort clinics in the Kaliningrad region - mud and climatic centers in Otradnoye, Zelenogorsk and Svetlogorsk;
- Kuldur is a well-known balneological clinic in the Khabarovsk Territory, where hot springs are used for therapy;
- Nalchik (Kabardino-Balkaria) - a climate-balneo-mud health center;
- Kamchatka Nachika, where the balneological health resort is located, offering services for the use of hot water, as well as phytotherapy, and Kamchatka Paratunka, where the balneo-mud center is located;
- Climatic health resorts in Bolshoi Sochi, located along the entire length of the Black Sea coast (145 km) - Dagomys, as well as Adler and Krasnaya Polyana along with Hosta;
- Teberda from the Stavropol region - the mountain-climatic center in the Caucasus;
- Tuapse region (coastal line of the Black Sea, as well as the Krasnodar Territory) - thalassotherapy sessions, as well as a climate clinic;
- Shmakovka (Primorsky district) - the center of balneology;
- Elton, located in the Volgograd region. - mud baths.
Medical tourism in Essentuki
In Essentuki there is a well-known balneological resort center, located in the area of the so-called Caucasian Mineral Springs (the southern part of the Stavropol Territory). The hospital is located in the valley of the river. Bastard at an altitude of 640 meters.
Specialized this clinic for the treatment of diseases of the digestive tract, as well as metabolic disorders. Very often people with diabetes are treated here.
Those who wish to improve their health while on holiday, the resort offers a variety of programs that are based on the healing properties of salt-carbon-alkaline waters, as well as sulphide mud from mud in Lake Tambukan.
Now there are more than 10 mineral springs in this region. Some of them can be used in the process of creating packaged mineral waters for sale, others can have a curative effect only if applied immediately on site.
The curative properties of the local climate also contribute to a speedy recovery: here tourists get clean air, as well as dry warm summers against the background of a fragrant, lushly flowering greenery. There are 2 resort park zones in the city: the Victory Park, as well as the Main Park. The second one appeared here in 1848 - it houses the Lower and Upper Baths, the main drinking gallery of the mineral spring No. 4, and in addition the pavilion with exercise therapy, inhalation and the department where mechanotherapy is provided, as well as aerosolarium.
Health tourism in Belarus
The main specializations of health-improving hospitals in Belarus are the following: diseases of respiratory organs, and with it musculoskeletal and musculoskeletal, cardiovascular and nervous systems. In addition, they treat disorders in the endocrine system and gastrointestinal tract, disorders of the gynecological nature and organs of the blood flow, skin diseases, problems with the organs of vision and metabolism.
Belarus has a large number of sanatoriums popular among tourists. Among them are the following places:
- "Lake", which is located on the White Lake in a pine forest. This center is distinguished by the presence of an aquapark, and besides it pleases tourists with its calm and picturesque nature;
- "Borovoe", in which vacationers are offered a whole range of various services that allow them to relax and improve their health;
- "Pridneprovsky", which is the largest sanatorium center in Belarus, which has a very powerful medical base;
- One of the oldest centers is the sanatorium "Krinitsa", specializing in the elimination of cardiovascular problems. It is located not far from Minsk;
- In the complex "Youth" is one of the most modern Belarusian hydropathic institutions;
- Sanatorium "Ruzhansky" is great for parents with children;
- "Bug", which is one of the largest in Belarus year-round clinics.
Naroch, which is considered the most popular Belarusian resort - here rest not only Belarusians, but also guests of the country. The center is located on the shore of the lake of the same name. On its territory there are 11 health-improving complexes, the most popular among which are "Sosny", "Priozerny" and "Belaya Rus".
Medical tourism in Europe
The most popular medical tourism is in Europe. Local sanatoria and health centers have long established themselves as the best in the world. They employ experienced professionals, and the centers themselves have the newest equipment. In addition, these sanatoriums are distinguished by excellent ecology. All this in aggregate and is the reason for such a high demand for health vouchers.
The most popular centers of European therapeutic tourism are sanatoriums located in the foothills of the Alps (French Vichy, as well as Austria, northern Italy and Germany), the western region of the Czech Republic (Karlovy Vary resort), Hungary, and the Israeli Dead Sea.
Medical tourism in the Czech Republic
Czech Republic is considered a state of therapeutic mineral springs, it is here that one of the most famous resorts in the world - Karlovy Vary - is located. Here, patients are successfully cured of problems with metabolism, gynecological diseases, diseases of the digestive system and the musculoskeletal system. Peat and healing mud are also used for treatment.
But in addition to this resort in the Czech Republic there are other wellness centers - there are also medical tours to Třebo,, Mariánské Lázně and Teplice.
Health tourism in Spain
Health tourism in Spain is mainly concentrated in coastal areas, but there are many centers in the interior of the country. Many spa centers in Spain employ experts of the highest standard, and a variety of procedures are carried out.
Among the specializations of Spanish hospitals, one of the most popular is thalassotherapy. This is one of the types of alternative medicine, which uses for healing the healing properties of sea water, as well as coastal climate conditions. Seawater used in Spanish hospitals is considered one of the factors helping to eliminate a variety of diseases. Thalassotherapy helps reduce pain, accelerates recovery, and improves the general condition of the body.
The most popular health centers in which thalassotherapy procedures are conducted are institutions located on the coasts of Costa Dorada, Costa del Sol, Costa Blanca, Costa Brava, and also in the Canaries.
Health tourism in Bulgaria
In the Bulgarian city of Sandanski at an altitude of 240 m above the sea there is a medical center "Sveti Vrach". It is located to the south-west of Sofia (about 170 km) at the foot of the Pirin Mountain. The climatic conditions of this region combined with the presence of mineral springs make it the healthiest in the whole of Bulgaria. This center is considered one of the best in Europe, hospitals that fight with bronchial asthma. Here there are hydrocarbonate-sodium-sulfate, hyperthermal, and also fluorine mineral springs. In this sanatorium come to treat skin inflammations, kidney diseases, colitis and gastritis, degenerative inflammatory processes in the joints, as well as diseases of the respiratory system.
In 120 km to the south-east from Sofia among the Rhodope mountain massif there is Velingrad, located 800 meters above the sea. In this center there are 70 hyperthermal mineral springs, although they belong to the fluorine and sodium-sulphate-hydrocarbonate chemical compositions. The local health resorts help to eliminate arthro-rheumatic and gynecological diseases, as well as diseases of the respiratory system and peripheral NA.
The town of Hisarya is located 170 km to the east of Sofia, (distance from Plovdiv is 45 km). It is located 364 meters above the sea, next to the Valley of Roses, in the middle of the Sredna Gora mountain range, as well as Stara Planina. In this center there are 22 mineral springs (slightly mineralized water, its composition is sulphate-hydrocarbonate-soda with an increased alkaline reaction). Such sources effectively cure kidney and liver diseases, and besides this disease of the digestive system and the gall bladder. Climatic conditions, water and air, also have a positive effect on the body, contributing to recovery.
Located in 230 km south of Sofia village Ognyanovo (between the mountains of Pirin and the Rhodope Mountains). In this place there is a wonderful climate with beautiful nature, as well as springs of mineral waters with medicinal properties. Here, neurological diseases, disorders of the musculoskeletal function, gastrointestinal and excretory diseases, as well as metabolic disorders are effectively treated.
Health tourism in Indonesia
Medical tourism in Indonesia consists of climatotherapy, and also massage procedures, during which various herbs are used.
Health tourism in Canada
Health tourism in Canada is a resort holiday in places that are famous for their curative climate, various types of healing procedures, as well as excellent infrastructure and wonderful nature.
The resorts of Canada usually treat problems with metabolism, diseases of the cardiovascular system and respiratory tract, as well as violations of musculoskeletal function. Also in these centers it is possible to undergo procedures of rejuvenation, to strengthen immunity and general health, and to perform correction of the figure.
Development of therapeutic tourism in Kazakhstan
The development of health tourism in the territory of Kazakhstan was based on the location of mineral springs, as well as healing mud.
The most popular in the country is the balneological center Saryagash, which is located in the southern part of Kazakhstan. Here there are sources of mineral sodium-hydrocarbonate waters, which help to treat gastrointestinal diseases. The infrastructure of sanatoriums of Saryagash is developed at the highest level. In this center, it is most comfortable to rest in the period of May-June.
In the east of Kazakhstan there are several balneological centers. Here there are springs with thermal radon water (temperature is +34 / + 42 ° C), which successfully cure musculoskeletal disorders, dermatological diseases, as well as problems with the central nervous system.
The health center Barlyk-Arasan is located near the Alakol lake. In this area there are 12 springs of thermal waters (some sources reach temperatures of + 43 ° C). In addition to treatment with the help of healing sources, the methods of oriental medicine are used here, in which the antlers (horns) of deer, marals and wapiti are used.
The Arasan-Kapal Health Center is located on the border of two regions - East Kazakhstan and Almaty. Here there are chloride-sodium-sulfate radioactive sources of weak concentration. They help to eliminate gynecological diseases and disorders in the work of the cardiovascular system, as well as problems with metabolism.
Kazakhstan health centers are mainly located on the shores of lakes or reservoirs, as well as in areas of mountain ranges (Shchuchye and Borovoye lakes, Almaty suburbs, Alatau foothills). In addition to treatment with mud and healing water, laser, physical and climatotherapy, balneological procedures, exercise therapy, therapeutic massage and other methods are used here.
Centers for health tourism tourism
Medical tourism is very developed in European countries. The main centers of health tourism are resorts in Central as well as Eastern Europe. In countries from the former social camp, sanatorium and resort rest is developed at a high level - there are a lot of curative natural and climatic sources that help cure various diseases, carry out rehabilitation procedures and carry out disease prevention.