site.bta4th National Conference on Health Tourism Held in Burgas

The 4th National Conference on Health Tourism was held here on Tuesday. It was organized by the Bulgarian Union of Balneology and SPA Tourism. The forum was held jointly with the Tourism Ministry and Burgas Municipality, and with the support of the European Spas Association and Burgas State University.

Siika Katsarova, President of the Bulgarian Union of Balneology and SPA Tourism, said that Bulgaria should be positioned on the European and world map as a competitive destination for year-round health tourism. She emphasized that Tourism Minister Miroslav Borshosh is the one who initiated this plan and that at the beginning of 2025 a working group for the promotion of health tourism in Bulgaria was formed, which includes representatives of the Tourism Ministry, the Health Ministry, as well as a number of non-governmental organizations. "In general, our goal is to add medical tourism to the portfolio of product types of tourism with which the Tourism Ministry advertises Bulgaria on international markets," Katsarova underscored, pointing out that it is through this type of tourism that Bulgaria will have the opportunity to achieve year-round employment in all destinations that offer sustainable forms of tourism.

Deputy Tourism Minister Irena Georgieva said that overcoming the seasonal character of tourist services and diversifying them are among the biggest challenges in Bulgaria's product policy, which is aimed at sustainable development of the sector and improving the quality of tourism services. "For us, health tourism is not just a market niche, but it is an opportunity for sustainable development, attracting new target groups of tourists, extending the active tourist season and, above all, for promoting a healthy lifestyle," she pointed out. Georgieva cited statistical data on the development of health tourism and, in particular, balneological, medical and SPA tourism specifically on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast for 2024, according to which, the distribution between Bulgarian tourists and tourists from abroad is approximately equal. "Among our guests from abroad, Romanian tourists have the largest share with 23.2%, followed by tourists from Germany with 5.6%, Poland with 3.4% and Israel with 2.4%," she noted. She stated that in the interior of Bulgaria, the main interest in balneotherapy and balneo tourism is still mainly from Bulgarian tourists with almost 93%. They are followed by the neighbouring Balkan countries of North Macedonia with 5.3% and Greece with 0.5%. For tourists from neighboring countries, Georgieva noted that the leading factor in choosing a destination for medical and SPA centres is proximity and pointed out that tourists from North Macedonia prefer hotels with medical and SPA services inland, while tourists from Romania prefer those on the Northern Black Sea coast.

Arkadi Sharkov of the Bulgarian Hospital Association said that large hospitals in Turkiye are attracting patients from Bulgaria for procedures that are performed with equal innovation and quality domestically. “In recent years, significant investments have been made in our healthcare sector. The key difference is that our neighbors treat the medical tourist as a guest, not merely as a patient,” he noted, adding that Bulgaria offers many cutting-edge medical services that are not effectively promoted. Dental tourism in Bulgaria, Sharkov added, is a positive example of how the country can successfully appeal to international patients.