Situation and prospects of balneo-climatic treatment in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Puška²,

Tourism (Zagreb, Online)

2021

Self Cite

Globalization and lifestyle changes have led to health becoming a major social preoccupation of the population. Spas are no longer just centers for disease treatment, but a means of preventing diseases and protecting human health. An increasing number of young people are trying to improve their health through spa treatments. This is why there is a growing tourist offer of spa centers. Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) has rich natural resources that are conducive to the creation of spas. Therefore, this study looked into spa offers and evaluated the transformation of medical spas into modern spa centers in order to improve competitiveness. Spa transformation survey was conducted on the example of spas in B&H. Six, out of a total of fifteen registered spas in B&H, have been chosen randomly. The spa offer was evaluated by applying the decision-making model and expert decision-making. The obtained results showed that the spas of Ilidža - Gradačac and Ilidža - Sarajevo have "good" transformation; the spas Dvorovi and Mlječanica have "middle" transformation, while the spas of Gata and Sanska Ilidža have "bad" transformation in the process of creating modern spas. Based on the results of this study, spa managers can obtain the necessary information on how to adjust the offer to make those spas more competitive. In addition, the spas will also generate higher revenues. The decision-making model used has shown good results and can be applied to future studies and research.

Section: Spa Tourism In Bosnia and Herzegovinamentioning

confidence: 99%

The Transformation of Medical Spas into Modern Spa Centers in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Puška²,

Tourism (Zagreb, Online)

2021

Self Cite

“…Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) owns significant resources that are not used adequately and in a sustained way. Especially, B&H possesses many natural, thermal and thermo-mineral springs and peloids, among them are very rare mineral springs, which are known in professional circles around the world [2]. B&H has significant comparative advantages in the field of tourism where competitiveness can be improved.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The use of thermo-mineral waters in B&H dates to the distant past. Since the ancient times of the Greeks and Romans, the healing properties of geothermal springs have been noted [2]. The spa offer in B&H is being built on these natural resources.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Determining the Competitiveness of Spa-Centers in Order to Achieve Sustainability Using a Fuzzy Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Model

Mijajlović

Puška²,

Stević

et al. 2020

Sustainability

Self Cite

Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) possess many natural resources that can be exploited for the development of medical tourism. The offer of medical tourism in B&H is focused on spa tourism. B&H has 16 registered spa-centers offering different types of services. This study provides a complete overview of the assessment of the current state of spa-centres using expert decision-making and methods of multi-criteria analysis. An innovative and novel MCDM model based on integration of the FUCOM (full consistency method) and fuzzy MARCOS (Measurement of Alternatives and Ranking according to COmpromise Solution) methods was used. The model consists of 16 alternatives and eight sustainable criteria. The results of this research have shown that the spa-centers of Ilidža near Sarajevo, Fojnica and Vrućica have the best assessments of the current situation and prerequisites for sustainable business. These spa-centers should be a benchmark to other spas providing direction on how to improve their business to be more sustainable and competitive in the market. These results were confirmed by a sensitivity analysis with two approaches used. The first approach was to compare the results obtained by the fuzzy MARCOS method with other fuzzy methods, and the second approach was to examine the influence of the application of different weights on the final ranking of the spa. The results of this study can serve spa-canter managers to understand the position of their spa-centers in order to exploit advantages they have and eliminate the shortcomings to improve their business.

“…The primary importance in spa centers is the provision of health services and the organization of tourist activities. Today in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 15 spas are active and registered as "health centers" [3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Healing Waters of Srebrenica in the Function of the Development of Tourism, Agriculture and Economy

Ramić

Salkić

2020

AIR

Srebrenica, this small town in the northeastern part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, has been described for centuries as a picturesque place, rich in healing waters, ores, and diverse cultural heritage. Today, Srebrenica is a symbol of suffering and suffering, but also of missed opportunities for the renewal of life and economy in this area. In the work we present, we deal with potentials that can renew life in the Srebrenica area. Thanks to its unique and very abundant natural resources, Srebrenica has been inhabited since ancient times, presumably since the Illyrians. Guber mineral water was used as a medicine for the treatment of skin diseases even before the arrival of the Romans in this area. The first written traces of mineral springs near Srebrenica were made by the Turkish travel writer Evlija Čelebija in the 17th century, traveling through BiH, and the Austro-Hungarians bottled the mineral water of the Spa "Guber" and sold it throughout the monarchy ("Guber-voda"). Mineral water has been bottled and exported since 1887. In 1886, the first scientific research of mineral springs was carried out in the area of the municipality of Srebrenica, when Viennese researchers recorded the existence of 48 mineral springs. Special attention of the Austro-Hungarian researcher prof. Dr. Ernes Ludwig was attracted by water from the source of the Velikog or Crni Guber, whose analysis was an excellent combination of minerals for the treatment of anemia. In 1956, the Federal Ministry of Health of the SFRY and the Federal Institute of Medicines Commissions from Belgrade declared Crni Guber water a medicine. Thus, Crni Guber water is the only water that has been declared a medicine in the former Yugoslavia. In the pre-war period, the total annual income of Banja Guber ranged from 1,200,000 to 1,500,000 US dollars. The company operated successfully until the last war in which, due to the war, there was a complete or partial destruction of certain facilities. The aim of this paper is to determine the potential impact of Srebrenica medicinal water resources on the development of tourism, agriculture and economy. Development of health tourism, increase of accommodation capacities, integration of agricultural producers and other activities enables rural development. By increasing the number of newly employed workers, household budgets, but also the overall economic development of Srebrenica, water could renew life in this area again.