Специфичности управљања бањским туризмом у свету и у Србији,

Abstract

Thermal-mineral waters were used for medical treatments since the prehistory. Those were the places for specific rituals and religic cults, where people were recovering by bathing, drinking water, mud's covering, etc. However, the usage of natural resources for medical treatments was insuficial. Men then had to search for other means for recuperation and preventions. That was the way the Spas were created - health centers as places where awareness and need for keeping, preventing and caring for organism health condition have been developing. Today, 18.000 of European spa and climate centers generate an yearly overturn of around € 30 billion. By employing of cca 750.000 people, this sector is one of the main employers in the European Union regarding the area of health and tourism - especially in less developed industrial regions (www.espa-ehv.eu). Increasing traffic in spa centers represents a challenge for management of touristic objects and local authority regarding the successful guiding of health-tourism supply and adequate satisfaction of touristic demand. The aim of this work is to present the specificity and difference in defining and managing the spa tourism in Serbia and worldwide. The study is going to make a small analysis of spa tourism position in Serbia. An important contribution of this work could be seen as giving the recommendations for the future development of spa tourism in Serbia according to the contemporary trends on tourism market. A special attention is drawn to creating the conditions for competitive advantage gain on the international level aiming at increasing number of foreign tourists, by taking the example of popular and proved spa practices from the region.