Reza jamili
Natalia Strokovska is a speaker and expert in the field of medical tourism, an expert on the development of incoming and outgoing medical tourism in Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations, and the publisher of DoctorGEO & SPA in the field of health tourism. She who is currently holding two international conferences, spoke about these events and her vision for the industry in an exclusive interview with Reza Jamili, Editor in Chief of Medtourpress.
What is the purpose of this business summit and how can it promote this industry?
The creation of this event was a response to the pandemic and the urgent transformation of the wellness and spa industry that was forced to take place to a new reality. We don’t mean sanitary conditions inside hotels or maintaining distance. No. We’re talking about adapting to our customers’ ability to travel and their changing needs. Accordingly, this affected the work of travel agents, who previously did not delve into the understanding of health, but worked more in the field of adventure and entertainment. A huge number of professionals found themselves without knowledge in the field of maintaining health, restoring health, and this knowledge must be urgently given and guidelines should be placed on where to get reliable information and who can help. Actually, this is the main mission of this summit. And to answer your question – there are two goals here: the first is to give guidance to agents in order to quickly and correctly start working in the field of spa and thermal tourism, the second is to give guidance to hotels and resorts on how to best introduce new services and how to properly package them for customers and partners.
From this follows the slogan of our event: A new generation of tourism with a sense of well-being.
Answering the second part of your question about promoting the industry, I can say that special advertising is not required today. We all understand that the virus is not very simple and the consequences of meeting with it are not in vain for the state of the body, even for those who have had the disease asymptomatically. Therefore, the need for spa treatment will only grow and this is the only possible answer to the question of well-being, vivacity and high efficiency of people.
To date, there is no magic pill that can be used for rehabilitation. Pharmacology is powerless. However, good nutrition and vitamin intake are not enough either. People still experience low energy, fatigue, blood pressure problems and other problems. Therefore, we need physiotherapy known to us for 7, and preferably 14 days, which gives a tangible improvement in well-being and a person feels this result from 6 to 12 months. In other words, the pandemic has made the advertising of the industry.
What are the most important keywords and themes that are emphasized in this summit?
So far the future 🙂
Who will benefit most from this business summit?
Everyone benefits from participation – both resorts and agents. Any networking and exchange of opinions, expert assessments provide an opportunity for growth, an understanding of the direction of movement. The knowledge gained at professional conferences always helps to increase profits in business and protect yourself from losses. Our theoretical part is free and any professional can be a listener.
Of course, we have a paid part – this is holding master classes and face-to-face meetings between resorts and travel agents, during which people get to know each other personally, get acquainted with the product, discuss the possibility of interaction. The format of B2B meetings is known all over the world and is currently considered the most effective for building a partner network.
Why should medical facilitator companies and hospitals attend this meeting and what can they achieve?
At the Thermal Summit we are talking about spa treatment, so hospitals do not take part, only resorts and hotels. We are talking about a system for restoring health through natural methods and physiotherapy. This is the only way to influence chronic diseases and chronic inflammations, because they involve the physiological way to restore the human body.
Modern medicine can work with acute inflammation, give a quick result. But the human body is not a machine, you cannot fix a part or put in a new one, and the machine continues to work well. This is a system that takes time to recover. Therefore, we have a post-COVID syndrome. Clinically, the person is healthy, but his state of health remains poor. And there is no better way to recover than to combine vacation and natural healing.
Here is the answer to your question, what is the point of the company intermediaries should get involved? It is their professional activity to find the best holiday solution for the client, based on his desires and needs. And the need for spa treatment has skyrocketed. On the other hand, resorts and hotels will now have to work with travel agencies that know nothing about this type of product. They must explain their services so that the end consumer is satisfied. And together they achieve the ultimate goal: customer satisfaction and mutual benefits of cooperation. Win-win.
What are your company’s professionals and exceptional services and how can medical facilitator companies and hospitals cooperate with you?
It’s easy: just register on the event website. Intermediary companies participate free of charge. Resorts and hotels pay their participation. These are standard conditions for such events. We did not come up with something exclusive in the model. This event has a different theme and intention to help the market meet the challenge that the pandemic has given us.
What are your plans for entering the Middle East and Iran market and how do you want to make connections with them?
Entering any market is a two-way process. I understand that your question is about the development of inbound health tourism, right? However, are you ready for outbound Health tourism? This phenomenon is bilateral, like inhalation and exhalation. Of course, we can talk about international tourists who will come to Iran’s spa resorts or hospitals. Today, tourists visit your country to experience the culture. But the world knows nothing about the resorts of Iran, what healing possibilities you have.
In any case, the market can only be opened with state support. It is extremely expensive to open markets through the efforts of private companies. We hope that a major organizer will appear from Iran, who will have state support and we will be able to communicate. Medical tourism is primarily about trust. It’s trust in the healthcare system, it’s trust in culture, it’s also a sense of safety when traveling. Therefore, a lot of work should be done, including by journalists and bloggers, who will help build trust both in Iran and beyond. And the country must invest time and money in building trust at the international level.