ABSTRACT
In recent years, health systems around the world have become overloaded, that has led to rising health care prices and health insurance premiums. It is the medical service providers who have recognized the possibility of increasing the quality of health care services, providing privacy, lower costs and providing a number of medical procedures that are not available to patients in their home countries. Health tourism as the broadest type of tourism is recognized as the driving force of tourism development in Croatia, is divided into three segments: spa, wellness and medical tourism. Medical tourism as a part of health tourism includes trips primarily motivated by the use of medical services of a greater or lesser degree of complexity, such as dental, surgical, rehabilitation, etc. The increase in travel motivated by the use of medical tourism services encourages the opening of new and raising the quality of existing specialized health care institutions and the possible dispersion of the offer to the continental part of Croatia except the city of Zagreb. It was the coronavirus pandemic that pointed out that medical tourism in the destinations of continental Croatia can compete with destinations on the coast with its natural and social resources that have not yet been sufficiently explored and touristically valorised As this is mostly a rural area that is not suitable for the development of mass tourism, the aim of this paper is to investigate and present medical tourism as a tourist product that would complement and increase the quality 61 the existing tourist offer. For the purpose of this research, a survey among medical experts was conducted, and following research methods were used: desk research to search for various it formation and knowledge in the field of medical tourism and general scientific methods such as analysis and synthesis and descriptive statistics
ABSTRACT
The global economy has proven to be extremely vulnerable to unforeseen situations that are not directly related to it, such as the coronavirus pandemic that has surprised and stopped the whole world. Undoubtedly, tourism is the most affected global economic activity. Through history, tourism has faced countless types of crises, most often resulting in a significant drop in tourist demand. This time is no different, primarily because of its importance for the global economy, and it has not left any country indifferent, especially receptive countries like Croatia, which are highly dependent on it. With the discovery of the vaccines and creating collective immunity, tourism will certainly recover, but it can be assumed that it will be significantly different, primarily by increasing public awareness of concern for safety, health and the environment. Croatian tourism is characterized by high seasonality on the coast, when the maximum capacity utilization is reached, and on the other hand low representation in the continental part. Certainly, in the challenging times that are coming, continental Croatia has considerable potential by creating new tourist products and offer. Surely, one of the advantages is a personalized approach in which the tourist is in direct contact with the host and thus, in a more intimate atmosphere, receives a service that meets their personal wishes and needs. The aim of this paper is to analyze the most important indicators of the current development of tourism in continental Croatia and to assess the future directions of tourism development after the pandemic. In aiming to achieve the objectives set out in this paper, a survey will be conducted among health and tourism experts on stopping the pandemic and potential new directions of tourism development in continental Croatia. The research will use general scientific methods (methods of analysis, synthesis, comparisons, etc.) and the method of descriptive statistics. The expected scientific contribution of this paper can be seen through the parameters of the new concept of continental tourism development in Croatia.