“In Romania, spas are frequented by around one million people a year, of whom 100,000 are foreigners,” said Radulescu, adding tourists come mainly from Israel, Germany and, most recently, Italy.
He said most tourists go to Covasna and Herculane for cardiovascular and rheumatic issues and to Felix for wellness and spa treatments.
“We have regressed in our geriatric treatment offer. Before 1989, we used to have 300,000 tourists a year in spas,” said Radulescu.
He said the average spa tourist spends EUR800, including for accommodation and meals, and Romania thus gains around EUR80 million a year from the estimated 100,000 foreign tourists.
Cristian Barhalescu, state secretary with the Ministry of Regional Development and Tourism, said healthcare tourism in Romania has increased an annual 5% over the past few years.
“If we manage to increase service quality, this 5% growth rate will increase. We plan to promote healthcare tourists packages because Romania has the advantage of environmental factors and affordable prices,” said Barhalescu.