On October 24th, the results of the project “Development and promotion of health spa tourism in the cross-border region of Bosnia and Herzegovina – Serbia – Cross spa” were presented at the final conference event.

The project value was 452,152 EUR of which 85% was co-financed by the European Union. The project aimed at strengthening regional cooperation and sustainable economic development of the cross-border region of Bosnia and Herzegovina-Serbia, through the establishment of a joint integrated spa tourism offer. The leading implementing partner was the Foundation for Local Democracy, Sarajevo, with its partner from Serbia the Tourist Organization of Serbia, Western region of Užice. Their partners in the project were the Sarajevo Regional Development Agency SERDA in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Regional Development Agency Zlatibor in Serbia. The project included three thermal spas in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Terme Ilidža, Reumal Fojnica and Aquaterm Olovo, and in Serbia three air spas: Čigota in Zlatibor, Zlatar and Priboj spa.

The gathering was addressed by Massimo Mina, the Head of the Operations Department for Social Development, Civil Society and Cross-Border Cooperation of the EU Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina, who stressed the significance of the project results and its added value, in particular, the establishment of the Association of Spas in BiH. In addition, he emphasized the great potential of the IPA cross-border region for medical tourism, as well as cultural, historical and natural heritage tourism and referred to further improvement of promotion of the common health tourism and its positioning on wider European markets. Jasmina Mujezinović, executive director of the Foundation for Local Democracy, the lead partner, spoke about the excellent cooperation between the partners, project beneficiaries and all stakeholders in the project implementation. She stressed that on the road to membership of the EU, Serbia and BiH need to build new and responsible partnerships on the basis of close regional cooperation. Project CROSS Spa is an excellent example of how visibility in the tourism market can be increased and the tourism offer improved through joint activities, thereby increasing the number of tourists visiting the spas as well as the whole region.

She added that the project in Bosnia and Herzegovina was co-financed by the Federal Ministry of Environment and Tourism. In addition, spa and touristic organizations of the cross border area participated in the International Tourism Day events organized in May 2014 in Sarajevo. Miroslav Rađen, Director of the Tourist Organization of the Western Serbia region of Užice, a partner in the project, said that in the implementation period April 2013 – October 2014 they implemented a number of activities that have produced outstanding results. Snežana Milisavljević, project manager at the Regional Development Agency, Zlatibor, talked about the project results. Based on recommendations following an analysis, 5 training events were organised.

A total of 280 students of management and employees in 6 spas in the cross border area received training on European Union standards in the delivery of health and wellness services. In addition, they received training on the certification procedure for the provision of such services. Experts from the Special Hospital in Čigota passed on their knowledge and experience on healthy weight loss spas to colleagues from Bosnia and Herzegovina. A new joint tourist product was created – Integrated health tourism with more than 15 individual programmes. To support this, a marketing plan was developed to promote this product.

Two brochures were produced and a study trip organized for representatives of tour operators from Europe and the region, as well as the media. Dr Senad Selimović, Director of the Spa Aquaterm, Olovo, thanked the European Union and the implementing partner, the Foundation for Local Democracy, for the great support in improving the infrastructure of the Aquterm spa and the reconstruction of part of the premises for the new facility for healthy weight loss and the procurement of the necessary equipment (devices for the training, medical appliances and furniture for two doctors’ offices). “The donated equipment, as well as the transfer of knowledge and experience of the Special Hospital Čigota in healthy weight loss programmes for children and adults, has enabled the introduction of a new product offer at our spa – a healthy weight loss programme.”

It was also noted that the Foundation for Local Democracy together with the donor, the EU, have provided additional resources within the project CROSS Spa using reserves and savings to help repair the great damage the Spa Aquterm sustained during the flooding in May 2014 through the procurement of one four-celled galvanic bathtub.
 
Dr. Alexander Đenić from the Special Hospital Čigota, Zlatibor, expressed his gratitude for the donation of equipment for an exercise room. He stated that for him and his colleagues from Čigota, this project and meeting with colleagues from spas in Bosnia and Herzegovina had been an excellent opportunity to exchange experiences and knowledge and obtain information on new approaches to service delivery on preventive healthcare, new customer services for spas-tourists and promotion of healthy lifestyles.

All the participants were unanimous in their assessment that the project was successfully realized and that the results obtained exceeded expectations. This was due to the excellent cooperation established between the six spas in the cross border area. This cooperation will continue through the implementation of the joint health tourism programmes developed under the project.