Adriatic Health Platform, designed to develop health tourism in region, launched

The Croatian Medical Group, a medical tourism consultancy, and its numerous partners from the EU have launched the Adriatic Health Platform to seek from the European Commission 3.8 billion euro for the development of health tourism in the financial period from 2021 to 2027. The platform, designed to strengthen medical tourism in Croatia and the Adriatic region, was presented at the second health and tourism investment forum of the Adriatic region, held in Zagreb on Thursday.

There are large-scale health tourism projects in the region that envisage great investments in the general and tourist infrastructure, products and services, and medical and tourist professionals in Croatia, Montenegro and other countries in the region, and their implementation requires huge funds which those countries do not have. Therefore we have launched the initiative seeking from the EC non-repayable funds to co-fund the investments, said Miljenko Bura of the Medical Group.

Bura said that the potential for health tourism in Croatia and the rest of the Adriatic region was extremely big.

It is authentic and has an unpolluted environment and sea which only few regions in the world can boast, he added.

Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli said that currently this segment of tourism "brings 300-500 million euros in revenues annually" to Croatia.

The forum organised by the Medical Group brought together many local and foreign experts and a group of U.S. investors who are eyeing a EUR 500 million investment in the Pasman Riviera project, a future resort to accommodate 8,000 people, offering health, sports and active tourism and other amenities all year round.

(Hina/FaH)

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