BREST, 17 December (BelTA) – Brest Oblast health resorts are getting certified as travel operators in order to be able to work with visa-free tourists on their own, BelTA learned from the oblast branch of the Belarusian national center of health resort treatment and recuperation.
Six out of 15 health resorts of Brest Oblast are located in the Brest tourist zone. All of them handle visa-free tourists. Since the start of the year, 55 foreigners took advantage of the visa-free entry to the Brest tourist zone for rehabilitation and spa treatment. Their average period of stay was 7-8 days. The majority of tours were purchased by foreign tourists via travel agencies that have special certificates of compliance and have the right to issue documents for visa-free entry to Belarus.
Apart from that, health resorts are undergoing certification as tour operators to be able to work directly with foreign customers. Three health resorts have already obtained such certificates – Solnechny, Ruzhansky and Bug. The remaining health resorts are getting ready for that. For example, the Nadzeya health resort is to be inspected by a commission from the Belarusian State Institute for Standardization and Certification this week. “In line with the certification requirements, we have hired a travel agent. A short-term spa and rehabilitation program for 7-10 days will be developed specifically for visa-free tourists,” marketing specialist Tatiana Mekh said.
The necessary package of documents is being compiled by the health resorts Belaya Vezha and Brestagrozdravnitsa. “I think by the spring all the health resorts located in the visa-free zone will be certified. However, this does not mean that cooperation will travel agencies will be suspended. In fact, marketing divisions of the health resorts will hardly be able to operate on the market without travel agencies. At the same time, working directly with customers will help health resorts increase their profits,” deputy head of the oblast branch of the Belarusian national center of health resort treatment and recuperation Yelena Yatsevich said.
All in all, in January-October Brest Oblast health resorts welcomed over 19,000 foreigners, up by 10.6% over the same period a year before. The export of medical-and-spa treatment services expanded by 11% to reach Br14.9 million.
