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Occupancy rate at Belarusian health resorts at 60% in 2020 due to pandemic

MINSK, 9 March (BelTA) – The coronavirus pandemic has affected the performance of Belarusian health resorts, but has not made a significant impact on the accessibility of recuperation and recreation services of health resorts. The average occupancy rate at health resorts was at 60% in 2020, Director of the Belarusian National Center for Recuperation and Health Resort Treatment Gennady Bolbatovsky told the media on 9 March, BelTA has learned.

“The average occupancy rate was at 60%. In line with recommendations drawn up by the Healthcare Ministry and our center, the maximum possible occupancy rate varied from 70% to 80%, depending on the capacities of every facility. Taking into account a 1.5-month hiatus, the recuperation and recreation facilities did well I think,” Gennady Bolbatovsky said.

Thanks to smart marketing and a good pricing policy (promos and discounts), health resorts attracted more Belarusians, which helped make up for the decline in export services.

The center rescheduled vouchers, initially booked for the period of the forced downtime, for later dates. When health resorts brought their operation in compliance with the recommendations, they resumed selling vouchers. Relevant agencies regularly monitored whether health resorts met the recommendations.

All in all, more than 800,000 people used recuperation services of Belarusian health resorts. Some 480,000 vouchers were sponsored from the state budget and another 320,000 vouchers were bought by legal entities and individuals.

As of the start of 2021, there were 306 recuperation and recreation facilities in Belarus that can accommodate 66,000 people, including 29,000 health resorts for 29,000 people and 200 recuperation facilities for 37,000 people.

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