Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 18 July (BelTA) - The Belarusian health resorts reported an 9% increase in the export of services in H1 2017, Gennady Bolbatovsky, the head of the the Belarusian national center of health resort treatment and recuperation, told a press conference.

“In H1 2017 the exports totaled Br69 million, up more than 9% over the same period of 2016. There has also been an increase in the export of value-added services not included in the price of vouchers. Growth exceeded 16%,” Gennady Bolbatovsky said.

Despite the unsettled weather this summer, the occupancy rate in the Belarusian health resorts is close to 100%, he said. Russian visitors still account for over 90% of customers of the health resorts in Belarus.

The health resorts provide more than 200 types of services, mainly medical ones. They operate more than 90 wells of mineral water used in spa treatment, and four deposits of mud. In the first half of the year, over 380,000 people took advantage of the health recuperation programs sponsored from the budget and the state social insurance. More than Br92 million was earmarked for this purpose.

Gennady Bolbatovsky spoke in favor of extending the visa-free stay of foreign tourists in Belarus who enter the country via Minsk National Airport. He noted that so far there have been just a couple of instances when visa-free visitors visited a health resort in Belarus under the weekend spa prorgam.