Balgarianovinite.com The main challenges facing thermal and health tourism were outlined on Tuesday by Markos Danas, Vice President of the European Historic Thermal Towns Association (EHTTA), during the panel “Forum of the Health Tourism Industry” at HEALTHXCHANGE 2026 in the Golden Sands resort.
Danas shared impressions from the EHTTA General Assembly held in the Portuguese town of Caldas da Rainha, where representatives of the sector discussed organizational and financial issues and the future of thermal tourism in Europe.
According to him, the sector is undergoing a significant transformation driven by declining state support and a changing socio-economic model in Europe. “The first condition for sustainability is to have profit. After that you think about the environment and everything else,” he emphasized.
Danas noted that nearly 12,000 companies in Europe use thermal and healing waters, and many of them have traditionally relied on state subsidies and reimbursement for their services. This system, however, is gradually weakening.
He gave the example of Greece, where after the financial crisis of 2010-2011 subsidies for thermal tourism were sharply reduced. This forced businesses to reorient themselves and seek new customer groups beyond the traditional visitors – pensioners.
“Health ministers every year reduce the subsidies or the reimbursements for pensioners. Little by little,” Danas commented, adding that the sector is increasingly developing new services aimed at a younger audience and at modern wellness and preventive health programmes.
The forum is organized by the European Spas Association (ESPA), the Bulgarian Union of Balneology and Spa Tourism (BUBSPA) and the HTI Conference & Expo. Hosts include the Tourism Ministry and the Varna Municipality, with BTA as the main media partner. The event is taking place in the year marking 20 years since the establishment of BUBSPA. European Executive: Thermal Tourism Faces Major Structural Challenges 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-05-12 14:21:12 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law