Hotel Omorika in Crikvenica today and tomorrow is the host of the jubilee 10th Crikvenica International Health Tourism (CIHT) conference.

Hotel Omorika in Crikvenica today and tomorrow is the host of the jubilee 10th Crikvenica International Health Tourism (CIHT) conference.
In a significant year, in post-pandemic times, the organizers are celebrating the 10th anniversary of the successful implementation of the conference, where every year they bring together leading authorities from health tourism – medicine, tourism, economics, marketing and destination branding – in one place.
This year, more than 20 eminent speakers from 7 countries will share valuable knowledge and experiences from their institutions, countries and areas of interest in the health tourism sector with the participants.
In the first day of the event, apart from numerous respectable speakers from all over the world, the conference attracted an impressive number of participants who joined the program at the location and via the online platform. More than 200 participants from the entire region followed presentations and a panel discussion where they could get a perspective on the possibilities and future of health tourism for their destination, institution, organization, as well as guidelines for personal and professional development.
Before the start of the first part of the conference, the organizer’s representative, the president of the Kvarner Health Tourism Cluster, Dr Vladimir Mozetič, acknowledged Marijana Biondić, the director of the Crikvenica Tourist Board, who had the initial idea of starting this conference. Moreover, the first CIHT Conference was held in September 2013 – on the 125th anniversary of tourism in Crikvenica, and every year since then the Crikvenica Riviera has hosted this conference, with the Crikvenica Tourist Board as the organizer.
After the welcome speeches, the official part of the conference began with a lecture by Mr. Irving Stackpole, president of the Stackpole & Associates, who spoke about the hybrid future of health tourism – about adapted practices and new habits that change the patient’s experience in the search for the best health service. Health tourism will become sustainable, and the future is in telemedicine.
The long-term speaker at the conference, Mario Škugor MD, spoke about the patient’s experience from the perspective of the Cleveland Clinic. His institution is guided by the values of communication and compassion and provides the patient not only with quality health care but also with an overall positive experience – they are encouraged to be actively involved in their recovery process and to express their opinion about the service provided.
In her lecture, the founder and president of Medical Tourism Training, and a consultant in health tourism, Elizabeth Ziemba, talked about the availability of tourist offers for a group of tourists with physical, mental or emotional limitations. This demographic makes up 15% of the world’s population (1.4 billion people), so it’s a huge unexplored market and hidden potential.
Maria Jukic, JD, also came from the prestigious Cleveland Clinic, and gave a lecture on the importance of art and music in the physical and psychological recovery of the patient, as a type of treatment and rehabilitation.
The conference continued with a panel discussion on health tourism and sports rehabilitation, which brought together experts from various professions: Primarius Vlasta Brozičević from Polyclinic Terme Selce, Dr Danijel Premuš from Thalassotherapia Opatija, Pero Kuterovac, strength trainer, and Martina Linarić, PhD, owner of NutriMarLIn Center for nutrition. They discussed how to make Croatia a desirable place for the preparation and rehabilitation of sports teams.
The second thematic block “Health and the healthcare industry: investment and development” brought a new series of interesting lectures, this time through the experiences of Croatian companies.
Joško Brkić, representative of the globally successful pharmaceutical company Jadran – Galenski laboratorij d.d., also the main sponsor of this conference, stated in his presentation what strategic decisions his company made in order to remain relevant and competitive on the market and respond to the needs of its customers.
Stjepan Orešković, PhD, from the company M+ Group, as a scientist and entrepreneur, offered a unique perspective on the development of entrepreneurship in health care, on innovation and investments in health tourism.
Igor Čičak presented the company Provectus Capital Partners, Croatia, a leading company for investing in private healthcare in Southeastern Europe. The lecturer presented a number of his company’s investments in health facilities, benefits, results and financial profitability.
The conference has been supported by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports for years, and the advisor to the minister, Igor Radić, addressed the audience on their behalf, and gave a lecture on the possibility of financing the development of health tourism in Croatia. Investments will be focused on sustainable tourism, green tourism, digital transition and renovation of existing infrastructure.
Mario Ravić from the company Ericsson Nikola Tesla d.d. explained the connection between the Internet of Things and health tourism and how it affects the patient’s experience. According to him, technology is necessary because it improves the patient’s experience and quickly and easily collects the necessary data and quantitatively measures the performance of healthcare institutions.
At this conference, a platform is created for the exchange of knowledge and learning through examples of good practice, with the combination of top experts from various professions, interesting, current and relevant topics and participants eager for active participation. The conference is of exceptional importance for the vision of the future of health tourism in the entire Kvarner region; it helps the better positioning of the health institutions of the Kvarner region on the map of prestigious health tourism institutions and promotes Kvarner as part of the Mediterranean – an ideal destination for rehabilitation and relaxation.
The jubilee 10th CIHT Conference is the result of the successful cooperation of four key organizations for health tourism in Kvarner: the Crikvenica Tourist Board and the Kvarner Health Tourism Cluster as organizers, and Thalassotherapia Crikvenica and Polyclinic Terme Selce as co-organizers.
The intention of the organizers is to provide a unique approach of different countries, professions and types of institutions to health tourism in general, but at the same time to adopt tools for improving the tourist offer in Kvarner and creating a unique tourist brand.
The general sponsor of the 10th CIHT Conference is Jadran-galenski laboratorij d.d., a Croatian pharmaceutical company with global success and recognition. The conference, as in previous years, is supported by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, whose support made a major contribution to the organization of this year’s hybrid conference. The conference is also supported by: Ministry of Health, Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, Croatian National Tourist Board, Kvarner Region Tourist Board, Croatian Chamber of Economy and City of Crikvenica. Conference partners are Orto Nova – Dental Medicine Center, AmCham – American Chamber of Economy in Croatia, Jadran d.d. and Ericsson Nikola Tesla d.d. Media sponsors are Jutarnji list and Lider.

Find more about the conference on the official website of the conference, as well as the mandatory registration form.