Eight private healthcare companies, clinics and hospitals on the Costa Blanca have formed an alliance to try and attract more foreign patients. The Mediterranean Health Care Association says the objective is to make Alicante province a destination for European health tourism.
The eight are: Vistahermosa Clinic, Medimar International Hospital, San Jaime USP Hospital in Torrevieja, Hospital Clínico in Benidorm, Vissum Ophthalmologist Corporación, Sha Wellness Clinic in El Albir, the Davó maxillofacial and the Casaverde neurological rehabilitation centre. Together they aim to internationalize their services through co-operation and a programme of marketing and joint promotion. €400,000 has been invested in the idea, and the plan is to find patients online, and via insurance companies, travel agents and public health bodies in other countries. The main target markets are Europe, United States, Russia and North Africa.
President of the association, Alberto Giménez Artés explains, “Given the demographics of the health market it is hoped this Mediterranean part of Spain, with its sophisticated medical facilities, easy proximity to northern Europe and the other target areas, and its reasonable pricing, will prove a popular destination, for the older patient especially. The availability of cheap flights into El Altet’s expanded airport is also an essential factor in attracting health tourists. In addition to medical care the association also aims to provide accommodation and travel advice and arrange both for patients and accompanying friends and relatives as part of an all inclusive and holistic approach to this expanding service.”
MajesticSpa Essential Moments, a boutique spa in the Hotel Majestic in Barcelona, Spain, part of the Catalan group Majestic Hotel Group, is the first spa in Europe to achieve SpaExcellenceSM certification. This certification is the culmination of months of organizing and documenting the spa’s quality system in accordance with the international standards of spa excellence from
SpaQuality. The standards provide a framework for everything a spa does including planning, day-to-day operations, behind-the-scenes processes, leadership, teamwork, training, system evaluation, continual improvement and more.
Spa director Eva Crespi says, "Implementing these standards have helped us to have a clear and concise management system. This translates into being able to be fully devoted to customer satisfaction. We developed protocols in order to improve our efficiency, which also makes it easy to train staff and incorporate changes and innovations.”
Assessors conducted an assessment of the spa quality system for compliance The spa's processes were assessed in several categories: intention and strategy, leadership, guest experience, operations support and improvement, as well as how well they worked together as a quality system. The spa can expect an unscheduled anonymous guest assessment to evaluate the spa from a guest's perspective before the next annual assessment.
MajesticSpa is on the 10th floor of Hotel Majestic and offers facial treatments, body treatments, massages, manicures, pedicures, waxing and make-up. The facilities include a reception area, four treatment rooms, two pedicure rooms, two manicure rooms, a make-up area, and a hydrotherapy circuit, which includes a dry sauna, an ice fountain, a steam room and a sensations shower with relaxing essential oils. SpaQuality is an independent organization specializing in evaluating quality systems in the spa industry. Julie Register and Linda Bankoski created it in 2003.
