Europos karališkųjų kurortų kokybės kriterijų ypatumai : Birštono kurorto pavyzdys

• Particularities of Royal Spas' quality criteria: case of Birštonas resort
• Особенности критериев качества европейских королевских курортов: на примере курорта Бирштонас

LTKurortų specifiką lemia gydomieji bei gamtiniai kurorto ištekliai. Kurortinio turizmo samprata apima skirtingas turizmo rūšis (gydomąjį, pažintinį kultūrinį, poilsinį, religinį, sportinį ir kt.), kuriomis siekiama tenkinti vartotojų poreikius. Pritraukiant daugiau vartotojų ir užtikrinant kurortinės vietovės teigiamą įvaizdį labai svarbu atitikti specifinius kokybinius kriterijus. Vertinant kurortų kokybę daugiausia remiamasi Europos karališkųjų kurortų grupės kokybės vertinimo kriterijais. Birštono kurortą vertinant pagal Europos karališkųjų kurortų kokybės kriterijus galima teigti, kad Birštono kurortas visiškai atitinka 4 kriterijus: esama aristokratinės tradicijos, gydomųjų savybių, gero susisiekimo bei medicininės bazės. Dalis reikalavimų tenkinami tik dalinai. Mažiausiai – 2 kriterijai, susiję su svetingumo sektoriumi. Birštono kurortui itin trūksta prabangios klasės viešbučių, taip pat nėra maitinimo įstaigos, turinčios specifinę regionui būdingą virtuvę. Siekiant tapti Europos karališkųjų kurortų grupės nariu, Birštonui būtinas pozityvesnis kurorto įvaizdis bei pilnesnis šios kurortų grupės kokybės kriterijų atitikimas. Tam pirmiausia būtina sutelkti dėmesį į verslo plėtrą kurorte bei pritraukti daugiau investicijų. Efektyvaus rezultato galima tikėtis tik glaudžiai bendradarbiaujant su valdžios institucijomis, privačiomis organizacijomis bei vietos bendruomene.Reikšminiai žodžiai: Rekreacija; Kurortas; Kurortinis turizmas; Turizmo ištekliai; Kurorto infrastruktūra; Kurorto kokybės vertinimo kriterijai; Recreation; Resort; Resort tourism; Tourism resources; The infrastucture of the resort; The criteria of the resort quality.

ENLithuanian resorts are one of the most attractive places for foreign tourists. [...] According to the changing consumer requirements for service quality and hyper competition, it is very important to operatively react to market changes and to be strongly oriented towards consumer needs. One of the competitive advantages is keeping resort quality by European standards, i.e., integration into the Royal Spas of Europe group. Trying to become a member of this spas group the main task is the realization of determinate requirements of quality for the Royal Spas of Europe, which are related with structural resort elements. The analysis showed that the resort quality evaluation system of the Royal Spas of Europe consists of two criterion groups: - factors, matching the resort quality criteria (local medical characteristic, aristocratic traditions, suggestions for the foreigners). - the structural resort elements (exemplary environment, developed medical base, one luxury hotel, good transportation system, cultural suggestions). One of the most popular Lithuanian resorts Birštonas is interested to reinforce its position in health tourism market. This resort is the only Lithuanian resort aspirant to become a member of the Royal Spas of Europe and wants to correspond to the resort quality criteria of the Royal Spas of Europe. The analysis of Birštonas showed that this resort corresponds to four criteria of the resort quality of the Royal Spas of Europe: aristocratic traditions, local medical characteristics, good transportation system and developed medical base. It has been determined that the criterion "exemplary environment" is not realized till the end, because of the unfinished reconstruction of buildings.[...] Birštonas resort at least corresponds to two criteria related to the hospitality. The main problem is the lack of luxury hotels in Birštonas. Also there is not any restaurant offering specific menu of that region. In order to become a member of Royal Spas of Europe, Birštonas resort should try to better satisfy the criteria of Royal Spas. Analysis showed that the biggest barrier for the development of Birštonas resort is the lack of finance. The deficit of investment is in all sectors of resort tourism. First of all, there should be established the conditions for the development of business in resort and for attracting more investments to resort. This is the main point in the strategy of Birštonas municipality. The implementation of three aims of strategy's first objective will improve the image of Birštonas resort. Besides of this, Birsonas resort should form the infrastructure, which can use natural and cultural resource effectively The investments could be funded by various funds which support small and medium business as well as creation of new workplaces. It should be emphasized that for achieving effective results, continuous communication and close cooperation between authority institutions, private enterprises and community should be ensured. It would stimulate to implement many important decisions which could help Birštonas to become a member of Royal Spas of Europe. [From the publication]