Baltic States – CIS, Forum, Lithuania, Tourism

Specialists at the Lithuanian Medical Tourism Cluster, working intensely in both directions, believe there is still untapped potential for exporting services both westwards and eastwards. They are going to prove this at the international conference Medical Tourism: Directions for Lithuania's Service Export Breakthrough to be held next on 3 September in Vilnius.

"Statistics Lithuania tells us that, in the second quarter of this year, there was more growth in incoming guests in resort towns, Birstonas (15.8%) and Druskininkai (8.6%), than in the country as a whole (4.8%). I think one of the main reasons behind the trend is a growing global demand for wellness tourism," says Grazvydas Morkus, head of the Lithuanian Medical Tourism Cluster.

Even with a decline in customer flows from Russia and Belarus, foreign tourists spend impressive sums of money in Lithuania. While Russians and Belarusians spent about 14% less during the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year, they still account for more revenue (EUR 86.5 million over Q1 of 2015) than Lithuania's fifteen other top-ranking incoming tourism markets combined (EUR 82.5 million).

According to Morkus, Lithuania's service exports to the Eastern markets fare better than goods exports because of the various sanctions that Russia has imposed on the latter. "I think that we still have as much opportunity to attract tourists from the East as from the West. We need to use different strategies to present our country and our services, to concentrate more on building personal contacts and long-term connections," the VTD quotes the expert.

In order to conquer foreign markets, companies often need to join forces. All the more so, since various sectors reek financial benefit from incoming wellness tourism: from medical and wellness service providers and travel agencies to hotels, restaurants and entertainment and shopping centres. The state collects more taxes, too.

"Bearing in mind Lithuania's distinctiveness and opportunities in the global wellness tourism market, we propose that we seek the service export potential in this particular sector. Of course, this requires not just closer cooperation among distinct business sectors and companies, but also support from our government. We are, therefore, glad to have this opportunity for dialogue during the international conference next week," Morkus says.