The Balkan balneotherapy product – an approach from the destination marketing perspective

Considering the common features in the resources field, but especially the way in which they have been managed at the level of each individual country, it can be stated that a destination such as the Balkan peninsula represents a culturally homogeneous space, which has been crystallized over centuries of common history and which has imprinted a “common” destiny to the member countries, regarding the economic and cultural development. Regarding natural resources, the main similarity resides in the existence of balneotherapy resources, with particular therapeutic properties, nowadays’ development being pressured by the deterioration of one’s conception about its own health (from the demand perspective), on the one hand, and extending the concept of health (from the supply perspective), on the other hand. In the context of a less-controlled development of certain methods/techniques/procedures by the stakeholders of wellness industry, it is necessary to maintain the authenticity of the balneotherapy product whose essence is the treatment. The purpose of the paper relies in establishing the common elements which could form the essence of the balneotherapy product (sui generis) and, in the same time, the differentiation elements which form the developed product of each Balkan country, alongside with the establishment of joint actions, in order to set the coordinates of the regional balneotherapy marketing strategy for the Balkan peninsula.