As part of its location analysis on the healthcare industry, BioPark Regensburg GmbH has supported a bachelor thesis at the Technical University of Deggendorf, which deals with the question regarding the establishment of a health tourism cluster.
The Cluster BioRegion Regensburg has experienced dynamic development since 1999, which is substantiated by regular location analyses. Started with core competency biotechnology (1999-2001), and followed with extension to the life sciences (2002-2006). This was joined by the inclusion of companies from other industries such as the metal, textile, plastics and glass industry, which interact interdisciplinarily with the life sciences (2006-2011). As a further consequence the BioPark has been networking since 2012 increasingly with companies from the healthcare industry and has already settled start-ups and companies in the BioPark.
In the course of the running location analysis since 2015 on the healthcare industry (see BioPark PR No. 157) the question arose, whether health tourism was existent in the region and if yes, how is this organised. For this purpose BioPark GmbH supported the bachelor thesis by Julia Kolbeck at the Technical University in Degendorf. Ms Kolbeck has been studying tourism management there since October 2012 and was overseen for this thesis by Prof. Horst Kunhardt, who heads the Faculty for Applied Health Sciences. In the degree for tourism management the module "medical and health tourism" is taught in Deggendorf amongst other subjects .
The experts make three distinctions in health tourism; medical tourism, spa tourism and wellness tourism. In her 100 page bachelor thesis Ms Kolbeck analysed these areas and conducted interviews with the partners already identified in the location analysis. In fact Regensburg has in its extensive catchment area in East Bavaria good provision of doctors and hospitals, however two thirds of the interview partners estimated the future potential of health tourism in the Regensburg Region as minimally lucrative and extremely limited. For this reason the majority of the institutions in health tourism questioned are not currently developing a strategic goal.
Actually the region has good comprehensive medical care and nursing homes, however the necessary attractive infrastructure for a health tourist with respect to good transport connections, big five-star hotels and lots of shopping in a luxury area is limited. In addition the City of Munich - relatively close by - enjoys a higher degree of prominence than the Region of Regensburg, which is described as more rural or provincial. The majority of the interview partners advised against building up a unique selling point in this field (negative cost benefit effect). The participants see the main goal of the next few years far more to be in the provision of health care to the regional population. All the experts expect increased utilisation and with this increased utilisation of the medical institutions in the next few years.
"The scientific paper by Ms Kolbeck confirms the recommendations for action made by the location analysis on the topic of health tourism" commented Dr. Thomas Diefenthal, Managing Director of BioPark Regensburg GmbH on the bachelor thesis. The topic should of course not be shelved away, rather it could be pursued further as a synergy effect in general tourism or in planning in the currrent project Gesundheitsregion PLUS.
For further information see:
• Bachelor thesis “Gesundheitstourismus in der Region Regensburg – Analyse zur Etablierung eines gesundheitstouristischen Clusters” (2016)
The Cluster BioRegion Regensburg has experienced dynamic development since 1999, which is substantiated by regular location analyses. Started with core competency biotechnology (1999-2001), and followed with extension to the life sciences (2002-2006). This was joined by the inclusion of companies from other industries such as the metal, textile, plastics and glass industry, which interact interdisciplinarily with the life sciences (2006-2011). As a further consequence the BioPark has been networking since 2012 increasingly with companies from the healthcare industry and has already settled start-ups and companies in the BioPark.
In the course of the running location analysis since 2015 on the healthcare industry (see BioPark PR No. 157) the question arose, whether health tourism was existent in the region and if yes, how is this organised. For this purpose BioPark GmbH supported the bachelor thesis by Julia Kolbeck at the Technical University in Degendorf. Ms Kolbeck has been studying tourism management there since October 2012 and was overseen for this thesis by Prof. Horst Kunhardt, who heads the Faculty for Applied Health Sciences. In the degree for tourism management the module "medical and health tourism" is taught in Deggendorf amongst other subjects .
The experts make three distinctions in health tourism; medical tourism, spa tourism and wellness tourism. In her 100 page bachelor thesis Ms Kolbeck analysed these areas and conducted interviews with the partners already identified in the location analysis. In fact Regensburg has in its extensive catchment area in East Bavaria good provision of doctors and hospitals, however two thirds of the interview partners estimated the future potential of health tourism in the Regensburg Region as minimally lucrative and extremely limited. For this reason the majority of the institutions in health tourism questioned are not currently developing a strategic goal.
Actually the region has good comprehensive medical care and nursing homes, however the necessary attractive infrastructure for a health tourist with respect to good transport connections, big five-star hotels and lots of shopping in a luxury area is limited. In addition the City of Munich - relatively close by - enjoys a higher degree of prominence than the Region of Regensburg, which is described as more rural or provincial. The majority of the interview partners advised against building up a unique selling point in this field (negative cost benefit effect). The participants see the main goal of the next few years far more to be in the provision of health care to the regional population. All the experts expect increased utilisation and with this increased utilisation of the medical institutions in the next few years.
"The scientific paper by Ms Kolbeck confirms the recommendations for action made by the location analysis on the topic of health tourism" commented Dr. Thomas Diefenthal, Managing Director of BioPark Regensburg GmbH on the bachelor thesis. The topic should of course not be shelved away, rather it could be pursued further as a synergy effect in general tourism or in planning in the currrent project Gesundheitsregion PLUS.
For further information see:
• Bachelor thesis “Gesundheitstourismus in der Region Regensburg – Analyse zur Etablierung eines gesundheitstouristischen Clusters” (2016)
