The American writer, Elizabeth McCracken, said in her book, The Giants House, [600832]

1
INTRODUCTION

The American writer, Elizabeth McCracken, said in her book, “The Giant’s House”,
the following: “Enough fine weather and money and a few memorable meals make any place
desirable.”
Nowadays , tourism represents one of the most profitable segments of the eco nomy,
because it is consisted of many branches. The balneary tourism in the last decades develop ed
a lot, because of many factors, such as: the evolution of conditions of living led to increasing
stress and unhealthy diet. These negative effects made peopl e to choose as a destination
holiday spa or balneary resorts.
I chose this subject for my dissertation paper because I think it will help me to develop
my knowledge about tourism and offer me a deeper understanding of how this economical
segment works.
I chose Baile Felix because it has the potential to become the greatest balneary resort
in this part of Romania .

2

CHAPTER 1 .
THE CONCEPT OF BALNEARY TOURISM

The balneary tourism can be defined as a type of tourism, which its purpose is to help
people to treat various diseases or help them relieve stress. This form of tourism occurs
mostly in spa resorts.
From a geographic point of view , the balneary tou rism can represent establishing
interdependence relationships, resulting from the movements of individuals or groups outside
their place of residence for the purpose of recreation, relation and health care.
From an etymological point of view, the term “balneary”, comes from the Latin word
“balneum” and the Greek word “balaneion” which means “bath” .
The balneary tourism developed a lot in the last 20 years in Romania and Europe. This
development is the result of many factors, such as: economic growth and the evolution of
living conditions. These factors had positive and negative effects on people, for example: the
increase of pollution, an unbalanced diet in quality and quantity .
In order to reduce these negative effects, many tourists chose as a holiday destination
the balnear y resorts. Because of the positive results, the balneary tourism is in a continuous
development and is one of the major components of tourism in Romania, so many tourists
choose this type of tourism not only to cure them from diseases but also to relieve s tress and
to be in a good physical, mental and spiritual condition. (Berlescu E., 1982)

3

CHAPTER 2 .
THE HISTORY OF BALNEARY TOURISM

“Spa tourism is one of the oldest forms of tourism which raised the interest of people
on the European continent since the ancient times. Mineral and thermal springs differing in
appearance, taste and temperature from ordinary waters were locally used by t he Europeans
(e.g. France, Germany, etc.) for their healing powers. Romans had an important contribution
in the discovery and the valuing of mineral springs on their territory, gradually extended
through military campaigns. It was first during the Roman Em pire that tourism was registered
as an activity and when spa tourism began to be practiced. Romania, as an ex province of this
antique state, founded some of its most famous traditional spa resorts during the Roman
period (e.g. Herculane Resort – Hercules Baths; GeoagiuBăi – Germisara).” ( G. Erdeli et al,
2011 , pag. 41 – 56)
One important development stage of spa resorts began in the XVIII century, for those
within the Romanian provinces integrated in the Habsburg and later on the Austro -Hungarian
Empire and the beginning of XIX century in the regions of East and South of Romanian
Carpathians, it continued until the begin ning of XX century and the First World War. After
the Second World War, the resorts’ infrastructure was modernized, ext ended and diversified
in a fastrhythm. During this period, big modern hotel units and sanatorial complexes were
built as the demand for h ealth destinations valuing natural therapeutic factors grew. Romania
tried to develop a modern health care system, gradually put into place and to value and
scientifically fundament through modern medicine theories and practices, the traditional
healing me thods.
Balneal and climate factors have been rediscovered and became part of the health care
system, being combined with other pharmaceutical means and even medicines and drug

4
treatments. The interest for natural treatments grew as they became available on a large scale
and proved to have long term positive effects with lower costs, while other studies underlined
the toxicity and side effects of pharmaceutical products.
Meantime, a whole ticket system coordinated by Health and Labor Ministries was
establi shed. Moreover the role of spas in the social systems is internationally recognized even
nowadays at the European level by ESPA, which expressed its concern regarding the
maintenance of qualitative standards for spa packages at low prices as economic and s ocial –
political conditions suffer radical transformations and face important challenges in different
countries. After the Second World War, tourism industry entered the mass tourism
development stage, orienting towards big hospitality services. Spa touri sm responded to
human needs of relaxation and health cure during the holiday period, a gaining of the labor
force that experienced the era of industrialization and of the social oriented systems and
programs governed by different political regimes in diffe rent countries all over Europe.
“The Eastern European countries belonging to the communist block enforced even
more the social policies reflected into tourism. It is during the communist period, however,
when social spa tourism had the most flourishing p eriod in Romania continuing the
development of the already settled, traditional mineral and thermal spa destinations and
developing ex nihilo a whole range of new resorts. At the end of this period, not less than 160
resorts and localities with therapeutic ally factors in Romania were known (Erdeli and
Gheorghilaș, 1996), an important figure showing the regime’s orientation towards the
development of this form of tourism and towards geological prospections, knowledge and use
of the national underground resou rces.” ( G. Erdelia et al, 2011 , pag. 41 – 56)
Health resorts combined natural remedies and allopath medicine treatments, the latter
evolving in parallel with the advances in the medical industry. The complementary medical
procedures and the mixture of met hods coming both from allopath and naturist medicine
determined a redesign of traditional spa destinations into different categories. They appear as
different marketing attractions for the modern tourists in search for a holiday which should
correspond to their needs, for both a free time and a healing time physiologically and/or
psychologically. Therefore, spa industry and its representatives through ISPA organization
advertises nowadays a whole range of destinations offering personalized and extremely new
services, from hiking and life -style programs to therapeutic massages reaching to laser -facial
esthetic surgery and nutritional counseling sessions.
Spa packages as health care packages still inherit traditional parts of the medical and
labor and social systems determining reactions in this direction. ESPA for example

5
considered Central and Eastern Europe as an interesting market not only for the traditional
development of internal health tourism, as part of the national medical systems and based on
the u p-raise of health awareness of citizens in the area, but also from international tourism, as
the region is part European Union assuming mutual co -operation within Europe in the fields
of health and social welfare as for instance in terms of a potential ext ension of healthcare
insurance to cover events abroad. ( Erdeli et al, 2011)

Figure 1. Baile Herculane in XIX Century
(Source: www.gorj -domino.ro/statiunea -baile -herculan e-preferata -imparatesei -sissi)

6

Figure 2. Baile Herculane in present days
(Source: www.resita -kikinda.ro/ro/zonaherculane )

7

CHAPTER 3 .
THE FACTORS OF BALNEARY TOURISM

The balneary tourism in our country is affected directly or indirectly by natural
therapeutically factors, social factors, economical factors, demographical factors and political
factors.
Natural therape utically factors :
These factors are located inside or at the surface of the crust: mineral or thermal water,
therapeutically mud, natural therapeutically gases, salt mines, therapeutically lakes and
medicinal plants.
Mineral and thermal waters :
Mineral and thermal waters are very important for our country, they can be seen as a
“inexhaustible rich es of our country, for many reasons: many mineral springs from mountain
areas have a very various chemical composition and many of these springs are located in
favorable climatic conditions for balneary tourism.” ( G. Erdeli et al, 2011 , pag. 41 – 56)
These mineral waters can be classified in:
– Oligomineral waters: Băile Olănești, Slănic Moldova, Bă ile Felix, Moneasa
– Carbonated mineral waters: Băile Tușnad, Zizin, Bib orțeni,
– Pure c lorurato – sodium mineral waters: Băile Herculane, Ocna Sibiului, Sângeorz
Băi
– Sulphate mineral waters: Slănic Moldova, Ocna Șugatag, Călimăneș ti
– Sulphurous mineral waters: Băile Herculane, Călimănești, Să cele
– Ferruginous mineral waters: Li pova, Biborț eni, VatraDornei
– Arsenical mineral waters: Covasna, SaruDornei
– Iodinated mineral wa ters: Băile Olănești, Călimăneș ti, Cozia
– Radioactive mineral waters: Bă ile Herculane, Sângeorz Băi, Borsec

8

Figure 3. Thermal baths at Hotel International
(Source: www.hotelinternationalfelix.ro/tratament.htm )

Therapeutically lakes and mud:
This mud is used in facial and body cosmetics, because it has the properties of
cleaning the skin of osmosis, hydrating, stimulating and regenerating the skin and also treat’s
many diseases such as: rheumatism, obesity, gynecologic diseases, etc.
The natural conditions and some man -made factors led to the formation of salty lakes
and mud, for example those located at Black Sea coast: Techirghiol, Mangalia, Tatlageac.
Natural therapeutically gases:
Romania is one of the few European countries which has these natural gases, most
known r esorts are: Covasna, HarghitaBă i, Borsec.

9

Figure 4 . The inside of a “mofeta”
(Source: www.infoturism.ro/seju r/covasna/hotel -complex -bradul2 )

Saline Mines:
These mines are used for treating the respiratory diseases and increase the body
strength for physical and intellectual actions.

10

Figure 5 . The inside of Salina Praid
(Source: www.infoturism.ro/atractii -turistice/locuri -fascinante -din-romania -salina -praid )

Social Factors:
The increasing of work is leading the Romanian tourists to balneary resorts as holiday
destinations. The rest, the need to take care of health and the assimilation of new cultural
information are important to the human psychic just as the need to work, to move and to have
a comfortable habitat.
Econo mical Factors:
Romania is a state in development, split in regions with different economical growth.
For example the south region from an economically point of view is more developed than
south – west region. These economically differences are felt in buying tourist packages or felt

11
by the accommodation units. In present days, Romanian tourism co ntributes to the national
GDP (PIB) with 3%.

Demographical Factors:
The balneary tourism in Romania, in the year 2012, had 1 million tourists, 10% of
them being foreigners, ac cording to the National Institute of Statistics. Romania has the
lowest number of foreigner tourists from Europe. According to the National Organization of
Tourism, Romanian tourism must be promoted by info trips to raise the number of foreign
tourists, be cause the y spend mo re money than Romanian tourists, however, at a national level,
in 1993 there were 89% Romanian tourists and only 11% foreign tourists. This difference can
be explained by the fact that Romania, was still viewed as a “communist” country b y the
foreigners and Romanians, being used to national resorts, chose to visit them. The story is a
little different 23 years later, where the percentage of Romanian tourists decreases to 77%
and the percentage of foreign tourists increases to 23%. This c hange can be the result of
Romania getting more “modern” in terms of thinking and the Romanians who went abroad,
saw how the tourists were treated there and wanted the same or better conditions in the
country. The decrease of Romanian tourists can be becau se of the fact that more Romanians
afford to travel and get better services for almost the same money in a different country, for
example Greece or Bulgaria. A small difference can be seen the case of spa resorts in
Romania, but in the 90’s Romania had mor e foreign tourists 6% than in 2016 with only 5%,
this difference can be the result of poor infrastructure in nowdays, where only a few of them
are really modern.

Figure 6. Tourists at national level (1993 -2016)

89% 11%
Romanian Foreign77% 23%
Romanian Foreign

12

Figure 7.Tourists in Balneary Resorts (1993 -2016)

Figure 8. Tourists from 1993
94% 6%
Romanian Foreign95% 5%
Romanian Foreign
91% 9%
Total Spas91% 9%
Total – Romanian Spas – Romanian95% 5%
Total – Foreign Spas – Foreign

13

Figure 9. Tourists from 2016

Figure 10 . Tourists in balneary resorts in Romania
(Source: www.insse.ro )

As you can see in the graphic s above , in 1993, 9% of touristic attractions were spas,
and these spas were chosen by 9% of Romanians and 5% foreigners, however the percentage
of resorts decreased to 7%, the percentage of Romanian remained the same, but foreigners
dropped to only 2% in 2016. As I said above , this difference can be explained by the number
of resorts that were in “good hands” in the 90’s and slowly decreasing in quality over the
years, where many were closing or degrading in the 2000’s and 2010’s. T he number of
foreign tourists decreased from 2008 until 2011 but also decreased in the case of Romanians,
mostly because of the financial crisis. The good news came from the year of 2011 until 2016,
where the number increase d and the world gave a sign of a better financial stability. Als o this 93% 7%
Total Spas91% 9%
Total – Romanian Spas – Romanian98% 2%
Total – Foreign Spas – Foreign
0100000200000300000400000500000600000700000800000900000
1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Romanian Foreign

14
decline may be affected by the fact that Bulgaria and Greece became cheaper and offered
better services. An interesting fact is that in 2007 and 2008, before of the economic crisis,
Romania had over 700,000 tourists and maybe if it weren’t for this crisis the number would
continue to rise in the year of 2009 as well.

Political Factors:
The conflict regions have a negative ef fect on tourism, because these regions are
avoided by tourists who seek relaxation, but Romania doesn’t have this kind of problem. The
tourism, has the potential of developing trust and reduce tensions between countries, tourism
can be seen as a balance factor.

15

CHAPTER 4 .
BALNEARY TOURISM IN ROMANIA

The importance and number of the Romanian spa resorts was strongly influenced
along the time by the legislation in the tourism field and in the spa sector by the development
stages of the spa industry, according to their resources and to their maintenance. Due to the
old preoccupations for healing natural factors in Romania, to prospection activities for
mineral resources and interest in their valuing, that reached a climax during the communist
period, numerous localities with balneal resources were identified on the whole Romanian
territory. According to Urbanproiect, in 1999, 477 settlements with balneal resources were
identified in our country. After the 1989 revolution, which marked the fall of the communist
regime inRo mania, tourism planning considered 3 categories of resort in our country no
matter of their resources. Spa resorts were divided into 3 categories, namely: tourism resorts
of national interest, of local interest and localities with therapeutic factors.
Nowa days, due to more recent changes in legislation and a reevaluation of tourism
resources and hospitality structures, only 2 categories of resorts are recognized: national and
local interest, among which resorts with balneal factors constitute an important n umber. So,
28 out of 37 resorts of national interest and 15 out of the 45 of local interest are spa resorts.
Their high share within the total number resorts of national interest demonstrates the
importance of balneal resources in the development of touris m offer in Romania as in the
whole Europe. (Erdeli et al, 2011)
The Romanian Master Plan for the development of Spa Tourism mentioned the 28 spa
resorts, respectively 15 localities of national interest that they represent over 90% of the total
spa resorts presented by The Organization of Spa Owners in Romania (OPTBR). Most of
them are included in the balneal area considered by the National Institute of Statistics in

16
collecting and processing tourism data on the main tourism areas in Romania.
(Benabdallah&T omatis, 2009 )
From a geographic point of view, most of the spa resorts of national interest are
located in the Carpathian area. Mountains and hilly regions comprise 30 out of the 43 spa
resorts certified on the Romanian territory. They concentrate most of the natural balneal
resources in our country. If considering the repartition of the spa resorts on the development
regions, South – East region has the highest number of health resorts of national interest,
mainly because of the seaside resorts cluster. Th e number of spa resorts, if their total number
or the number of national resorts is considered, is equitable among the 7 development regions,
region of Bucharest is an exception. (Benabdallah, 2009)
A classification of spa resorts in Romania is based on th e treated affections. “The
specialized institutes divided them in 6 parts ”:
– Spas fo r rheumatic affections (Lacul Sărat, Amara, Bă ile Felix, etc .)
– Spas for cardiovascu lar affections (in Eastern Carpathians)
– Spas for respiratory affections (Govora, Sl ănic Prahova)
– Spas for digestive affections (Ol ănești, Călimănești)
– Spas for gynecological affections
– Spas for nervous system affections
(G. Erdeli et al,2011, pag. 41 – 56)

17

Figure 11 . The location of Romanian spa resorts of national and local interest and their
repartition on the main relief forms and on development regions
(Source: G. Erdeli et al, 2011, pag. 41 – 56)

Based on the map, there are 28 out of 37 resorts of national interest and 15 out of 45
resorts of local interest are spa resorts. Most of the spa resorts of national interest are located
in the Carpathian area and in Sub Carpathian areas and mountain and hilly areas are 30 spa
resorts certified on Romanian territory. South – East regions has more health resorts of
national interest mainl y because of the many seaside resorts. The reparation of spa resorts of
national interest on the main relief forms of Romania are on mountain area, hilly area, littoral
area and plain area while the local interest resorts are more numerous on hilly area , mountain
and plain area and almost inexistent on littoral area. Also based on the repartition of spa
resorts on the development regions of Romania, the national interest resorts are more in
South -East, South, South -West, West and Center, North -East and Nort h-West, while the local
interest resorts are more in North -West, South -East, Center and West, South -West, South and
North -East.

18

CHAPTER 5 .
THE BALNEARY TOURISM IN BĂILE FELIX

The benefits of the thermal springs from Băile Felix were discovered by the monk
Felix Helcher, in the XVIII century. Between the years of 1711 – 1721 there appeared the first
conditions for treatment, named “Baialui Felix”. In the year 1885, there was discovered a new
spring with a temperature of 49° C
The resort of Bă ile Felix is located 8 km near Oradea, is the biggest national balneary
resort. It is located in Criș urilor Plain, at an altitude of 150 m, has a continental and moderate
climate, with gentle winters and temperate summers with Mediterranean influences, which is
ideal for balneary tourism.
The thermal waters in Bă ile Felix have a temperature between 20 – 49 deg rees Celsius
and as I said before, these waters were discovered by the monk Felix, which the resort
adopted his name.
According to the Nat ional Institute of Statistics, Bă ile Felix offers in present days
around 9 .000 beds for accommodation and is situated on second place after the Black Sea
coast. Because of the high number of tourists coming to this resort annually, there was a
development in the private sector of accommodation. The privatization of many
accommodation units with or without treatment facilities , like: hotels, guest houses,
restaurants, offered the people who bought these units the chance to invest money and help
with the development. The building of many guest houses can be seen as a sign that the resort
is very well known a mong Romanian and foreign tourists.

19
On a regional level, the resort beside the balneary tourism can encourage the
development of ecotourism, business tourism, nautical sports tourism, weekend tourism, etc.
But the most important form of tourism in this r esort is the balneal climate tourism, which is
not used to its full potential.
In the last decade, the people’s needs have changed; they want to prevent diseases and
to escape from stress. For these things, the resort Bă ile Felix and the city of Oradea offe rs
many important resources for balneary tourism like spa and wellness tourism, if it is promoted
correctly.
The number of tourists in the resort was an oscillatory one between the period 2002 –
2010, starting with the year of 2009 , having a negative fall. In 2002, there were 122,800
tourists, but it reached a downscale of 28,3% in 2010. The percent of foreign tourists was
under 5% and had a slow but steady decrease from 6.16% to 3.70% in 2010, when there were
3.255 foreign tourists . On the other hand, Oradea, starts to develop in terms of tourism by
building hotels, like: Hilton, Ramada, Continental Forum Oradea, encouraging the 3 sectors
of health tourism: health sector, the spending of free time sector and wellness, sport sector.

The health sector:
In this sector, the thermal waters are used for therapeutic purposes, and are used
mainly by persons with health issues, who want long cures and are interested in medical
services.

The spending of free time sector and wellness:
This sector can also be called the tourism sector, uses the thermal waters in a playful
way, it is used by tourists for resting and relaxation and also for activities based around the
water. Mostly this type of tourists spends a lot of money.

The sport se ctor:
This sector includes fitness centrals, spa centrals and pools with thermal water. This
sector is an attraction for tourists who want to take care of their bodies, also can be used for
training and body building.
Based on these sectors , I can say th at the accommodation units from Oradea are more
attracti ve for tourists than those in Bă ile Felix, mostly because the resort is focused more on
health tourism.

20

Figure 12 . Number of nights spent by Romanian and foreign tourists in Baile Felix
(Source: Surugiu C. et al, 2010)

The number of nights spent recorded an oscillatory in the period 2002 – 2010, there
were 684,987 of tourist who spent their night in the resort. In the case of foreign tourists the
number of nights dropped from 5 , 5% in 2 002 to 3,6% in 2010. The highest percent was
achieved in 2007 (7 , 2%), possibly because Romania acceded to European Union.
The average stay for Romanian tourists dropped from 8% to 7.8%, while for foreign
tourists it raise from 7.1% to 7.5% in the period o f 2002 – 2010. (Surugiu C. et al, 2010)

21

Figure 13 . Incoming Foreign Tourists

In the year of 2010, the highest number of foreign tourists was attained by Germans
with 35.6%, Israelis with 35.5%, while tourists from countries dropped, like: Austria (8.2%),
Italy (3.2%), Hungary (3.1%) and other countries (14.4%). In this period, a higher number of
tourists were Germans and Israelis, mostly because marketing campaign was oriented towards
them, attaining a high rate of nights spend, from 29.7 to 32.1%

Figure 14 . Tourists incoming in Baile Felix based on months
(Source: Surugiu C. et al, 2010)

22

Figure 15 . Nights spent by tourists on Baile Felix based on months
(Source: Surugiu C. et al, 2010)

During seasonality, there are 2 main seasons, with 2 important months: May and
August. Most incomings are recorded during May – November. The rate of seasonality is
much lower than other tourists resorts from Romania. Highest number of nights stay is
recor ded during June and August. In the case of foreign tourists, of incoming and nights
spent, the highest number is between May and June.
The balneary resort, Bă ile Felix has a few disadvantages from a balneary point of view
in comparison to Oradea, like: t he accommodation and therapeutically infrastruc ture is old (
Felix, Lotus, Crișana, Mureș hotels and Internat ional, Thermal have been completely
renovated after the year 2003 and were promoted to 3 or 4 stars , also the building of the 5
stars hotel Lotus Therm Spa&Luxury gives a little hope in good for the future), but the level
of comfort is rising , there is competitive ness now, there are only a few investments for
making it a modern resort . However, r egarding the touristic services and programs, they are
realized in a medium to low quality and rapport between quality and price can be illogical.
(Surugiu C. et al, 2010)

23

A rival , in terms of balneary tourism, can be the city of Oradea. The city, in my
opinion, can compete with Baile Felix with the help of Hotel Nevis, Hotel Double Tree by
Hilton, and the new Aqua Park. This competitiveness between the city and Baile Felix can be
really beneficial for both, because it generates a development in the balneary sector, it can
also attract more tourists, Romanians or foreigners, they make profit and it could result in a
growing resort that can become famous in this part of Europe and everyone would benefit
from this, by creating more jobs and increasing the economy for this region. In terms of
attraction, Oradea, has a little advantage, because in the last few years , it started to change in a
good way, for example: the center of the city was modernized, it holds many events, like:
StreetFood Festival, concerts, etc., and sadly, Baile Felix s tayed more or less the same.

24

CHAPTER 6 .
Accommodations

Hotel Interna tional

Figure 16 . Hotel Interna țional

25

Figure 17 . Hotel International ’s location
(Source: www.google.ro/maps )

Hotel Interna țional is one the most modern hotel from the resort, it was reopened after
2007, it has 4 stars and it can be viewed as a modern centre for treatments, relaxation and
conferences. It is known not only locally, but also internationally, by the logo Eurospa – Med,
offered by the “ European Spas Association” (ESPA) , other countries that are part of this
group are: Iceland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Denmark, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia,
Hungary, Bulgaria, Turkey, Netherlands, Germany, Luxemburg, Italy, France, Span and
Portugal . This distinction is the first given to a hotel from Romania; it confirms the high
quality of therapies, hygiene and the safety of patients .

26
The accommodation includes : 340 beds in 110 double rooms, 80 single rooms and 20
apartments. All rooms ha ve: air conditioning, internet connation , phone, T.V. via satellite,
safe, minibar, balcony, bathroom, hair dryer and a bathrobe.
Services available: modern centre of treatment and wellness, a restaurant with a
terrace, bars, sweetshop, a store, currency e xchange, tourism agency, 2 conference rooms,
internet, hairstyle service, manicure and pedicure services, cosmetics services, interior and
exterior pools that are open all year, 3 elevators, guarded parking lot, and a dry cleaning.

Figure 18 . A single type room from Hotel Interna țional
(Source: www.felixspa.com/ro/hoteluri/hotel -international )

27

Treatment Base:

Figure 19. The reception of the base treatment

The balneary treatment in this hotel is for chronic degenerative rheumatism,
inflammatory rheumatism , abarticular rheumatism, post traumatic affections, affections of the
central nervous and peripheral system.
The thermo – mineral waters have temperatures between 38 – 49 degrees Celsius.
From a chemical point of view, the thermal water is: oligomineral, bicarbonate, it contains
calcium, sodium and sulfur, and the salts concentrations are reduced to 1 g/l.
According to a doctor who works at the hotel, most people that are coming for
treatments are usually elder people and over 50 years old people. Most of them are from local
area with a medium income and the rest are mostly Germans and Jewish, who come before
the pre -season for various reasons.
The available treatment s are:
 Balneotherapy: baths with thermal water in basins

28
 Hydrotherapy: underwather shower, hydro massage, Caracalla shower, Vichy shower,
Cyclonic shower
 Electrotherapy: galvanic baths, Stanger baths, diadymenic, ultrasounds, TENS,
interferential currents, short waves
 Magneto therapy : laser, microwaves
 Medicinal massage, lymphatic drainage, general, relaxing, cellulite, swede and
tonifiant massage
 Reflexotherapy
 Kinetotherapy
 Mecanotheraphy – vertebral elongation
 Paraffin wraps
 Wraps and baths with mud

Figure 20 . Electrotherapy room

29

Figure 21 . The massage bed

Figure 22 . Stanger bath

30

Figure 23 . Grades given to Hotel International by tourists
(Source: www.booking.com/hotel )

“Claudia : Rooms are ok, towels are shining white, and the food is tasty and very varied.
Stan Virginia : The hotel is better equipped than most hotels in BaileFelix, it has pool with
thermal water, pool with normal water, modern treatment base.
Virgil Rus : The rooms are clean but the toilette and furniture don’t have 4 st ars. The
personnel at reception are very kind, congratulations! The kitchen was the best; the food was
very good, congratulations! The cleaning was ok and the location is very good.
Vasilica Iancu: Clean rooms, amiable personnel, good quality services, it was worth all the
money, I recommend this hotel from Baile Felix.
Mihai Moldoveanu: The rooms are well equipped, beautiful, clean! The cleaning is done
impeccable, every day! The services are excellent; the cook is incredible, special food,
delicious and i s presented impeccably. The treatment base is well equipped, with very kind
personnel! It is located in the center of the resorts, beautiful zone.” ( www.booking.com/hotel )

31
Lotus Therm Spa&Luxury Resort

Lotus Therm Spa & Luxury Resort is the only thermal resort in Romania, that has 5
stars. Its philosophy is based on hospitality and the goal is to impress by the attention given to
the guests. The resort has 180 rooms and 262 accommodation beds , which consists of: 79
single rooms, 37 double rooms, 3 rooms for persons with disabilities, 39 standard apartments,
8 suits and 6 special apartments (VIP, Honeymoon, Gold, Blue) . The 7th floor of the hotel is
only one VIP apartment that has its own terrace. (Source: www.booking.com/hotel)

Figure 24 . Lotus Therm Spa&Luxury Resort’s location
(Source: www.google.ro/maps )

32
In 2015, the resort won an excellence award given by the Federal Associations of
Touristic Promoting from Romania, in a partnership with the Ministry of Economy, Trading
and To urism, the award was handed by Michel Adam, the CEO of Fashion TV. In 2016,
Lotus Therm Spa & Luxury Resort won 2 prizes in our country:
– 1st place for the Hotel of the year for balneary tourism
– 1st place for the Hotel opening of the year

Figure 25 . A Double Room
(Source: www.lotustherm.ro/cazare )

33

Figure 26 . VIP Apartment
(Source: www.lotustherm.ro/ cazare)

34

The resort made an investment of almost 30 million euros for an aqua park, which is
called “Felixarium”. The aqua park has 14 inner and external pools, with thermal water,
Jacuzzis, caves, waterfalls, 2 water slides, eating places, a beach volley field and the GOLD
center SPA with 3 types of sauna s and an ice room. (Source: www.booking.com/hotel)
Inside the resort, there is the balneary treatment and SPA, Nelumbo Med – SPA,
which consists of: hydrotherapy,muddy baths and wraps , paraffin wraps , electrotherapy,
hydrokinetotherapy, kinetotherapy, mas sages, inner pools with thermal waters, cosmetics,
saunas and an ice fountain. The latest technology in treatment, Tecar Terapia, is the only kind
of machine in the North – West part of our country. (Source: www.booking.com/hotel)

Figure 27 . The terrace of VIP Apartment
(Source: www.lotustherm.ro/ cazare)

35

Figure 28 . The hall of treatment base
(Source: www.lotustherm.ro/terapie -spa)

36

Figure 29 . Felixarium
(Source: www.lotustherm.ro/aquapark/felixarium)

37

“Jozef : Big and comfortable bed Friendly and supportive staff Free access to SPA Very good
dinner & breakfast.
Andra : We had a wonderful stay at Lotus Therm Spa and I would recommend it to anybody
looking for a weekend relaxation. Great value for money as well!
Victor: The SPA area is a must for all travellers! Do take one of the listed procedures,
whether a bath with aromatic oils or a vichy shower it all adds up to a w onderful and unique
experience!
Alina : The staff was very polite. Room was nicely decorated and clean with an extra comfy
bed. Bathroom, though on the smaller side, was clean and had all amenities included. Clean
and comfy bath robes to use at the spa area. Food was good and offered plenty of choices. The
pool area was also clean with lots of pools, several s uited for babies under 3 years.
Pop: Everything was perfect except the fact that we found only one night available.”
(www.booking.com/hotel)

Figure 30 . Ratings given by guests
(Source: www.booking.com/hotel)

38

Pension Anthimos

Figure 31 . Pension Anthimos
(Source: www. anthimos.ro/accommodation

39

Located at a few kilometers from the cit y of Oradea, near the forest, in the Baile Felix,
“Anthimos**** was created to be an oasis of peace and relaxation, offering comfort and a
welcoming climate to its guests”, as it says on its web page.
The pension has 13 rooms and suites, which consists of 2 senior suites and 11 double
rooms. Also, it offers a bussines center, formed of 2 conference rooms halls and one lobby.
Anthimos also has a swimming pool and outdoor Jacuzzi, open during the season, a
playground for children and other leisure time services. At 500 m from Anthimos there is the
aquatic park, “Aqua Park President” where the clients benefit of a 55 % discount from the
entran ce fee.
Figure 32. Pension Anthimos ’s location
(Source: www.google.ro/maps)

40
Each room of this pension, resembles a high rated hotel room, for example: the
furniture is made of massive walnut -tree wood , have TV LCD with satellite or cable channels,
mini-bar, safe deposit, Internet access and air conditioning and the bathro oms are spacious,
with shower booths and hair drier, bath robes and slippers, fully at the disposal of the ir
customers . Their services also can be found in a hotel, some of them are:
– Champagne included in the breakfast meal
– RFID technology key – card
– Non-stop reception services
– Wake -up call
– Transfer to and from the airport (payable)
– Currency exchange
– Agency services
– Mail services – courier
– Free newspapers in the lobby

Figure 33 . A double room
(Source: www.anthimos.ro/accommodation)

41
A nice surprise can be found at this pension during the stay, is that it provides a high
quality dental treatment. The experience of the doctors team lead by Dr. Cristian Rațiu offer
the warranty of dental treatments at the highest standards.
Also, Anthimos offers some real interesting series of services to combine medical
treatments with the touristic schedule, for example:
– ecotourism
– organisi ng at clients request activities of horseback riding, hunting, fishing trips (to different
neighbouring locations)
– rental of sport objects
– trips around Baile Felix, Stana de Vale, Pestera Ursilor
– pedestrian touristic circuits, bike rides or by car
– thematic trips (visiting a sheep herd and learning how to make cheese, learning old crafts,
sacrificing a pig and preparing the traditional pork products, etc.)

42

“Oliviu – Alexandru : Great service provided by staff (at reception, restaurant, etc.), high
quality and huge selection of the food served in restaurant, free parking, 1 minute away from
Aqua Park from Baile Felix .
Joesomebody : The room had a good size, it felt spacious and modern. I liked the hard wood
floors and the fact that the towels and pillow sheets had the hotel initial (it was a nice touch
that created a feel of luxury) .
Alex : The staff is very kind, food was very good. The Pension is located near the Acqua Park
(about 700 meters .
Andreea : Everything was according to our expectations, the staff was polite. We returned and
we will do it next time with pleasure.” (Source: www. booking.com/hotel)

Figure 34 . Ratings given by guests
(Source: www. booking.com/hotel)

43

Hotel President

Hotel President has an experience o f over 14 years and offers 92 rooms, of which 6 are
suites, 56 rooms and 4 suites are located in the new wi ng of the complex completed in J une
2011 in a modern and elegant environment. 81 of the rooms have balconies facing the forest
or courtyard complex . President Complex offers a good setting for both family holidays and
for conferences, team -building or festive events (weddings, birthdays, etc.).
Figure 35 . Hotel President’s location
(Source: www.google.ro/maps)

44

“Located near the hotel, the Aqua Park President, first Aqua Park in Baile Felix,
includes 13 outdoor pools and 5 indoor pools, all with thermal water. Slides, wave pool,
volleyball court, chess boards and other facilities, provide the conditions conducive to spend
an active day. Customers staying in the Hotel President enjoy di scounts at the Aqua Park, and
stays of more than 5 days receive a day free of charge. ”
(Source: www.baile – felix.ro/en/facilities/aqua -park)

Figure 36 . Superior Apartment
(Source: www.booking.com/hotel)

45

The complex comprises 4 conference r ooms with different number of places, between
20 and 350 persons. The hotel provides its clients with : projectors, projection walls, flip
charts, simultaneous interpretation system, sound systems. All rooms are fitted with air
conditioner and internet conn ection. If requested, there can be scheduled coffee breaks.
The gym in the hotel ensures neces sary conditions to keep in shape. It is located in the
pool area, with a view of Băile Felix, and features professional Technogym machines.
During the stay at Hotel President, they can off er more ways to spend the time in a
“pleasant way”, as they say, for example:
– Jogging, trecking and walks
– golf or minigolf at their track
– tennis and football
– horseback riding or driving
– visiting Oradea and excursions in Bihor county
– fishing in the hotel’s pond
Figure 37 . Aquapark’s interior pool
(Source: www.booking.com/hotel)

46
With over 6 years of experience in organizing events, celebrations hall of Hotel
President offers to celebrate the event in an elegant atmosphere. It can hold a wedding,
baptism, birthdays or company party . The room is air -conditioned, has 350 seats and can be
configured according to needs .
The President Health Center is led b y Dr. Moraru George, a specialist in rehabilitation
therapy, physical medicine and balneology, with over 35 years of experience in the field. “A
former academic (lecturer) of the Faculty of Physical Therapy, Dr. Moraru has coordinated
more than 40 license works in physical therapy and wrote two books. Dr. Moraru was a
medical coordinator of the Felix Rehabilitation Hospital, being awarde d the "Order of
Medical Excellence" in a rank of Knight. The team led by him in the President Health Center
is composed of medical rehabilitation professionals. ” (Source: www.baile -felix.ro/ health –
center)

47

A really interesting therapy offered is the Pell Amar theraphy. “ Peloidotherapy with
mud sludge (sludge resulting from the putrefaction of organic matter in the absence of
oxygen, black and sulfurous smell) of Balta A lba, which by:
– its chemical composition (anions and cations)
– thermopexie (heat retention ability)
– alkaline pH (9 -10) has an extremely beneficial effect on:
 skin (psoriasis, chronic eczema)
 blood circulation
 rheumatic diseases:
 degenerative (arthrosis)
 chronic inflammatory type stabilized (spondylitis, rheumatoid arthritis)
 posttraumatic affections of the locomotor system
 central and peripheral neurological affections
Figure 38 . A treatment room
(Source: www.baile -felix.ro/ health -center)

48
 gynecological affections
Natural extracts (100%) of the sludge (salt, bubb le bath, algae extract) in addition to
the above have significant effect on the immune system, central nervous sedative and anti –
stress role. Algae extract that contains amino acids, vitamins and oligoelemenete has a
beneficial effect in applying face (mas k) to prevent wrinkles, prevent irritation in purulent
acne).
Therapeutic protocol provides that at the end of treatment session is a dry packing by
hyper -sweating help to eliminate toxins from the body (similar to sauna but more bearable for
the patient) .
We also provide you herbal baths (hay flowers, lavender, buckthorn) sedative and
anti-stress. Also you can enjoy underwater shower with extract salt.
Applying sludge is either in the form of mud bath or onction (lubrication) on the
affected areas. All procedures are based on thermal water. ” (Source: www.baile -felix.ro/ pell-
amar -therapies)

Figure 39 . Peleidotherapy room
(Source: www.baile -felix.ro/pell -amar -therapies)

49

In the health center of the Ho tel President enables the anti-aging practice authorized
by Ana Aslan Institute in Bihor County, under the direction of Dr. Ana Goi cu Toie. The
cabinet is doing the geriatric and cosmetic treatments.
“The Ana Aslan anti-aging treatement , duration: 7 to 14 days . It is performed af ter
the original and unique method of “Dr. Ana Aslan”, personalized and individualized,
depending on age, associated pathology and other features of the patient. The process
contains:
– 2 “Ana Aslan” tests of allergy medication
– Gerovital H3 and/ or Aslavital administration
– 3 geriatrics and gerontology specialist advice, if needed also a interdisciplinary consultation,
aswell as conducting laboratory investigations needed for diagnosis and therapeutic regimen.
Facial aesthetic treatement – Duration : 5 Days . The process contains:
– Initial consultation with the assessment, diagnosis and choice of optimal treatment method,
as follows: peeling, skin cleansing
– The Ana aslan treatement method which follows the facial anatomic elements (vascularity,
innervation, muscles), moisturizing, nourishing skin using specific “Ana Aslan” anti -aging
products, termoforeza, iontofoneza, anti -aging mask, re -toning skin and its good vascularity in
order to obtain an optimal elasticity. ” (Source: www.baile -felix.ro/ana -aslan -gerovital )

50

“Catalina : The hotel has a perfect location – away from the noisy centre of Baile Felix and
only a few km from the city of Oradea. The staff is very friendly an d helpful. The room I
stayed in was situated on the first floor with a view towards the forest – where I could see lots
of squirrels and beautiful birds. The hotel swimming pool is open from 10 am to midnight and
the water has a temperature of 38 degrees. The big Aqua Park situated in front of the hotel –
and belonging to it – is the best place to relax and have fun in more than 20 swimming pools
of different types and sizes. The breakfast is delicious and can satisfy all tastes and
preferances because it i ncludes a lot of products to choose from – most of which come directly
from local farmers .
Oana : The rooms very clean, quiet, food excelent , friendly stuff .
Viorel : Very happy with the rooms: clean, comfy, ours looked like freshly refurbished. Free
access to the thermal spa (sauna, swimming pool indoor and outdoor) .” (Source:
www.booking.com/hotel )
Figure 40 . Ratings given by guests
(Source: www.booking.com/hotel)

51
Pension Metropol

Pensions Metropol is a 4 daisies or stars, as they say on their website, pension. It was
opened recently and its location is ideal for tourists who look for a quiet place to stay, being
located really close to the wood. The pensions has 14 rooms and every rooms has a
bathroom,TV LCD, balcony and free WIFI, but it also offers free parking spot for cars.
Figure 41 . Pension Metropol’s location
(Source: www.google.ro/maps)

52

Beside cozy rooms, this pension also has a restaurant with 80 seats, that can be rent for
parties and also is here where the tourists who stay here eat breakfast. The pension also has an
inside pool, jacuzzi, dry and humid saunas and a fitness room. The water temperature is good
for swimming, water activities and treatment. The court near the pension is covered in tartan,
ideal for a game of volley, basketball, tennis or football.

Figure 42 . A standard room
(Source: www.booking.com/hotel)

53

Figure 43 . The court
(Source: www.booking.com/hotel)

54

Figure 44. The dry sauna
(Source: www.booking.com/hotel)

55

Figure 45 . The inner pool
(Source: www.booking.com/hotel)
Figure 46 . Ratings given by guests
(Source: www.booking.com/hotel)

56

“Renata : The pool was nice, especially during evening time when it was not very occupied.
The location is close to Bailefelix.
Raluca: Very welcoming and everytime ready to help!
Lumylumy : It is an extraordinary location, a property with many services. The rooms are
very clean, new furniture, everything is very clean. The personnel is really professional, very
helpful. The pool, Jac uzzi, sauna are located in the back of the pension and are incredible. I
had a fairy tale weekend.
Bogdan : A superb location, quiet, near the forest. The pool is nice with clear water. The
personnel is very helpful. The food is tasty and not expensive. Surely we will come back.”
(Source: www.booking.com/hotel )

CONCLUSION S

Spa tourism evolved from the o ld times and with each step it brought new upgrades
and discovered natural elements that can cure and help many sick tourists. As I said before ,
there are 28 out of 37 resorts of national interest and 15 out of 45 resorts of local interest are
spa resorts. Most of the spa resorts of national interest are located in the Carpathian area and
in Sub Carpathian areas and mountain and hilly areas are 30 spa resorts certified on Romanian
territory.

57
Romania is very rich in mineral and thermal waters, especially in the Western part, but
it doesn’t have the infrastructure necessary to use these kind of waters to their full capacity
and it doesn’t have the services and again infrastucture to attract tourists from all over t he
world.
According to the National Institute of Statistics, Băile Felix offers in present days
around 9 .000 beds for accommodation and is situated on second place after the Black Sea
coast. Because of the high number of tourists coming to this resort annu ally, there was a
development in the private sector of accommodation , but the resort is in a very slowly
declining state mostly because of the lack of funds given to the resort and lacks of projects,
also Hungary who has not the same natural elements like Romania, mine ral and thermal
water, they presented their project and the European funds came, and now they have one of
the best spa resort in this region of Europe.
On a regional level, the resort beside the balneary tourism, can encourage the
development of ecotourism, business tourism, nautical sports tourism, weekend tourism, etc.
But the most important form of tourism in this resort is the balneal climate tourism, which is
not used to its full potential, because of the many reasons I said before in the previous
paragraph.
In order to get an European fame, in my opinion, the resort should be renewed by
investors. They should modernize the existing hotels, restaurants and po ols or even the roads
if they can, the personnel must be trained in order to qualify to the European rules and also
they should have at least the medium salary.
In my opinion, Hotel International and Lotus Therm Spa&Luxury are the hotels who
keep this reso rt alive, alongside with pools, like Apollo pool. In the long term if these things
continue, eventually the resort will slowly “die” and then it would be too late to save this
resort, because it has the potential of becoming one of the greatest resorts in Eastern Europe
and maybe in the entire continent of Europe.
Hotel International and Hotel Lotus Therm Spa&Luxury, are the most modern hotel s
from the resort, they can be viewed as a modern centre for treatments , relaxation and
conferences. They are known not only locally, but also internationally , mainly because of the
marketing campaign towards elderly people from Germany and Israel, who seek a cheap and
good quality services treatments for many diseases like rheumatism.
Even if the hotel s are modern and cheap for foreign tourists, in Romania is rather
expensive to have a full stay, because of the very big differences in wages between Romania
and the rest of the European Countries, and its not the hotel s’ fault because in order to remain

58
at this high qual ity services the prices can’t be reduced, because otherwhise it will get closer
and closer to bankruptcy. I think that the new 5 stars hotel, Lotus Therm Spa&Luxury, was an
incredible thing for this resort, because the competion of these two hotels, Intern ational and
Lotus Therm Spa&Luxury, will lead to a higher attraction of tourists, mostly foreign tourits,
and this thing will make the resort more famous and maybe will attract other investors to
renovate the existing units.
In my opinion, I think Baile Felix is a resort that can attain great heights in terms of
tourists and services, but it needs a little push. Also, being in competition with the hotels from
Oradea, like: Double Tree Hilton and Nevis, is a good thing because tourists who stay in at
these hotels and if they want fresh air and not so much noise can go to the resort, having the
same comf ort, like the 5 examples I gave upper.

59

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Benabdallah J., (2009) , Planul de Actiune , Déte nte Consultants, Bucure ști
2. Benabdallah , J., Tomatis J. ( 2009 ), Master Plan pentru Dezvoltarea Turismului
Balnear Faza 2 , Déte nte Consultants, Bucuresti
3. Berlescu E., (1982) Dicționar enciclopedic medical de balneologie , Edit. Științifică și
Enciclopedică, București, 1982
4. Erdeli, G., Dinca, A. I., Gheorghilas, A., Surugiu C. (2011), Romanian Spa Tourism:
A Communist Paradigm In A Post Communist Era in Journal of Studies and Research
in Human Geography , 5.2., p.41‐56
5. McCracken , E. (1996 ), The Giant’s House , Cambridge , Massachusetts
6. Preda I., Tenu A., (1981) , Resurse de ape minerale si termale , Universitatea din
Bucuresti, Facultatea de Geolo gie – Geografie, Bucuresti
7. Surugiu, C., Stanciu, R., Frent, C., Tudorache, D., Radulescu A., Dragoman, S.,
(2010) , Studiu privind oferta turismului de sanatate si a turismului social pe teritoriul
tarilor partenere , Institutul National de Cercetare – Dezvoltare in Turism, Bucuresti
 www.gorj -domino.ro
 www.resita -kikinda.ro
 www.hotelinternationalfelix.ro
 www.infoturism.ro
 www.insse.ro
 www.google.ro/maps
 www.felixspa.com
 www.booking.com
 www.lotustherm.ro
 www.anthimos.ro
 www.baile -felix.ro