Journal of Tourism and Services - Vysoká škola obchodní v Praze

Tourism in Nevada in 1998 to recognize individuals who voluntarily
helped to develop tourism in the destination. Special tourist products
including elements of the holiday and volunteer activities have begun to
appear since the 90s of the 20th century.
A leading international company in the field of voluntourism is the I-to-
I Volunteering. British Trust for Conservation Volunteers belongs among
respected global organization focused on conservation of heritage and the
National Trust operates mainly in the reconstruction of cultural and
historical sites in the Great Britain.
Also we can state that the leading Scandinavian Trade Fair for Travel,
Tourism and Meetings records increased interest in voluntourism. This
fair cooperates with Swedish travel agency Amzungo which is specialized
on voluntourism.
Czech Republic as a tourist destination of this type of tourism comes
into consideration especially in connection with nature, like e.g. Slovakia.
Offer is not very wide. We can mention INEX (Association for Voluntary
Activities) which is a non-governmental non-profit organisation founded
in 1991 whose primary activities are in the area of international voluntary
work. The main objective is, through international voluntary work,
enabling people to help where their help is most needed whilst at the same
time making it beneficial for the volunteers in terms of obtaining new life
and work experiences. Every year INEX organizes workcamps for
volunteers from abroad in the region of Czech Republic and sends Czech
volunteers to all the corners of the world to participate in the volunteer
projects. Association DUHA organizes workcamps abroad and as well as
in the Czech Republic.
2.2 Medical tourism
Medical tourism is a term initially coined by travel agencies and the
mass media to describe the rapidly-growing practice of travelling across
international borders to obtain health care. Factors that have led to the
increasing popularity of medical travel include the high cost of health
care, long wait times for certain procedures, the ease and availability of
international travel, and improvements in both technology and standards
of care in many countries. The avoidance of waiting times is the leading
factor for medical tourism from the UK, whereas in the US, the main
reason is cheaper prices abroad.
According to the evaluation of portal Forbestravel.com the Czech
Republic is on the Top Ten most popular destinations for this form of
tourism, together with Singapore, Mexico, Costa Rica and Hungary. We
can state, for example, that the number of foreign tourists-patients
traveling for Czech plastic surgeons even in times of crisis, not decreased.
According to the Association of Czech Travel Agencies, it is also positive
that foreign tourist visiting the Czech Republic for the purpose of the medical
tourism, spends up to 10 days (which is longer than a classic tourist).
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