5th Annual Medical Tourism Conference in Zagreb: Meet the Speakers

February 28, 2019 – Another important international health tourism conference is coming to Croatia. As previously reported on TCN, the 5th Annual Medical Tourism Conference will take place in Zagreb on March 13-14. TCN catches up with one of the keynote speakers, Ognjen Bagatin, CEO of Bagatin Clinic in Zagreb (and also now in Split).

The 5th Annual Medical Tourism Conference will take place from March 13. How important is the choice of Zagreb for medical tourism in Croatia?

We are delighted that the conference will be held this year in Zagreb after the successful 2018 event in Berlin.

Croatia is at the beginning of a potentially incredible medical tourism story, with many experts of the view that it has the potential to be in the top 10 countries in the world for health tourism within 10 years. One of the biggest challenges we face is visibility in the global market. Conferences such as MTCE are extremely important for Croatia, and we look forward to giving our international guests both an amazing conference and an incredible and warm Croatian hospitality experience.

There seems to be an increasing number of health tourism conferences in Croatia. What makes this one stand out?

Conference organisers EuroEvents always put on excellent conferences, and they have a great international reputation. Just looking at the quality of the superb list of speakers is really exciting, and my Croatian roots are looking forward to welcoming Joe Sweet from Cleveland Clinic, for example – Cleveland Clinic’s CEO Tomislav Mihaljevic is Croatian.

The focus of this year’s conference will focus on how to win international patients in the era of digitalisation and globalisation. MTCE is a very interactive platform, which allows practitioners and leading experts to share, discuss and build strategies for future growth. In addition to the conference, the B2B workshop on day 3 should be particularly productive.

You yourself are a speaker at the conference.

Yes, that’s correct, and it is an honour to share such a platform with such an array of accomplished and influential speakers. My subject will be “Facing the problem of the lack of a suitably skilled workforce.”

As you know, Croatia is sadly facing another wave of economic emigration due to lack of opportunity here. Finding the appropriately skilled staff can be a challenge, but the potential of a successful medical tourism industry here has the potential to partially reverse that dynamic, and offer challenging and fulfilling futures for thousands.

What do you hope to gain from this conference yourself?

Bagatin Clinic is striving for excellence in all areas of the medical tourism experience. We are a young buy dynamic clinic which is expanding rapidly, but we also have much to learn. The chance to interact with such a quality field of speakers, and to network with other international stakeholders can only be a good thing. The fact that the conference is being held in Croatia is one more page in our medical tourism story.

Some people may be surprised to hear that Croatia is being touted as one of the rising stars of medical tourism. Tell us why and a little more about the potential.

There are so many reasons why Croatia is an ideal destination for medical tourism. Our very best private clinics and hospitals compete on the world stage. For example, the only place in Europe where you can take the new Mayo Clinic-sponsored OneOme pharmacogenetic test is in Zagreb.

Croatia has a health tourism tradition dating back 150 years, and we offer outstanding and affordable care in dentistry, dermatology, cosmetic surgery, eye surgery and stem cell therapy, to name a few. Many of our surgeons are internationally acclaimed, and equipment is state of the art.

Add to this the fact that Croatia is a safe and stable country in the EU within easy reach of all European capitals, and where English is widely spoken. A country with a strong tourism and wellness tradition, where the culture, heritage, climate and gastronomy make it an ideal place to recuperate after treatment. Our potential is enormous.

In order to move forward, we need to be more united and focused on the goal of developing the country brand of medical tourism. Looking to Malaysia, there is a shining example of how to achieve this. The recent Health Spot Croatia conference was an important step in this direction, bringing all the important stakeholders together to build a strategy. The EuroEvents MTCE conference compliments that nicely, and I am really looking forward to a successful event.

Ognjen Bagatin is CEO of Bagatin Clinic, one of Croatia’s leading clinics and named last year as the best dermatology clinic in Europe. In addition to the main base in Zagreb, Bagatin Clinic opened its doors in Split earlier this month.

TCN has a limited number of discounted tickets for the 5th Annual Medical Tourism Conference, priced at 600 euro including VAT if purchased by close of business tomorrow. Contact us on [email protected]

For more information about the conference, visit the official website.

For more about health tourism in Croatia, visit the dedicated TCN page.