Kanjiza treats people for the whole century - Spa resort in northern Serbia invests in tourism as well, aqua park construction kicks off 2013

(Banja Kanjiza)

Construction of an aqua park in Banja Kanjiza will begin next year, and its completion is expected in late 2013, it was announced at a press conference organized by the Tourism Organization of Kanjiza on 5 December 2012.

Although the foundation stone for this complex was laid back in 2008, works have been discontinued due to lack of funding.

- The local self-government of the Kanjiza municipality provided EUR 6 million, which is also the value of this project. Therefore, we started promoting it, primarily among the local population, because we want them to find out the advantages of this complex and what it could mean to them - Ljubinka Maksimovic-Taljai, advisor to the marketing director at the special hospital Banja Kanjiza and former director of the Tourism Organization of Kanjiza, explains to eKapija.

Although the initial plan was to build this complex on a 10-hectare land between the special hospital Banja Kanjiza and hotels Lupus and Aqua Panon, that idea was abandoned.

- This will be a smaller aqua park comprising 3 indoor and 3 outdoor swimming pools in addition to accommodation facilities, and there will also be a special geothermal well drilled to exclusively serve the needs of this complex - Mrs. Maksimovic-Taljai adds.

Construction of new facilities will complete the tourist offer of this destination, which annually records more than 100,000 overnight stays and over EUR 1 million worth of revenues. Most of these revenues are generated by the special rehabilitation hospital Banja Kanjiza, which will celebrate its 100th anniversary of existence in 2013.

- On the occasion of this jubilee, we have prepared some special offers for the first 100 days of the next year, including a 15-percent discount on the complete hospital day, and we also offer favorable senior packages for pensioners, which include a two-day stay for free - says Dr. Slobodanka Drndarski, director of this institution.

(Aqua Panon Hotel)

By the way, apart from medical rehabilitation, this health center also offers osteoporosis prevention programs, hotel and restaurant services, wellness program, as well as services in the fields of congress tourism and sports. This medical complex is comprised of two hotels - Abella and Aquamarin, with the total of 300 beds. The three-star hotel Aquamarin includes two indoor swimming pools with thermal water, sports arena, gym, tennis, futsal and handball courts, wellness center and a congress room that can accommodate 100 people.

Banja Kanjiza also has the four-star hotel Aqua Panon, which was opened in 2004. The accommodation capacity of this hotel got expanded in the first half of this year.

- The hotel got six more suites above the indoor pool, so that its capacity grew from 35 to 41 rooms, nine of which are suites, whereas the rest are double and single rooms. The plan is to make this space complete with quality pieces by famous brands: from bedding to cosmetic products - Radomir Zec, marketing manager of this hotel, says to eKapija.

One of the novelties in this hotel is a spa center featuring an indoor and an outdoor swimming pool with salty water, hot tub, Finnish sauna, massage and relaxation rooms.

Aqua Panon Hotel has also expanded its offer to include congress tourism in addition to health tourism.

- I would like to mention this year's congress organized by Volksbank at our hotel, which was attended by 35 regional directors - explains the marketing manager of Aqua Panon Hotel.

(Tiski Cvet campsite)

Kanjiza offers health, congress, nautical, hunting and camping tourism. This year, this spa resort was visited by 4,000 campers from Serbia and abroad, mainly from the Netherlands and Belgium.

Starting the next summer season, Kanjiza will also include the campsite Tiski Cvet in its offer. This camping site spans one hectare, and the value of this project is RSD 10 million. The funding has been provided by the local self-government and the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The first phase of this project, which involved the construction of primary infrastructure, was completed in April 2012.

- The plan for the second phase is to mark camp lots, build a playground for children, sports courts, outdoor swimming pool, pool for children, restaurant, and to make all facilities accessible to people with a handicap - Mrs. Maksimovic –Taljai explains.

She announced that Goran Petkovic, the state secretary for tourism at the Ministry of Economy, was going to visit this camping site on 27 December 2012 and mark the completion of the second phase of works on this project.

I.M.