TUNISIA REGULATES THE THALASSOTHERAPY BY LAW

From 1994, year that marks the birth of the Thalassotherapy in Tunisia with the opening of the first centre of Thalassotherapy Abou Nawas Boujâafar, in the city of Sousse, the country knew how to adapt the continuous mutations of visitor's demands looking after products where the care of the body prevails.

As Nehla Derouiche, Manager of the National Office of Tourism of Tunisia in Spain informs, in 2002, more than 60.000 tourists have chosen Tunisia to obtain the countless benefits of the thalassotherapy. In 2005 a total of 250.000 curistas opted for a stay of health and well-being in Tunisians coats, being March, May, September and October the months of biggest tourists influx.

In her opinion, “the natural elements (nearness, climate, salinity and purity of the marine waters, etc.) together with the environment where centres are located, the unbeatable relationship price-quality and the medical and paramedical personnel's preparation; have been of great importance making Tunisia able to develops the tourism of health and well-being and to offer services of great quality.”

At present, she adds, Tunisia has 35 Centres of Thalassotherapy distributed among Hammamet, Sousse, Tabarka, Carthage coast, Kantaoui Port, Mahdia, Monastir, Djerba and Zarzis that provide the concepts of rest and well being with a new dimension. The thalassotherapy centres meet the international norms and they are adapted to the architectural particularities of each city, which gives them its own identity.”

In this sense, she remarks that, besides of being located in areas with a tourist offer of great cultural interest, “the thalassotherapy centres located in the coastal cities of Tunisia are provided with last generation equipments and a highly qualified personnel “.

“These aspects meet togheter to guarantee the treatments of maximum quality and an exceptional stay of beneficial cares of beauty and health, and everything in a select frame that evokes, somehow, the Roman Thermal Baths or the traditional one “Hammam” Arabic “, the Manager of Tourism affirms.

Regarding the marine therapies, Nehla Derouiche highlights that “the cures proposed by those centres are based, mainly, in the healing and therapeutic use of the sea water and all marine products (algae, mud, etc.,...) and they allow the tourist to choose, freely, the treatments to which he is really interested: to get fit, beauty, anti-stress, heavylegs, anti-tobacco, slimming, osteoarthritis and rheumatism, biolifting, presotherapy, cellulite, relaxation, postnatal, skin diseases, respiratory and circulatory systems, etc. “.

LAW OF THALASSOTHERAPY

After almost 12 year-old experience, the thalassotherapy in Tunisia has obtained prestige and recognition from the international scientific societies. It is the only country that has a Law of Thalassotherapy and academic studies grant to this discipline university range. For this reason, countries from EU could take as reference the Tunisian pattern for the future European law of thalassotherapy.

The development of the thalassotherapy with quality standard according to the Tunisian normative was successfully presented in the XXI International Congress of Thalassotherapy that took place in Hammamet in 2000. This Congress gathered 120 participants from 12 countries: France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Iceland, Estonia, The Netherlands, Great Britain, Turkey, Poland, Finland and Greece.

Later on, scientific representatives of Tunisia participated in the working party of the Committee for the Thalassotherapy of German Association of Spas, where the definition of the term “thalassotherapy “ was debated according to the criterion issued by the ESPA, in a plenary session of the European Conference of Thalassotherapy that took place in Rostock, in January 2002.

The specialists presented the decree 92-129 whose First Art. defines the Thalassotherapy as the “simultaneous use, in a privileged marine place, under medical supervision and pursuing a preventive and healing aim, elements of the marine environment such as the marine climate, the sea water, the algae, the marine mud, the sand and other extracted substances from this place “.

QUALITY STANDARDS

The Thalassotherapy is an speciality that already makes Tunisia the second world destination for holidays of this class of tourist of health after France, thanks to diversify the tourist offer and to develop a product of quality.

The strong bet of the central administration to enhance the Thalassotherapy, getting a product of high standing able to attract more tourists, has been decisive. The Decree 92-1297 of 13 July 1992, established the approaches for installation, conception as well as administration and exploitation of thalassotherapy centres, which are under the double guides of Ministries of Health and Tourism.

The whole regulation of this sector is gathered in five chapters: definition of the thalassotherapy, quality of the sea water and the conditions of the use, treatments and benefits, capacity of the centres and easiness of access, norms of exploitation, the personnel's continuous formation, equipment, etc.

The purity of Tunisian marine waters, is well preserved due to good orientation of its currents and a politics of environmental protection. For such a reason, the decree that regulates the Thalassotherapy demands a preliminary ecological study of the location places, controls of water inlets, certain transport conditions and the water supply, mainly.
 
Keeping in mind that the Thalassotherapy is par excellence an multidisciplinary speciality, Dr. Mohamed Meftah, Máster in Talasotherapy by the Medicine Faculty of Ibn The Jazzar of Sousse, remembers that the thalassotherapy uses the infrastructure and the techniques of the hotel industry to give a treatment of health entering in the field of the preventive and healing medicine. Therefore, the total quality in thalassotherapy supposes the integration of these two types of activities and that the structure where is developed must to have the recognition of quality.

In her opinion “it is fundamental to evaluate previously if the thalasso centre, where the treatments will be carried out, responds to the criterions of quality and disposes of service of control applicable in three levels, the parapharmaceutical and aesthetic products and equipment materials, the use of these services and the medical and assistance staff and lastly, the clients personalized attention.”.

“In all these cases, the specialist affirms, it is primordial that the centre meets the quality proposal of treatments and attention to the curista. The common characteristic of the person opting for a thalasso centre is a high cultural level and the desire for a comfortable place to follow a cure of rest or simply to get fit. Although is the feminine population the one that habitually goes, we observe that the masculine population's presence looking after the relaxation and treatments of marine therapies, every day become bigger..”.

In this sense, she highlights the importance that the medical team being represented in the Committees of Protocol where the norms of quality of thalassotherapy centres are elaborated.

In reference to the regulations in force in Tunisia, last year, according to proposal of the Ministry of Health, a new Decree 2006-3174 of 30th November 2006, was issued, cancelling the previous from 1992, that establish the norms and conditions for the creation and exploitation of the thalassotherapy centres in Tunisia .

At the present, this country is represented in the International Society of Medical Hydrology and Climatology, in recognition of the peak reached by the Tourism of Health and Well-being in Tunisia.

 

TERMAS WORLD AGENCY