INVESTIGATING NATURAL TREATMENT FACTORS AND INEQUALITIES OF MEDICINAL WATER INSTITUTIONS IN THE ASPECT OF TOURISM IN HUNGARY

Abstract

The aim of the research is to reveal the spatial inequalities of the natural treatment factors in Hungary and the medicinal water institutions built on them, with the help of spatial research methods on the basis of secondary data. Due to the favorable geographical conditions of Central Europe, the Carpathian Basin has a considerable amount of natural resources. With the appreciation of health, in our days they represent significant value because they are becoming increasingly important in tourist services aimed at maintaining and restoring health. In Hungary, there are outstanding opportunities for this in health tourism, which provides a wide range of medical services, including medical tourism based on natural treatment factors. In order to achieve the set research goal, we used the range of the data set (range-ratio), the dispersion range (range), the relative range (relative range) and the dual measure (Éltető–Frigyes-index) as spatial inequality test methods for the geographically based examination of Hungary's natural treatment factors and the system of medicinal water institutions. The research results show that the spatial polarisation of natural treatment factors and the medicinal water institutions based on them show significant inequalities in Hungary. It has been proved that the development of the counties is outstanding in terms of medicinal waters and medicinal bath, and the spatial difference is also the lowest in the case of these treatment factors.