Coffee Talk:
 EHTTA Publication on Thermal Tourism

László Puczkó Czechia

Senior Health Spa Advisor, Ensana Health Spas

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László has been working in the field of travel, hospitality, leisure, and health for 25+ years. He is a wellbeing and experience atelier, strategist, mentor and trainer. He has gained experiences in private as well as in public sector environments.
 
László is one of the very few people in the world who has been active in every aspect and domain of the health, wellbeing and travel spectrum, i.e. medical and wellness tourism, wellbeing and hospitality, spas and leisure experiences.
 
He is an economist and art & design manager, and holds master degrees, a PhD, and is a Certified Management Consultant. László has been lecturing and running tailor-made trainings and masterclasses in over 40 countries all around the world.
 
He has been actively involved both in industry as well as academic arenas and authored numerous industry reports, specialist books and publications. He was the project lead on the path making report for UNWTO & ETC titled Exploring Health Tourism, as well as a pioneering study for Global Spa Summit titled Wellness Tourism and Medical Tourism: Where do spas fit?
László is a hot spring and wellness enthusiast and holds a Diploma in Forest Bathing!
He is Faculty Member of the Medical Wellness Association and member of FEMTEC’s Commission of Tourism & Health, Global Experts Network of IGCAT, World Experience Organization, and Research Associate at the Wellness Tourism Association.

Mario Crecente Spain

PhD Architect and Director of Crecente Asociados

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PhD Architect, director of Crecente Asociados, a firm created in 2000 that perform it work from an architectural approach, addressing the activation of diverse Heritages through a responsive, creative, and planned Tourism, working at different scales, from Consulting, Planning and Project Design and execution.

Professor in Tourism Management of Heritage at the University of A Coruña (Spain). Founder member of the European Historic Thermal Towns Association and President of the Scientific Committee of EHTTA until January 2025. Actually, Coordinator of Ribeira Sacra waterscape, candidate to the World Heritage List on 2026.

Several strategic plans related to the thermalism, on the region of Galicia, as Ourense Thermal Province, and Ourense thermal capital, and also director plans, for several villages and thermal complex. On architecture, execution projects of remodelling and expansion of the Hotel Balneario de Lugo, Hotel Balneario Acuña (Caldas de Reis, Galicia), Hotel Balneario de Grávalos (La Rioja), Hotel Balneario de Baños de Brea (Vila de Cruces, Galicia), and basic projects for Hotel Balneario Baños de Alcantud (Cuenca) and Hotel-Balneario Ullastres (Tona, Barcelona), And Hotel Balneario Auria (Ourense).

Publication of different articles: Thermal Architecture (2020), What’spa? SPA: A concept to be re-defined (2019) and Thermal Tourism and Spa Heritage in Europe. The case of EHTTA (2018). And books: Therapeutic Landscapes in Thermal Towns (2024), as editor and author of different articles on thermal urbanism, thermal parks and gardens, and the case of Mondariz Balneario. Two thousand years of Lugo Spa (2016), editor and author of some articles, including one entitled “The future of the spa”, which details the various assets that the thermal complex of Lugo Termas-Romanas Spa has to offer.