Expert workshop on the socioeconomic component of the CLV project

How can the socioeconomic impact of the spa sector on regional development be measured? This question was addressed jointly with a team of researchers from the Faculty of Economics of the University of West Bohemia at an internal workshop held within the Centre for Spa Research project.

A wide range of publicly available secondary data exists describing economic development, labour market conditions, demographic trends, tourism developments, and, for instance, education levels in individual regions. The aim of the CLV project's socioeconomic team is to link this data with data from the spa sector (number of patients admitted, average length of treatment, full-time equivalent number of professional staff, etc.) in order to identify relevant indicators for monitoring the impact of the spa sector on regional development.

In addition to a clear presentation of secondary data, the monitoring will also include indicators derived from the collection and evaluation of primary data, such as profiles of spa facility visitors or trends in how local residents perceive the spa sector. This will provide local governments, businesses, and research institutions alike with a fast and clear output that can serve as a basis for their strategic decisions.

The output of this project should be a generally applicable methodology enabling the monitoring of the spa sector's influence on the development not only of the Karlovy Vary Region.