Zajączkowski Marcin, Cegliński Paweł. Analysis of Development Potential of Health Resort Enterprises on the Example of Przedsiębiorstwo Uzdrowisko Ciechocinek S.A. in Aleksandrów County. Journalof Education, Health and Sport. 2018;8(11): 699-710. eISSN 2391-8306. DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2591815 http://ojs.ukw.edu.pl/index.php/johs/article/view/6691 https://pbn.nauka.gov.pl/sedno-webapp/works/907428 The journal has had 7 points in Ministry of Science and Higher Education parametric evaluation. Part B item 1223 (26.01.2017). 1223 Journal of Education, Health and Sport eISSN 2391-8306 7 © The Authors 2018; This article is published with open access at Licensee Open Journal Systems of Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz, Poland Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited. This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted, non commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited. This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted, non commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited. The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper. Received: 25.11.2018. Revised: 26.11.2018. Accepted: 30.11.2018. Analysis of Development Potential of Health Resort Enterprises on the Example of Przedsiębiorstwo Uzdrowisko Ciechocinek S.A. in Aleksandrów County Marcin Zajączkowski, Paweł Cegliński Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Faculty of Economic Sciences and Management, Poland Key words: Health resort tourism, Polish spas, conditions for the management Abstract The purpose of this article is to present the key environmental conditions influencing the management of a health resort enterprise on the example of Przedsiębiorstwo Uzdrowisko Ciechocinek S.A. operating in the Aleksandrów County in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship. The article outlines the profile of the company and presents the most important environmental factors in the assessment of the authors, based in particular on statistical data. The considerations were based, among others, on the studies of the Central Statistical Office and the Voivodeship Statistical Office in Bydgoszcz. Global trends, which are currently noticeable on the market of tourist services, including health resorts, indicate a strong interest in the sector commonly referred to as "health tourism". This is determined mainly by the fact that the population is aging, the emphasis on prevention, a healthy lifestyle, spa and wellness fashion and increased awareness of health care, also among young people. These issues should form the basis for the creation of a comprehensive offer of spa, medical and tourist services. It is not possible to develop such an offer without raising the standard of facilities, without an increase in the quality and the diversity of services offered and close cooperation of health resort entities with local governments1. 1 Prepared on the basis of: Long-term Business Plan of Przedsiębiorstwo Uzdrowisko Ciechocinek S.A. for the years 2018-2022. 699 Introduction The potential of Polish spas cannot be overestimated. Very well educated and experienced medical staff, richness of natural healing resources, the location of spas in attractive tourist regions of the country and a favourable price level of services are undeniable advantages to effectively compete with foreign resorts in the struggle for a commercial client interested in health tourism in the broad sense of this expression. Health resorts must be effectively managed and self-financed enterprises, stimulating the economic development of the region, developing innovative products and services and defining, together with the local government, the directions of development of a given place. Health resort tourism should be an important element in the cooperation of scientific and research communities, higher education, business environment institutions, enterprises related to the medical industry and regional and local authorities. Only considering the above we can speak of a complete product under the name of "Polish health resort brand", which will be recognized in Europe and worldwide. 2. Basic information about Przedsiębiorstwo Uzdrowisko Ciechocinek S.A. The beginnings of spa treatment - bathing activity under medical supervision - in Ciechocinek date back to the first half of the 19th century, when in 1836, 4 copper bathtubs were installed in the local inn, using natural brine water resources for treatment. Other important dates in the history of Ciechocinek are the years 1824-33 and 1859, when three brine graduation towers were built, and the year 1832, in which the full exploitation of the salt brewing plant began, which together with the graduation tower complex created a unique plant producing salt on an industrial scale. The main initiator of this undertaking is considered to be the then director of the Faculty of Industry and Craftsmanship Stanisław Staszic. In the course of the production activity, the therapeutic properties of brines and the therapeutic effects of brine graduation towers were discovered. This resulted in a gradual change in the character of the town from an industrial to a health resort, which with time began to play a leading role. The systematic increase in the number of patients arriving in Ciechocinek after the opening of two bathing buildings made it necessary to adopt systemic solutions necessary for the further functioning of the health resort treatment in this place. In connection with this, by decision of the royal governor, in 1842 the first state institution was established to manage the local facilities and therapeutic activities - the General Committee for Procuring the Means for Development of the Mineral Waters Department in Ciechocinek with its seat in Warsaw. In 1850, the General Committee established the Temporary Directorate of Mineral Waters in Ciechocinek, which was transformed a year later into the Mineral Waters Management. The year 1881 brought further administrative changes. At that time, the collective control in the Management was changed to a one-man position of a paid director and the accompanying council. The first elected chairman of the council was Dr Roman Ignatowski 700 - the precursor of health resort treatment in Ciechocinek, while the first appointed director was Bolesław Raczyński. Over the years, thanks to the recognized therapeutic values and systematic expansion of the spa infrastructure, the rank of Ciechocinek has increased. In 1916 it was granted town charter. In 1918 Ciechocinek regained independence, and the health resort as a whole was taken over by the Ministry of Health, which in 1919 established the State Resort Institution in place of the existing governing bodies. The interwar period was a time of great and intensive development of the resort. In 1935, Ciechocinek was able to accept as many as ca. 6.000 patients, and the State Spa Institute itself had at that time more than 400 bathtubs in four bathroom facilities. The year 1939 and the outbreak of the Second World War brought further changes in the functioning of the resort, the name of which was changed to Hermannsbad. The town served as a military hospital for the Germans, as well as a health resort, but only for German citizens. After the liberation on 21st January 1945, the health resort was reactivated. Fortunately, the war did not cause great devastation, the most important objects for medical activity survived. In 1954, the Directorate of the State Health Resort changed its name to the State Enterprise "Uzdrowisko Ciechocinek". This name functioned until the end of 1998, when as a result of activities related to the commercialization of the company its name was changed to Przedsiębiorstwo Uzdrowisko Ciechocinek S.A. The State Treasury became the owner of the spa company. The company was entered in the commercial register in the District Court for the city of Włocławek, 5th Commercial Department on 31.12.1998 under the number RHB 1186 Division B. In December 2012 another ownership change took place in Przedsiębiorstwo Uzdrowisko Ciechocinek S.A., which became the property of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodship by way of communalisation. Currently, the activity of Przedsiębiorstwo Uzdrowisko Ciechocinek S.A. is divided into 3 basic groups: 1) health resort treatment implemented in 4 sanatorium and hospital facilities (as a basic profile), 2) production activity carried out by Zakłady Produkcji Zdrojowej (Salt Brewery, Mineral Water Bottling Plant and Health Resort Mining Plant), 3) management of real estate owned by the company, i.e. the "Europa" commercial and residential complex in the town centre, the historic Bristol building with the Mineral Water Pump Room, the historic Palace in the Spa Park and the so-called "Dovecote", where, among others, employee apartments are located. The article refers mostly to the main profile of activity, i.e. health resort treatment. It is not only predominant in terms of financial turnover, but above all it is associated