British Chamber of Commerce in Lithuania News

COBCOE Chamber of the Year 2013

Tourism, Travelling & Hospitality

Summer 2013

Kristina Matulevičienė

page 5

Vilnius and
Lithuania, a realistic
destination choice
for International
meetings, conferences
and events?

This BCC Paper
is kindly sponsored by

Paul Kennedy

First IBIS Hotel in
the Baltic States:
excitements and
challenges after 1 year
operations in Kaunas

Druskininkai resourt: transformation from “grey and
empty” to “vivid
and boosting”

issue No. 45

page 7

page 10

Lithuanian Tourism Promotion Strategy
The last few years has seen a noticeable increase in the numbers of tourists visiting Lithuania. Certainly helped by the number of direct flights.
The increase visitors can be seen not only passing by along the charming
cobbled streets of the present capital Vilnius, or the former castle capital Trakai, or indeed the most recent former capital the resurgent Kaunas old town, but across the entire country. Yet still Lithuania has much
more to offer, and the growth of tourist industry is still in its infancy.
Dr Raimonda Balnienė, Director General of the Lithuanian State Department of Tourism under the Ministry of Economy, explains where Lithuania
is having the most success in tourism promotion and what sectors are going to be promoted more in the future.

What are the key pillars in Lithuania’s
Tourism promotion strategy?
The last few years we have concentrated on a
B2B (business to business) promotion strategy, as
we believe this to be the most efficient strategy
for our budget, and we feel justified in terms
of growth of visitors. The 5 product areas are:
– Cultural tourism, City Breaks, Active tourism,
Wellness and Spa tourism, and Event (conference)
tourism. These represent the 5 products that we
feel Lithuania has the most to offer to tourists.
The 2009-2013 strategy also listed our main
priority markets. Naturally these are neighbouring
countries Latvia, Poland, Russia and Belarus
along with Germany. Secondary tier priorities are
UK, Scandinavia and Benelux countries.

www.Lithuania.travel

Growth of incoming tourism was the 2nd
highest in Europe last year and in 2011 so we feel
it is moving in the right way.

Britain is now home to so many Lithuanians.
How do you promote Lithuania in the UK and
is there a strategy to take advantage of so
many Lithuanians abroad?
Recently Martynas Levickis, concert accordionist and graduate from the Royal Academy of Music in London, was appointed Lithuanian tourism
ambassador in the UK. The Olympic gold medal
winner and new holder of European records in
50 and 100 meter breaststroke Rūta Meilutytė
(who studies and trains in Plymouth) would be
another potential candidate.
continued on page 6 >

Destination Lithuania for Medical
Tourism - Increasing Efforts

By Alistair Day-Stirrat,
Odontika, Editor of BCC
paper

Health tourism is among the top five
priorities in the development of tourism in
Lithuania according to the National Tourism
Development Programme for 2010-2013.
What does that actually mean? Well, we can
say Lithuania has come a long way in the
last 3-4 years, but so have other countries
in the region. So, is Lithuania ready to be
truly innovative in marketing what it has to
offer, and ready to take a regional lead as a
healthcare destination?

With over 30 health and wellness centres
Lithuania has much to offer. From Palanga to
Druskininkai, and Birštonas to Neringa there is a
rich variety of modern spa and wellness centre
health resorts. Each offering high standards, and
low prices, in a number of unique treatments
and therapies. In 2009 SPA Vilnius SANA, located
in Druskininkai, was awarded with EUROPESPA
medical quality certificate - as the best health
centre in Eastern Europe by ESPA (European
Spas Association).
In terms of health services, Lithuania is known
for medical tourism in Dentistry, Cardiology,
Eye surgery, Plastic surgery, Cosmetic surgery
and Orthopaedics, along with post-procedure
recovery services. Bringing all this to the
attention of potential visitors is a challenging
task, yet well worth the efforts. Lithuania is
making strong and steady progress.

Connectivity - Implementing
a Lithuanian wide air transportation
strategy
in return for improving the final result for the
country.
Mr Arijandas Šliupas, Vice Minister of
Transport, spoke to Alistair Day-Stirrat about
connectivity and implementing a nationwide
airport strategy.
Arijandas Šliupas, Lithuanian
Vice Minister of Transport

The increased number of destinations
available from Lithuanian airports can be
seen as one reason for the country's rise in
visitor numbers. The Lithuanian Ministry of
Transport is actively involved in reviewing
operations of 3 different airports making sure
that they will be classified and will be serving
different levels of travellers. Implementing a
Lithuania wide airport strategy is designed
to limit some competition between airports

Where did you pick up BCC Paper?
Go to
and enter poll’s ID
www.iqpolls.com
544675

The tourist visitor situation in Lithuania is
improving every year. Economically this is
vitally important for the country, can you
explain some of the improvements you
are trying to make for tourist and business
travellers alike?
Accessibility is a major factor; in fact we have
never had such a wide range of connections
from around Europe. This is of course mainly
stimulated by the low cost carriers, which
generate the biggest growth rates across Europe,
so Lithuania is no different.

or scan QR code:

BCC paper Summer 2013


2

3
Members’ Discount Scheme Updates

As a member of the British Chamber of Commerce and BCC
Membership Card holder you can benefit from the discounts and special
offers, currently available in sectors ranging from hotels, legal services
and car rental to education and recruitment.
For the full list of special offers & discounts please visit our website
www.bccl.lt.

NEW! Growing Talent - A free introductory coaching session and/or a
10% discount on fees for training delivery and consulting.
When contacting the discount provider, please indicate that you are a BCC member,
provide your company name and BCC Membership Card number.

NEW!
Overseas Membership is now available!
The British Chamber of Commerce in Lithuania is pleased to introduce a new Membership type
Overseas Membership, applicable for any size legal entities and persons registered outside Lithuania. This new membership type should be beneficial for companies or organizations having or willing to develop business links with Lithuania, as well as companies in the UK selling their products via
local distributors in Lithuania, or similar. Overseas Membership subscription fees: Joining fee - 100
GBP, Annual Membership fee - 250 GBP. Those, who are interested, please get in touch with us via
bccl@bccl.lt

The BCC Paper is a quarterly English language newspaper, with a print run of 4000 copies per issue,
covering a wide variety of subjects related to business between the UK and Lithuania. Every edition
focuses on a different business sector. It also provides an outlet for the chamber and its members to
publish their latest news and offer their professional views on current political, economic, European
and cultural topics. The paper is widely circulated: available from Lithuania’s two main airports,
business centres, hotels and the UK and Lithuanian embassies, in addition to being sent to all BCC
members and business contacts, meaning it offers premium advertising space to companies wishing
to engage with the Lithuanian business community.
Next publication date: October 2013
BCC paper team:

From the Chairman

Chris Butler, Chairman of the Board, BCC Lithuania
The summer edition of the BCC Paper focuses,
appropriately enough, on the tourism and hospitality industry – an industry that has been growing in importance to the Lithuanian economy with
every passing year, with more than 1.1m foreign
arrivals in 2012 (12% up on 2011). Arrivals from
the United Kingdom contribute approximately
3.5% of this total – 15% up in 2012 as compared to
2011 and the seventh largest contributor overall.
I have always found it interesting to observe the
development of tourism in Lithuania, since when I
first arrived in the country many Lithuanians were
extremely sceptical that there was much of a future in the tourism business. Most seemed to find
it hard to believe that there was very much in the
country that would be of interest to western visitors. Sure, Poles would always be attracted to Vilnius and Russians/Belarusians to the seaside, but
what else was there to offer?
Fortunately during the subsequent 15 years or
so attitudes have changed as well as assessments
of what is possible for the country as a tourist
destination. Things such as city tours, country
tourism and cruise ship visits to Klaipeda have all
become much more developed. Also the possibilities opened up by conferences, whether business or political in nature are infinitely greater
than before as a result of Lithuania’s membership
of the EU, NATO and other multi-lateral organisations.
Interestingly, after Lithuania’s neighbours Russia, Belarus, Poland, Latvia and Estonia, the United Kingdom is second only to Germany in terms
of the number of arrivals. I find this a surprising

statistic – albeit pleasantly so – because it has
never struck me that there are large numbers of
UK tourists in Vilnius. Readers of this paper are
also familiar with the fact is that the UK is not a
particularly large investor in Lithuania. However
the statistics don’t lie - clearly, little by little, the
British are discovering Lithuania and this can only
be a good thing for our bilateral relations.
2013 is highly likely to be a year of further growth
in these numbers, in part due to the upcoming
Lithuanian Presidency of the European Union but
also in part to the developing tourism infrastructure in the country. Nevertheless, that infrastructure is still likely to come under significant strain
during the period of the Presidency. I know for
a fact that the organisers of conferences due to
take place during the second half of the year are
already worried enough about the availability of
hotel space in Vilnius to be warning their guests
to book early or risk being disappointed.
As we draw to the end of the 2012/13 season of
Chamber activities I think we can safely say that
the programme has been busier almost than it
has ever been with a huge variety of well-attended events. Sandra and Jurga have really earned
their holidays, which they will take in succession
during July and August. The office will remain
open as one of the team will always be on duty,
but please be patient if our response times are a
little slower than during the rest of the year.
I would like to take this opportunity to wish you
all a good summer and to wish Lithuania a successful EU Presidency during the second half of the
year.

Howard Rosen CBE,
COBCOE,
visited Lithuania

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Editor in Chief – Chris Butler
Editor – Alistair Day-Stirrat – Alistair.Day-Stirrat@odontika.com
Members section - Jurga Prakapaitė, e-mail: jurga@bccl.lt , themed articles, advertising – Sandra
Kundrotė, e-mail: Sandra@bccl.lt , tel. +370 5 2690062
Proofreading – Shaun Harvey
Layout - Tautmilė Stanevičiūtė
Advert sizes and prices
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1560 LTL

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Howard Rosen CBE, COBCOE, speaking at BCC
Political Briefing Lunch

Howard Rosen CBE, COBCOE visited Lithuania
ahead of the Lithuania’s EU Presidency. During
his visit Mr Rosen met with Rolandas Kriščiūnas,
Vice minister of Foreign Affairs, was speaking at
the chamber Political Briefing Lunch attended by
BCC Sponsor & Board members, kindly hosted by
Stephen Conlon, Deputy Head of Mission. Later Mr
Howard visited Barclays Technology Centre and
met with Giedrius Dzekunskas, Country Managing
Director. The programme was organised by the
BCC Lithuania and supported by Chris Butler,
Chairman BCC. The luxury transportation during
his visit was kindly provided by “London Cab”.

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For further information or to book your ad space, please contact the chamber:
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Howard Rosen and Giedrius Vasiliauskas, owner of London Cab services company

BCC paper issue is kindly sponsored by Novotel Vilnius Centre



4


5



Destination Lithuania for Medical Tourism - Increasing Efforts

Druskininkai resort: transformation from “grey and empty”
to “vivid and booming”

< continued from page 1

Developing a Healthcare Cluster
By joining the efforts and activities of all
interested parties towards a common goal – to
promote Lithuania as a Baltic-Nordic destination
for medical tourism – the establishment of
a healthcare cluster has been a major step
forward. Laimutis Paškevičius, the President
of the Lithuanian Medical Tourism Association
(Established in 2012) has been the instrumental
driving force behind the cluster and the Medical
Tourism Association in Lithuania.
The formation of a healthcare cluster significantly
enhances the location’s chances of success as a
destination for medical tourists and increasing
patient flow. The premise is to bring together
all the medical tourism stakeholders, such as
hospitals, doctors, Ministry of Health, Tourism,
Economic Development, Tourism Operators,
Hotels and more working together to promote an
image of high quality healthcare and to establish
a “brand” name for the location throughout the
world.
The Lithuanian cluster is funded by all the
participants in the healthcare cluster and
government. The Programme also includes
public relations and marketing activities to
promote Lithuania as an attractive health tourism
destination and to build a reputation as having
extremely high quality healthcare.
Importantly, collective action and a unified voice
will produce results that often individual members
are incapable of obtaining by or for themselves.
Also, before patients travel to any destinations,
there needs to be a belief and reputation that the
location has extremely high quality healthcare,
infrastructure support and governmental
sponsorship. No one individual member can do
this, and it is vital in order to compete successfully
on the international market.
From the ministry of Economy ‘Enterprise
Lithuania’ is responsible for promoting the
country’s producers exports as well as supporting
small and mid-sized businesses. The Healthcare
tourism business is one of its top priorities in
Lithuanian export development. Amongst many
other things, the agency is helping to organize
participation at international tourism and medical
trade fairs, as well as by arranging outgoing trade
missions or providing foreign interest groups
with information on Lithuanian healthcare and
wellness providers and their services.
A recent development saw members of the
cluster, the medical tourism association, including
British Chamber of Commerce members Baltic
American Clinic, travel to Oslo along with
Enterprise Lithuania. The goal was to promote
Lithuania to the business community in Norway
by looking to partner with tour operators and
over interested parties from abroad.
The two day visit included workshop and
meetings with Norwegian b2b tourism and
media sector, along with discussions with leading
insurance company Storebrand CEO Bjarke
Thorøe and Norwegian HELFO Senior adviser
Martin Rutherfurd. The main questions, how
will Lithuanian Health Care and Medical Spa
institutions be recognized, and how might they
be represented and participate in the process
of choosing Lithuania as a medical tourism
destination.
The European Directive on Cross-Border
Healthcare
The rapid growth of medical tourism market
globally and the adoption (by the European
Parliament) of the European Directive on the
application of patients’ rights in cross-border
healthcare opens new opportunities for the
Lithuanian health and wellness sector. The
Directive on Cross Border Healthcare became EU
law in April 2011 and must be implemented by all
states within 30 months – by October 2013.
However, anyone waiting for a flood gate to
open up with medical tourists to Lithuania really
ought to think again. The healthcare systems

of EU member states are vested in their own
peculiarities and self interest. Each country will be
set the task of informing patients of their rights.
Some countries will be pro-active disseminating
information and establishing clear structures for
treatment costs reimbursement. Other countries
will be slower and veil information from public
accessibility.
The Directive covers planned healthcare in EU
member states. It does not affect emergency
treatment, which is generally covered, in state
healthcare systems by the European Health
Insurance Card (EHIC). The EU Directive does not
give patients any rights to cross border healthcare
that they don’t have already. It doesn’t introduce
any new rights. These rights already existed as
part of the Maastricht and Lisbon Treaties.
So, what does the Directive cover?
As a UK citizen, for instance, and therefore a
citizen of a European Union state, you have a
right in certain circumstances and under certain
conditions to seek treatment in other European
states and for the cost of this treatment to be
reimbursed by the NHS. In other words, if you are
entitled to healthcare in your own country, you
can choose to get treated in another EU country”,
whether your healthcare is provided by the state
or by a private insurer.
For patients, the Directive clarifies your rights
to planned healthcare in any EU member state
and establishes the circumstances in which these
rights can be exercised. The Directive also sets out
clear procedures to access these rights, including
detailed explanations of what the home state is
and is not obliged to reimburse you for.
For member states, the Directive clarifies the
member states obligations under EU law and
details the circumstances under which it must
fund planned healthcare treatment for its own
citizens in other member states. The Directive
sets out criteria under which states are obliged
to accept citizens from other EU states, and
explains the rules for refusing such treatment. The
Directive also sets out the systems that a state
must provide to allow its own citizens to access
their rights to cross order healthcare, as well as
the information they are required to provide for
citizens considering coming to their country.
In essence, you are entitled to obtain healthcare
services in any EU state, as long as you are entitled
to the same services in your own country, and as
long as you are not able to obtain such services
within a reasonable amount of time at home.
What the Directive does not mean: The
Directive does not mean that you will automatically
receive funding for treatment in another EU state.
Your home state retains the right to pre-authorise
treatment and you must comply with the rules
and regulations in order to make an application.
There are set circumstances under which that
application can be refused.
The Directive does not alter the right of a
member state to define the benefits that they
choose to provide for their citizens, and so if your
treatment is not funded locally by your healthcare
provider, you cannot expect them to fund it for
you in another country.
So if you are a resident: within the European
Economic Area (EEA). This includes EU citizens and
also those in Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland.
With a planned treatment available on your home
state as part of the standard healthcare package
available to all citizens. Cross border healthcare
must be funded if there is undue delay in providing
the same treatment is available locally. The
European Court of Justice defined undue delay
as a waiting time that "exceeds the period which
is acceptable in the light of an objective medical
assessment". This means that such judgements
should be based on medical assessments, not just

on arbitrary time based targets.
The cost of cross border healthcare will only
be reimbursed up to the cost of the treatment
in the home state. States are not obliged to pay
for costs in excess of the cost of treatment in the
home state and you are not allowed to profit
from having cheaper treatment in another state.
The costs of travel and accommodation are not
generally reimbursed.
Member states may introduce prior authorisation
for any treatment that involves a hospital stay,
expensive specialist equipment or staff, or in
cases where there are doubts as to the quality
or safety of treatment. Authorisation may be
refused if the treatment or healthcare provider
represents a risk to your health. States may also
refuse if appropriate care can be provided at
home without undue delay. People with highly
contagious or dangerous infections may be
refused authorisation, as may those who require
secure psychiatric care.
Member states may also limit cross border
healthcare approval if this presents a risk to their
own healthcare provision. For example, where
highly specialised, low volume departments
would be threatened by even a small downturn in
patient numbers. Member states have the right to
refuse treatment to a visiting citizen if this would
compromise their ability to serve their home
citizens. This applies where waiting lists are long
or capacity is limited. Cross border healthcare
cannot be used to jump the queue of another
state and visitors must be treated exactly the
same as home citizens.

good service, has enabled entree into a niche
market.
Web search listing and marketing entrepreneurs
from ClinicSearch.com have been busily
establishing alternative ways of bringing choice
to peoples Smartphone’s and PC’s. With over
12,000 listed dental and medical clinics, and
tour operators, from across Scandinavia, Eastern
Europe and Turkey (The UK is not as yet listed).
The platform allows you to rate clinics, leave
reviews, find clinics nearest to you, compare
prices, and compare patient ratings, and soon
much more - in the knowledge that Transparent
Pricing will be enforced by word of mouth from
the general public if not from the service provider
themselves.
In Odontika dental clinic it is clear that
Lithuanians abroad are already communicating
the message about what Lithuania has to offer
on the international stage. This is one area where
there is tremendous scope for innovation. Some
figures will have the number of Lithuanians
working abroad from 500,000 to 1/5 of the total
Lithuanian population. They are the voice who are
meeting, socializing, working, starting families, all
outside of Lithuania. They are the primary resource
for spreading the message and promoting what is
good about Lithuania and what there is to offer 10s
of millions of people. With some innovative ideas
and the help of government a genuine industry
could flourish. An industry that is an attractive
place to be for professionally educated people,
provides good opportunities’ in the country, and
one that puts Lithuania firmly on the map as the
destination for dental and medical tourism.

Innovations in Medical Tourism
Choice and faster treatment: Ultimately the EU
Directive on cross-border healthcare is leading
towards greater patient choice. How Lithuania
might be chosen as a destination is indeed the big
question. The Directive does not in itself guarantee
anything substantially will happen. What it has
meant however, is business and governments
are talking. Lithuania has gone a long way to
organizing itself in preparation as signified by the
formation of a Medical clusters. While, for those
already in the dental, spa or medical tourism
business, any coherent effort towards Lithuania’s
brand promotion as a destination for healthcare
treatment is a good thing.
It should be stated the Directive does not
include elective treatments - those treatments
that are not covered on a member states health
services such as dental implants and some
medical surgeries. These areas already form the
bases of medical tourism to Lithuania today and
where we are seeing some innovative marketing
and promotion strategies.
Tour operators are already finding niche ways
to package Lithuanian as a destination. One UK/
Lithuania operation BodyBureau, lead by Arūnas
Žukauskas and Matt McGibbon, arrange treatment
and holiday packages to Lithuania of health,
detox, and full body makeovers. Such packages
include for instance a facelift and tummy tuck,
followed by teeth whitening, airport transfers and
hotel accommodation. Pulling together medical
providers of elective and non-elective treatments,
they are able to offer something quite different,
by looking at putting together hitherto unrelated
procedures and services. BalticMedicalHolidays is
another such company looking at Norway, Greater
Scandinavia and the UK.
SpaTur, which evolved out of conferencing
tour operation to the Baltic, started offering
spa, medical and dental package to visitors in
2011. Local manager Sigita Baskyte and Thomas
Danielsen again prove that having local and
overseas knowledge and experience is a positive
advantage. Likewise, using recommendations and
relations build from several years in conferencing,
not to mention understanding what is meant by


Not many people remember that only 15 years ago Druskininkai was a dying town with high unemployment, outdated recreation facilities and few tourists, mainly from
former Soviet Union countries who could still remember the resort’s glorious past. In these 15 years Druskininkai has changed completely. Druskininkai is once again a vivid,
modern resort town that is very popular among Lithuanians and foreigners alike. Its high quality facilities and services always have something on offer to accommodate even
the most selective of guests. The whole town is like one big park enhanced by various spas, health centres, an aqua park, snow arena and many other outdoor activities. To
reveal the secret of the town’s transformation we are talking with the Druskininkai tourism and business information centre’s director Rimantas Palionis.
Druskininkai is definitely one of Lithuania’s great success stories. Could you give
us a little bit more information about this
transformation period from grey and Soviet to colourful and welcoming. What was
the key to success and what were the biggest challenges that you had to overcome?
To tell the truth, after the restoration of Lithuanian Independence, Druskininkai really was
regarded as a "dying resort". This was so very
wrong! We could not forget the glorious past of
the town - 200 years of being a successful "watering-place", adored by Russian aristocrats, Polish
intellectuals and many others. In the year 2000,
when ex-businessman Ricardas Malinauskas was
elected to the post of mayor, a bold redevelopment strategy was created. We were determined
to transform Druskininkai into a modern all-yearround international resort, attractive to locals as
well as to our guests. Our new aim was to win
the market of young families, sportsmen and
businessmen. A resort is not only a place for seriously ill persons - it welcomes the young and
healthy, too! To implement that, a whole net of
tourism services had to be created. We began
searching for investors, working on investment
projects, actively using all European funds which
were available. In the last 10 years, more than 1
billion Litas (about 400m Euro) was attracted for
municipal projects,such as the main Health SPA
(Druskininku gydykla), Aquapark, the Events Hall,
parks and roads, and other indispensable details
of a modern holiday place. Fortunately, private

investors were not slow to join the"renaissance",
filling the town with spas, wellness and beauty
centres, catering facilities, hotels and places of
entertainment . Accordingly, the number of tourists increased 6 fold between 2000 and 2012.
Lithuania is often jokingly described as
having 2 seasons (hot summers and snow
covered winters), can you tell us about the
exciting plans and developments that seek
to ‘reverse’ the seasons in Druskininkai?
Without slowing down the pace of development, Druskininkai is really seeking to become
all-purpose, i.e. to please EVERYbody at ANYtime,
even to offer falling snow in summer, and sunny
beaches - in winter. You can ski, snowboard and
enjoy the delights of snow all year in the huge
SNOW ARENA winter complex. Summer is evershining in another magnificent place - the Druskininkai Aquapark, with up to 30 different baths
and saunas and plenty of water amusements.
Are you targeting specific countries/ regions
or types of tourism when promoting Druskininkai?
50 percent of our guests are foreigners: mostly,
our neighbours - Poles, Russians and Latvians.
However, the number of Scandinavians and
Central Europeans is constantly growing. The
Majority of staff in our service sector can communicate in English, Russian and Polish. Each
year our Tourist Information Centre promotes the

United Kingdom Needs to Capitalise
on Strong Growth in BRIC Visitors
By Lisandra Minussi, Travel and Tourism Analyst at
Euromonitor International

The United Kingdom continues to attract
increasing numbers of visitors from BRIC
markets. Rising incomes and interest
in travel are combining to make them
significant source markets for the future.

Source: Euromonitor International
Discretionary spending is rising across all income
levels in the BRIC markets within categories

town during tourism fairs in Moscow, Warsaw,
Riga, Oslo and a number of other business events.

Are there any areas of improvement on the
list? If so, what would they be?

Do you have any visitors from the UK and
what would be your short list of “five things
to do in Druskininkai” for the new comers?

The resort still has some ambitious plans to perform. As the saying goes, there is no limit to perfection - each year we surprise our visitors with
some new improvements. A cableway between
the Aquapark and Snow Arena, an Aero-HydroIonotherapy pavilion (for inhaling of ionized air)
and a huge Concert & Conference Hall are next
on the list...

The number of guests from the UK has not been
great till now, but every year in the Tourist centre
we find more British, discovering our services. Ever
greater numbers of them come just to visit Grutas
– our Soviet-era theme park with dozens of Lenin
and Stalin sculptures and other relics collected
from across Lithuania. Another attractive side of
tourism for the UK visitors are business trips. Druskininkai provides a perfect selection of meeting
halls with the possibility of vivid after party impressions. There are some special things I would
recommend to our British guests:
• Taste the mineral water or try a salty bath! The
mineral waters of Druskininkai have the biggest
saturation range available in Europe: starting
from several grams a litre, to 52-58 g/l (“Beauty”
and “Sūrutis” springs).
• Fly over the Nemunas river. There is a track of
more than 400 meters length stretching over biggest Lithuania‘s river. The speed limit is 55 km/h!
• Take part in the costumed tour of the resort.
• Enjoy Your favourite song performed by the
Dancing Fountain of Druskininkai.
• Become a part of local tradition: take a photograph of yourself posing on the "Arched" bridge,
on the confluence of Nemunas and Ratnycele.

like communications, clothing and footwear,
education. Hotels and catering is also set to post
strong growth in the coming decade. Therefore,
leading hotel chains should be looking to adapt to
the specific needs and tastes of tourists from BRIC
countries to benefit from this potential. Visitors
from Russia and China in particular are often
fascinated by the British monarchy, its traditions
and etiquette, so attractions and tours related to
the royal family are expected to do well.
While London will be the key beneficiary, it is
believed that given the long-haul nature of trips
the opportunity extends beyond the capital.
Consequently other areas of Great Britain will
benefit as BRIC travellers take the time to tour
around the country and make the most of their
trips.
However, promising markets are not that simple
and there are challenges to be overcome. One
barrier constraining the potential of stronger

How do you picture Druskininkai’s development over the next 10 years?
Now we are directing the flow of investment to
suburban areas, because there is the possibility of
the town expanding beyond its present-day borders. Some tourist attractions are already developing outside the resort – for example, an 18-hole
golf course was opened last year 14 km from Druskininkai. On the other hand, there are favourable
natural conditions for expansion: Druskininkai
is surrounded by a 50-kilometers-thick "wall" of
ecological pineforests. Sustainable development,
well-balanced supply of quality tourist services,
meeting needs of local people - these are the
maxims of town's progress in the near future.
Thank you and we wish you and Druskininkai
all the best in realising the planned ideas.

Prepared by Viktorija Aurylaitė, Member of AIESEC,
BCC Volunteer
inbound flows from the BRICs is the need for
travellers from Russia, India and China to obtain a
visa for Great Britain.
Constrained airport capacity is another area
of concern. Heathrow, the only significant
international hub with large passenger volumes,
is operating at almost full capacity. The need for
a third runway and its alternatives are still hotly
debated with no decision expected soon. In the
short-term therefore, when the foundations of
both infrastructure and strategy really need to be
laid, it will be difficult for airlines to add capacity
to BRIC routes.
There are specific and tangible strategies that
can be implemented for tourism businesses to
seize the opportunity that continues to evolve.
If Great Britain is to take full advantage, however,
there are bigger issues at stake that need to be
addressed to benefit from the full potential the
BRICs represent.



6


7



Lithuanian Tourism Promotion Strategy?

First IBIS Hotel in the Baltic States: excitement and challenges after
1 year of operations in Kaunas


Lithuanian Tourism Office in the UK is our official
representative of the Lithuanian State Department
of Tourism, under The Ministry of Economy, with
offices in London. The main aim of the office is to
promote Lithuania's unique tourism product and
services to the UK market, spread the information
about the country's distinctive features and
ensure that the tourism trade & media are well
aware of Lithuania.
Air connection to the UK is very important and
not just low cost airlines for tourism flows.
In the beginning of June you hosted a group
of tour operators from the UK to raise their
awareness about tourism opportunities in
Lithuania for tourists from the UK. Could you
tell a little bit more about how it went and what
results would you expect in the longer term?
The United Kingdom is one of the TOP 10 countries of incoming tourism of Lithuania, according
to the Lithuanian Department of Statistics 69,000
tourists from the UK visited Lithuania during 2012
and this is up 16% comparing to the previous year
which is significant.

Our primary strategy is B2B which is helped
through our representative office in London.
Recently we invited 15 tour operators who were
interested in 2 key areas. The first was Sustainable
and Rural tourism, they were shown a number of
sites across Lithuania including Rumšiškės and
other ethnographic centres such as Labanoras,
bycicle rides, and the organic food tasting in
Vilnius market. The second group were interested
in City Breaks and Active tourism, they visited
Vilnius and Kaunas old town, Pažaislis monastery,
Birštonas, Druskininkai and Grūtas park. Both
groups also visited Trakai and went on a culinary
tour.
We always are welcoming foreign journalists to
Lithuania. We work closely with our Embassies
abroad and have greatly developed our approach
to e-marketing Lithuania.
Lithuania for a long time had a relatively
small budget for tourism promotion. Would
you agree that this shows a lack of understanding of the economic value to an economy that
tourism provides and also demonstrates a lack
of knowledge of what Lithuania has to offer?

Connectivity - Implementing
a Lithuanian wide air transportation
strategy

Never the less, we have also certain routes,
established by legacy carriers like SAS and Turkish
Airlines to connect Vilnius with Stockholm and
Istanbul. The economy is getting better and
demand is getting stronger, particularly in niche
markets.
We are happy with the overall situation and
trends stimulating tourism, but we have to look
at connectivity for business travellers as well. Our
major focus has been on connectivity for tourism
in recent years. For business, the situation still
needs to be improved. Low cost carriers can't
always secure the frequency that business needs.
Destinations require more than 2-3 connections
per week, if they are to help the overall business
environment in Lithuania.
Can you outline the strategy towards airports
in Lithuania, and what will distinguish Vilnius,
Kaunas and Palanga airports?
It should be said that Lithuania has well
developed airport infrastructure across the
country. This has not been leveraged yet and has
lots of growth potential, we just need bit of time
and very focused actions that successfully utilise

this infrastructure.
Straight forward competition between airports
does not necessarily give added value in itself. The
policy is to look at differentiation in commercial
offers, balanced tariffs and coordinated airport
management. Having an overall central
management for 3 airports would help to
implement the long term airport development
strategy more easily, allowing for more balanced
infrastructure and operating costs and the
differentiation of each airport in the context of all
three. Therefore, we are currently working towards
centralising airport management to achieve all
these goals.
There is major value in operating 3 airports, each
is important in implementing regional strategy and
a country strategy. Each with different operating
costs and different competitive advantages.
How important is having its own national air
carrier to Lithuania?
Let’s call it a base carrier, which is of major
importance for any airport worldwide. In such a
case, it is a matter of co-operation between a base
carrier and an airport to develop a wide network

Absolutely not. 3 year financing and marketing
budget was enough (approximately the same
as Latvia and Estonia). Working together is
important, money alone is not the main reason,
as you can see the figures from the last few years
are good. Furthermore, centres like Birštonas &
Druskininkai, and cities like Kaunas and Vilnius
are growing. We are working hard and the trend
is (like visitor numbers from the UK) in the right
direction. We have a full understanding with
Ministry.

2011 saw an 18% rise in tourist visitors and 2012
a further 12%. This is 2,000,000 people and our
goal is now to reach 3m visitors a year. We think
we can achieve a further 8% growth in 2013. In
Wellness tourism we are competitive with Czech
for example, and our SPA centres quality is
growing higher. We have nice resorts and enough
places in spa resorts for charter flights in the next
5 years, which becomes even more interesting for
countries like Russia, Germany, Kazakhstan and
Azerbaijan.

Tourism numbers to Lithuania have been in
steady growth for a number of years. Can you
explain where the growth has come from what
we might expect in the future?

We have been working closely with our Baltic
neighbours in the Long Haul market – this is a new
tourism strategy for long haul looking at 3-in-1
Baltic market for Japan, China and US market. The
results have been very encouraging.

Hard work and a change of strategy to embrace
all 4 seasons year round. Accessibility and working
closely with our Foreign Embassies is important.
For example, processing and issuing tourist
visas to non-Schengen countries such as Russia,
Ukraine and Belarus is important and new people
in consulates is having great affect. We are also
aware that solving Border crossing procedures
and 5 hr waiting is important as both Moscow and
Minsk important links lie our of Schengen.
of routes, which help to ensure the accessibility of
the country and offer the wide range of non-stop
direct routes, needed for business and tourism.
Every airline is valuable to the airport and the
country, but a base carrier does a little bit more
and has extra added value for the state economy.
What recent progress has been made with the
rail network between Warsaw and Lithuania?
And can you highlight some of the major
changes that have come about in rail travel?
It is important to highlight, that the current rail
connection to Poland is not competitive at all
when compared with other methods of transport.
Lithuania railways recently singed almost all
the necessary contracts for construction of EU
gage rail from the Polish border to Kaunas by
2015. This development will lead to a significant
improvement in connectivity between Kaunas
and Warsaw.
Regarding other important rail connections,
convenient and fast links to Riga, Tallinn and Minsk
are all very important. As you know, a substantial
amount of finance has been allocated to develop
the Rail Baltica project connecting Berlin, Warsaw,
Kaunas, Riga, Tallinn and Helsinki. This is to be
a high speed railway line, with train speeds of
up to 240 km/hr. Furthermore, considering the
importance of partnership with our neighbouring
countries, we should be proud of having a very
fast rail link with Minsk in Belarus. Currently we
have a connection where travelling time takes 2
and a half hours and it should take only 2 hours
by 2015. This will be very big step forward,

We would like to see Air Lituanica to grow and
promote Lithuania and the Lithuanian name
abroad. Also the weather this year has been
amazing, if like this every year we will succeed in
reaching 3,000,000!
Prepared by Alistair Day-Stirrat, BCC member of
the Board, Editor of BCC paper

making rail connections quick and convenient for
passengers travelling between the two capitals.
Could you explain why one of the most important objectives of the EU Presidency is to reach
an agreement between EU member-states on
the Directive concerning implementation of
an alternative fuels infrastructure?
There have been many initiatives from the commission in recent times. We carefully analysed
the files in the pipeline, identifying certain priorities on an EU level that will stimulate economic
growth and jobs.
We see the possibility of achieving significant
progress on air passenger rights, CEF, e-ID, road
worthiness package files.
On the Clean power for Transport Directive we
see the necessity of developing basic infrastructure
which will stimulate the use of alternative fuel
technology in business and our daily life. There
should be a flexible formula of targets on a country
level and it is realistic to reach an agreement on a
possible framework for harmonized alternative
fuel infrastructure in Europe in a year’s time, and
implement this in accordance with each country's
needs and funding.
And finally, as this BCC paper issue is dedicated to “Tourism, Travelling & Hospitality” - what
is your absolute favourite place in Lithuania,
which you would recommend for tourists?
Nida, Neringa – it’s fairly seasonal, but I like to go
at least once a year, especially in summer.
Prepared by Alistair Day-Stirrat, Editor of BCC paper


team of the leading travel agency “Lithuanian
tours” and had great possibilities to learn about
the needs of tourists coming to Lithuania & the
Baltic States and how travel is organised.
I got my start in Accor in 2003 with the opening
of the Novotel Vilnius Centre and with some
breaks, this adventure has already lasted nearly
10 years. I have to say I enjoy it very much and I
have found it a very enriching experience. The
hospitality sector is changing every day as well as
our guests and their needs. I am really proud of
being part of a group which has the ambition of
becoming the world benchmark in hospitality.

A year ago, Kaunas celebrated the opening
of the first IBIS hotel in the Baltic States. The
hotel is part of the International ACCOR Hotels
Group. With the constantly increasing number
of direct flights to Kaunas Airport and the
increasing number of business events held in
the town, we believe it has brought a great
added value to the city. To prove this has been
the case and to hear what IBIS was up to in
its first year of active existence in Kaunas, we
are talking to IBIS Managing Director Kristina
Matuleviciene:
You have been working in the Tourism &
Hospitality sector for many years and are
highly experienced in this area. Could you tell
about your background?
I graduated from Gdansk University in Poland
specializing in Hospitality & Tourism. My career
in the sector began at the Vilnius Municipality
Tourism Division which had just been created at
that time to promote Vilnius as a destination on
the European travel market. Later, I joined the

Could you please introduce the IBIS Hotel
brand in general and what it offers clients?
What does the Ibis Kaunas Centre offer
guests?
IBIS is the budget brand of Accor hotels and
offers its guests the highest level of service and
the ultimate comfort available in its category at
the best market price. Since its creation in 1974,
IBIS has expanded continuously and there was
a network of 990 hotels in 58 countries in 2012.
Last year IBIS underwent a major upgrade when
Accor's two other budget brands joined the
group. As a result, today the IBIS family consists
of 3 brands – Ibis, Ibis budget and Ibis styles
with 1700 hotels all over the world. Each brand
matches specific customer expectations to cover
the entire market.
In every IBIS hotel, the IBIS standard guarantees
a homogeneous offer: a modern, connected and
soundproofed room, an innovative and supremely
comfortable bed, breakfast from 4am to 12 noon,
and a wide range of restaurant concepts.
The "15 minute satisfaction" contract is a unique
illustration of ibis's commitment to customer
service: if a little hitch threatens to cloud your stay,
do not hesitate in letting us know at any time, day
or night. The ibis teams have 15 minutes on the
clock to sort it out. And if they do not manage to
chase away the pesky cloud in the specified time,
that service is on the hotel.

Taste of Lithuania @ Taste of London 2013

From left to right: Lina Žalpytė, LCCUK, Lithuanian Ambassador to the UK Asta Skaisgirytė Liauškienė, Olga Jachimovič,
President LCCUK, Zita Čepaitė, writer & Andrius Nikitinas, Commercial Attache in the UK

Tens of thousands of passionate foodies arrived
in Regent’s Park Thursday, 20th June 2013 to
celebrate the opening of the best of world-class
cuisine at the Taste of London food and drink
festival. Now in its 10th year, the Taste of London
welcomed Taste of Lithuania brought by the
Lithuanian Chamber of Commerce in the UK
(LCCUK) to join the great event.
The Taste of London opening took place on
20th June 2013 and people were queuing outside
looking forward to get in as there was so much to
be seen. Over 45 British and International Michelin
starred restaurants serving delicious dishes
prepared by famous chefs and more than 150
producers and exhibitors were inviting everyone
to taste new food products, discover boutique
wines or simply enjoy well-known tastes.
Taste of Lithuania was presented for the
first time at this world class event. Ms. Olga
Jachimovic, the President of LCCUK says “It was
definitely a big challenge for LCCUK to organise
this kind of event. It is not every day we get the
chance to present Lithuania and the best of its
food and culture to more than 50000 visitors. We
saw this opportunity and although it was a huge
and challenging project, we made it happen. We
always encourage companies to think outside
the box and see the bigger picture. As we are
planning to organise similar events in the future,
we welcome all the Lithuanian companies who
are interested to enter new markets to contact us
with regards to new opportunities”.
Taste of Lithuania has definitely brought
authentic international flavours to Taste of

London. Occupying a total space of 1000 sq.
meters, located next to the main entrance, Taste of
Lithuania was surely a place not to be missed. The
Lithuanian area hosted more than 15 companies,
including big, well-known organizations such
as “Svyturys”, “Stumbras”, Zemaitijos pienas”,
“Birstono mineraliniai vandenys”, “Kedainiu
konservu fabrikas”, “Estrella”, “Liutukas ir Ko”, “Pieno
zvaigzdes”, “Lituanica” as well as smaller producers
like “Dora”, “Mazeikiu mesine”, “Jazz” and “Route 77
Energy”. Ms. Olga Jachimovic stated that “Taste
of London is a great opportunity to present and
sell Lithuanian products to UK consumers. It also
helps to create or establish business connections
as this event is highly attended by representatives
from UK companies or big supermarkets looking
for new products. Taste of London also gets
impressive media coverage as journalists from
local and international television, radio or
newspapers gather here to share the latest news
with public”.
LCCUK not only initiated and developed the
idea of a Lithuanian area, but also looked after
the entertainment and cultural side of the
event. Folk ensembles “Kun Saka”, “Saduto” and
“Lituanica” entertained the visitors with traditional
Lithuanian dances, music and songs. Martynas
Levickis, who has recently signed a contract with
“Universal Music” and been named the official
Tourism Ambassador of Lithuania, joined Taste
of Lithuania to perform on the main stage. Some
UK tourism operators visited the Lithuanian area
to get to know more about Lithuania as a tourist
destination.

The IBIS Kaunas Centre offers 125 fully airconditioned modern rooms, a restaurant and bar
with24h F&B meal offer for the guests, 2 meeting
rooms for up to 40 persons and there is also parking
and free WiFi available for hotel guests. The hotel
is located close to city centre between Kaunas
railway station and the Akropolis shopping mall.
The Zalgiris arena is within walking distance.
Could you also comment briefly on the
existing Hotel sector in Kaunas? Does the
current situation fully satisfy the needs of
business and leisure travellers?
The IBIS Kaunas Centre opened last April. It is
the very first IBIS brand hotel in Lithuania and the
Baltic States and the Accor group's second hotel
(after Novotel Vilnius Centre) in our country. IBIS
has arrived in Kaunas city as the second international hotel chain and the second biggest hotel
(in terms of number of rooms) on the market. The
overall Kaunas accommodation sector consists of
1000 bedrooms and more than 2/3 of these are 4*
hotels. The additional 125 rooms which has been
added by IBIS to the budget accommodation on
offer has balanced the situation. In my opinion
today in Kaunas we have a wide variety of hotels
which are fully able to satisfy the needs of our visitors both business and leisure.
Kaunas as a destination still has a large amount
of potential to attract more travelers to the city
through more active promotion of its tourist
attractions, events and business development
possibilities.
How successful was IBIS's first year in the
local market? Are you satisfied?
It was a challenging and exciting year. Our goal
was to introduce the new Ibis brand in Kaunas and
Lithuania and to offer our clients the best service
and standards in the economy class category.
After one year of operations I have to say that
we have developed our market share. We have
identified our guest segments, and we now have
a good mix of business and leisure guests using

our facilities.
I am really happy that our guests are satisfied
with our services quality and standards and am
proud of the fact that IBIS Kaunas Centre is ranked
as the no. 1 hotel in Kaunas on Tripadvisor.com
That would never happened without the
dedication and professionalism of our team.
There is still room to improve, we are always
looking to find new visitors to Kaunas and to
gain an increased market share. The international
branding helps with both of these aims. But
today, after one year, I strongly believe that we
are moving in the right direction and that the
Ibis Kaunas Centre will become an even stronger
player in the Kaunas hospitality market.
Could you tell our readers about Kaunas's
potential for attracting tourists and business
travellers?
Boasting nearly 350,000 inhabitants, Kaunas
is the second largest city in Lithuania. It was the
provisional capital of Lithuania, famous for its
colourful history, cosy parks, remarkable and
wonderful Old Town and interwar spirit. This fastgrowing modern city is an attractive centre of
business and industry, rich in cultural and academic
life: famous music, dance, visual art festivals and
other exceptional projects are held in Kaunas..To
mention just a few: Kaunas Jazz, Pazaislis festival,
Aura dance festival and the Operetta festival.
The city has a lot to offer its visitors. The areas
where we need to improve are promotion and
communication of the product we have and
its accessibility in terms of flights. An active
promotional campaign of Kaunas as a destination,
together with attracting more direct flights to
Kaunas would result in huge benefits for the city.
Thanks a lot! We wish IBIS all the best in the
upcoming years.
Prepared by Sandra Kundrote, BCC Executive
Director

Lithuanian Start Up IQ POLLS Became
Member of Microsoft Bizspark Project
In three months after official release live audience voting tool IQ Polls was accepted as a member of Microsoft BizSpark startups program. This
allowed IQ Polls to transfer its services to Windows
Azure cloud platform.
Project partner Artūras Jonkus says “IQ Polls
serves its customers all around the world, it forms
a necessity of reliable accessibility at any time
from any place. Top quality of IQ Polls services is
now ensured by Windows Azure cloud computing
technology. Hopefully cooperation with Microsoft
would not only improve our services, but also give
a visibility and let us grow up faster. We are interested in foreign markets and BizSpark program
for us is as a quality mark”.
IQ Polls is a live web-based audience response
service created for interaction with the audience during conferences, seminars, lectures and
social events. This is a web- based product, so it
doesn't require any special hardware or software.

The audience can answer questions using their
smart phones, tablets or laptops. The IQ Polls tool
makes events more interactive and helps speakers to keep their audience’s attention focused on
the presentation. It also allows on-line gathering
of audience feedback and measuring of the level
of satisfaction. IQ Polls was already used at major
conferences in London, New York, Chicago, Davos, Moscow, Lisbon, Vilnius etc. and also at such
entertainment events as dance battles and wine
fairs.
IQ Polls also provides great opportunities for
printed and outdoor media to make advertising
more interactive, connecting off-line media with
on-line. Three projects already were implemented
with IQ magazine, “L’officiel” and “Top Gear”.
IQ Polls also was awarded as the best Lithuania’s
e-commerce product 2013 and will represent
Lithuania in this category in global World Summit
Award competition.



8


9


Traditions and Innovations – what pays best for the Tourism
Industry in Lithuania

among Scandinavian customers too.
British customers are only discovering this destination, but the ones who have already visited left
only good comments and promised to return.
For me personally, Palanga is lovely in all seasons- golden autumn, fairy tale white winters and
full of joy Spring when nature awakes and the first
warm sun starts dancing on the Baltic sea.
To name just a few reasons to come- the mild
climate, endless white sandy beaches, cycling
tracks, pine forests, unforgettable open air classical music concerts, local culture & heritage, spa
and gourmet places are not to be missed.

The BCC Breakfast Technical Briefing in June,
the last before the summer holidays, hosted
Giedrė Kvedaravičienė, Managing Director of
the five star Vanagupe Hotel in Palanga and
Darius Lasionis from Enterprise Lithuania to
cover the theme “Traditions and Innovations –
what pays best for Tourism Industry in Lithuania” Event participants were introduced to
.
the most interesting industry developments,
trends and opportunities as well as actions
taken to promote entrepreneurship and the export of companies involved in Lithuania’s Tourism industry. After presentations both speakers
kindly agreed to answer a few questions:
Giedre, you have been working in the Tourism
industry, what are the latest developments
and trends in this sector and how is its overall
performance?
With regards to general trends, tourism in 2013 is
about developing instant, personalized & bookable
services. For destinations and tourism companies,
what matters most is offering customized and
relevant services using all the latest technologies
for promotion and sales. Consumer technology is
changing travellers’ behaviour and expectations,
naturally increasing competition, removing barriers and reshaping the traditional structure of the
tourism industry. The Intensity of modern life also
dictates the need for more targeted and integrated tourism products both for leisure and business
customers. Therefore, organizations and companies try to keep up with the latest advancements
by focusing on specialisation, the establishment
of clearly identifiable competitive advantages,
cost optimization and performance enhancement, as well as the creation of partnerships both
vertically and horizontally in the service delivery
chain. Processes of narrowing specialisation and
widening clusterisation are working at the same
time, delivering new products and driving up
quality and convenience for customers.
Do you notice any signs that Lithuania has
identified the most attractive types of services
for incoming tourism and is going to focus on
these areas in terms of development and quality?
There are quite a few directions for developing the export of tourism from Lithuania. Countryside tourism and medical SPA are probably
the most developed ones at the moment. The
emerging trends are the combination of medical and wellness tourism and conference tourism.
Medical tourism corresponds to global trends of
closing the gap between prevention healthcare
and serious medical interventions, offering both
in a timely manner and taking a long term care
approach with clients. Historically strong, Lithuania’s medical sector, with its high quality SPAs and
sanatoriums, combined with supporting services provide a strong starting point for mapping
Lithuania in Europe and worldwide as one of the
leading specialised medical tourism countries.
Conference tourism can benefit the country in

Brits in Lithuania

An interview with
Michael Pennock, a
qualified teacher
with 7 years of
teaching experience
in secondary and
higher education
teaching History,
Politics and English
in the UK.

Darius, could you tell our readers about the
medical tourism cluster in Lithuania?
Giedrė Kvedaravičienė, Managing Director of Vanagupe
Hotel in Palanga

a much wider sense than development of business tourism alone. However, in order to become
a popular destination for the MICE sector (meetings, events & conferences) many more factors
such as the country's accessibility, internal transport infrastructure and heavy national promotion
are needed to generate appreciable effects for
the industry and the economy.
What would you see as the opportunities for
foreign investors in the Lithuanian Tourism
sector?
Investments in product linking services and leisure centres (leisure, cultural, sports or other) are
still very much in demand. Some of them could
probably be run on a PPP basis, reducing the risk
for private investors and hugely benefiting the
growth and promotion of the tourism industry in
Lithuania.
Without leading/ supporting activities, investments in the hotel and catering business alone
are either small scale or return on investment is
too long term for the opportunities to be very
attractive.
Since you are running the five star hotel
“Vanagupe” in Palanga, the most popular summer resort in Lithuania, could you comment on
the latest developments in this resort?
Recently there was an article which called
Palanga a 100 day resort. While reduction of seasonality remains a big issue, I believe it would be
fair to say that Palanga is moving forward and
getting more faces. The resort has something to
offer for different types of holiday makers- families, young couples, active leisure seekers, golfers,
surfers, romantic classical music lovers and so on.
All of them can enjoy our unique seaside, natural beaches and feel comfortable, irrespective of
their needs, whether they want a lively night life
or simply the quiet rustling of pine trees.
The amount of upmarket facilities among hotels,
the private B&B sector and the choice of restaurants indicates that Palanga has enough facilities
to provide quality tourism services and develop
its variety to reduce the impact of the short su-

Darius Lasionis, Enterprise Lithuania

mmer season. Of course, important assumptions
should be made that there will be a sufficient
amount of smart long term investment into infrastructure development both in the private sector
and by the town’s municipality.
The youngest guests at the resort are also well
looked after. One of the most popular attractions
for them is a huge playground close to the main
bodyguards station.
Our hotel is also extending services for families.
This year we are offering day camps for children,
supervised by professionally trained staff. Another long awaited development to be opened
in a few days is a full size, heated outdoor pool,
which we hope will become a popular place not
only among our hotels’ guests, but also for other
visitors to Palanga.
SPA and conference tourism facilities should also
not be forgotten and left unmentioned. Alongside
the good medical base of Palanga's sanatoriums
and rehabilitation hospital, the town has some of
the best SPA centres in the Baltics, offering extensive wellness SPA services.
And Vanagupe conference centre is one the largest conference facilities in the country, capable of
hosting events for close to a thousand people,
and therefore, becoming a competitive asset for
the whole resort, not only our hotel.
To put it briefly, I would dare to say that Palanga
is getting rid of its generalised image as a noisy
one street resort and increasingly becoming a
place for quality holidays.
What are the types of holidaymakers go to
Palanga? I suspect that the majority are not
British? What is exceptional about Palanga
and why should they come?
Some are looking for relaxed beach holidays
or Spa treatments, the others come because of
our seaside cycling tracks, excellent Nordic walking facilities, windsurfing in the Baltic Sea or even
diving. One of my favourite unique experiences in
Palanga is seaside horse riding.
The structure of tourists from abroad varies according to the season and is heavily influenced by
the accessibility of the resort. While in the summer we receive quite a lot of tourists from Russia
and Belarus, in winter the resort becomes popular

Laimutis Paškevičius, the President of the Lithuanian Medical Tourism Association “Medical Lithuania” had the idea to set up a medical
tourism cluster. The idea of a cluster is to initiate
leading private/state organizations: medical clinics, spa resorts, hotels, medical tourism agencies,
education institutions and transport companies
to collaborate and to form the medical tourism
value chain, support it through synergy and coordinated activities.
Enterprise Lithuania is a non-profit agency under the Ministry of Economy, which has the mission to support the set up and development of
competitive businesses in Lithuania and to foster
the country’s exports, has enthusiastically agreed
to assist in setting up a cluster and to become a
cluster facilitator.
It took time, almost 9 months, to involve medical, resort/spa, hotels and tourist agencies to join
the initiative and to finally set up the Lithuanian
Medical Tourism Cluster. The main market (in the
beginning of activities) where the cluster is going
to communicate and suggest services are Eastern
countries: Russia and Belarus. Why Eastern countries? Because Lithuania is well known for having
European quality with an affordable price, professional medical staff and no language barrier.
The main services cluster: Health check – ups and
diagnostics, odontology, surgery, Rehabilitation
and medical SPA, beauty and wellness SPA.
What are the advantages of this cluster and
what should it bring to businesses operating
in this sector and to consumers?
The Positive aspects are the leading legal entities to involve into a partnership of medical tourism services providers to create high added value
for customers (patients and partners). The main
goal of the cluster is to increase awareness of Lithuanian medical tourism services and their sales in
international target markets. Other activities: participation in the formation and implementation of
Lithuanian tourism, health tourism, medical tourism policy and improving cooperation among
companies acting in the medical, tourism and
related sectors, represent interests of the cluster
and its members at governmental and municipal
authorities, Lithuanian and international organizations.
Prepared by Sandra Kundrotė, Executive Director,
BCC Lithuania

Michael, could you briefly introduce yourself.
What is your background and what brought
you to Lithuania?
I come from the UK, from a small town in the
south-east. Having studied International History
and Politics, I moved to London to teach History.
After 2 exhausting years in a rough state school, I
took shelter in academia and did masters African
History, mostly looking at the British Empire in
Southern Africa. I returned to teaching for 2 more
years, thankfully in nicer school. As my wife is a
Sinologist, we moved to Taiwan for a year, where
she studied Chinese and I taught, before we made
the choice to settle in Lithuania (via a few months
in South Korea for fun).
I first came to Lithuania in 2004. At that time I
was living in Slovakia volunteering as a youth
worker, and our organization was invited to
take part in an art project being held in Nida.
That week I met my wife-to-be, and I have been
coming back to Lithuania regularly ever since. We
moved to Lithuania for good last September. Our
main reason for moving here was to follow a long
held dream of ours to have our own farm. Having
bought an old cottage north of Utena a few years
before, and we decided we would like to live there
permanently.
What is your experience with teaching
English in Lithuania? Are Lithuanians receptive
pupils?
In general, the main issue with students here is
a lack of confidence, especially in their productive
skills (speaking in particular). Most students
actually understand English very well, but have
had little practice in using it, and in adapting
their vocabulary to different situations. But, most
importantly they fear criticism and correction. I like
to tell them that making mistakes is natural and
helpful for learning. Finally, some students want
to focus too much on grammar. Unfortunately,
although of course there are rules and systems, in
general English grammar is not to be trusted. Once
you’ve learned the rule, you have to spend twice
as much time learning all the exceptions to the
rule. In the end, reading and listening to English,
and then imitating what you see or hear (provided
it comes from someone who uses correct English
of course), is the most effective way to learn the
grammar you need. An activity I like to do is to get
students to correct a piece of text without telling
them the grammar rule. Often they already know
what is correct and incorrect, even if they can’t
explain the grammar rule they are using. Indeed,
this is how 99% of native English speakers learn
and use their grammar.
We’ve heard that among your interests,
ecological gardening takes an important place.
Could you tell us about it? Are you planning
to do something with this special interest in
Lithuania?
Organic farming and sustainability have been
interests of mine for a long time. My idea for
our farm was inspired by a farm in Wales I know,
which has been running for almost 30 years.
It is based on permaculture, a way of farming

that aims to create a self-sustaining eco-system,
and the owner has made a successful business
from just ½ a hectare of land. The prevailing
wisdom in agriculture is that you need lots of
land and machinery in order to be profitable. His
example shows that that doesn’t have to be the
case, and small-scale production is much more
environmentally sustainable. Lithuania offers a
wonderful opportunity for this type of production.
Nature here is rich and vibrant, and there are
many small-scale farms already operating.
Furthermore, from my experience people here
care a lot about the quality of the produce they
eat, and are instinctively suspicious of very
intensive, chemical-heavy farming methods. In
our village, the produce that our neighbours give
us (for free, because they always grow too much!!)
is very healthy and delicious. So organic farming
fits very well with what is already happening in
Lithuania. So, whilst working as a teacher, I am
also starting to develop our farm, with a view to
moving there permanently in perhaps five years.
We have also started an organization which will
be based on the farm which will run non-formal
education and youth work programmes. As with
everything natural, however, it takes a lot of time
and patience!!
Can you explain why having English written
'good' in marketing and promotional material
is so important? What are some of the
common mistakes and humorous ones you can
remember?
I don’t know so much about examples in
business campaigns, although having lived in
China I have been exposed to all kinds of abuses
of the English language. Unfortunately, English
speakers often participate in this abuse in the
business community. Verbs like ‘actioning’ always
make me cringe. I think good business English is
always simple and focused. Over-complicating
your language with unnecessarily long words
can be excluding, and of course increases the
possibility of embarrassing mistakes.

Undiscovered places in Lithuania.
Members recommend

A beautiful 2,3 km cognitive walkway trough one of
the oldest oak-woods in Lithuania near Dūkštos gives
you a good feeling of how the Lithuanian ancient forests looked like back in the day. If the 200-year-old
oaks are not enough, the path is decorated with 38
sculptures, representing characters from Lithuanian
legends and mythology. Definitely makes a worthwile
stop on the way to Kernavė!

Located near Trakai, Varnikai Nature Path is a part
of Botanical Zoological reservation that gives a rare
chance to take a walk through the swamp. Wooden
paths are there to make the walk comfortable so
that you can enjoy beautiful sights of the forest, lake
and swamp with its beautiful flora and fauna. The
entire walk is 3.45 km long so it’s a great place for an
active afternoon!

Jurga, British Chamber of Commerce

Neringa Vasiliauskaitė, associate at GLIMSTEDT law firm.
My favourite place in Lithuania is our seaside near
Klaipeda called Dutch Hat. In summer time it’s nice
place to relax but in spring and autumn it’s interesting
to come there after storm in the sea and to collect the
ambers.
Vaida, Amberstaff

This Summer
Spend Less, Travel More

39

EUR

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ibis.com

Also, one thing that many of my students find
hard to do is to talk positively about themselves
and their work without seeming arrogant. There is
certainly a culture of modesty here, which makes
people naturally self-critical. Although that is
sometimes a good quality to have, in the context
of a job interview, it’s really important to be able
to say positive things about yourself and your
achievements.
Without saying Trakai. Where else would you
recommend visitors from the UK to spend a
day in Lithuania?
Nida has to be top of the list. Whatever the
weather, I love it. The nature is gorgeous, the
architecture and design elements are beautiful,
the sea is warm (remember I am used to the
Atlantic ocean) and the smoked fish is very tasty.
A great place to sit for a week with a good novel
(preferably by Thomas Mann). I also love the green
spaces in Vilnius, like Valakampiai. I guess most
tourists focus on the old town, but I think Vilnius’
greenery and nature is one of its best attributes.

IBIS KAUNAS CENTRE

VYTAUTO AVE. 28
LT-44328 KAUNAS, LITHUANIA
TEL.: +370 37 265 600, FAX: +370 37 265 666
H8622@ACCOR.COM




10


Vilnius and Lithuania, a realistic
Baltic Holidays. A 13 year Odyssey
By Phil Teubler, Baltic Holidays
destination choice for International
It seems a long time ago, 1999 to be precise,
when I ventured on Lithuanian soil for the first
meetings, conferences and events?
time.

By Paul Kennedy MBE, Director and Owner of Kennedy Integrated Solutions,
Strategic Business Consultant for the Convene Trade Show/Vilnius
Convention Bureau
I have spent over 20 years working in the field
of international meetings, conferences and trade
shows yet only in the last eighteen months have
discovered what Lithuania and its capital city Vilnius has to offer to those who plan such events.
I have been lucky to have visited over 70 countries in the course of my meetings industry ( the
official term for the world of conferences, conventions, seminars, meetings, and exhibitions) career
and have organised events directly in Europe, The
Middle East, Asia, Australasia and the Americas
and my teams have serviced clients in most of the
countries of the world but it was only in January
2012 when I first visited Lithuania to be greeted
by progressively lower temperatures during my
60 hour stay, temperatures I doubt I will ever forget!
Humour, well the British style of it aside, weather
does not really play a major influence in the selection of destinations. The key criteria for destination are accessibility of the destination and venue/hotel; price/price flexibility; quality of service;
quality of facilities and personal safety. These key
factors really have to be satisfied before the notion of ‘difference’ from one destination or another
comes into play-its simply pointless to have the
most impressive cuisine, the most interesting of
cultural traditions and a truly amazing environment because if the infrastructure and professionalism is not there destinations will remain
unappealing and not competitive in this strongly
growing and valuable economic sector ( the world
of meetings in the USA for example employs more
people than automotive manufacture!).
So what does Lithuania have to offer and how
does it compare with other destinations. It is fair
to say that when I first visited Vilnius I was more
than pleasantly surprised with the physical infrastructure, an efficient although small airport close
to the city centre, a very good selection of 3-5*
hotels (the addition of the new Kempinski hotel
is a real plus), good service levels and in Litexpo
a good exhibition centre with a great flat plenary
space for conferences. In terms of price by international standards Lithuania is very competitive
indeed. In terms of external promotion the Vilnius
Convention Bureau manages to achieve a great
deal on limited resources and the recent launch
of the Convene meetings industry trade show in
Vilnius should accelerate recognition of the destination with international meeting and event
planners. There is a real willingness to service this
valuable economic sector with professionalism
and this is most evident among the international
hotel management and their staff, the convention bureau team and in specialist providers such
as the destination management companies who
move groups around with efficiency and a small
band of professional conference organisers. In
addition Vilnius feels a very safe and indeed welcoming capital city where English, the language
of international meetings and events is surprisingly wide spread (with the exception of the taxi
drivers!). Add to this a wonderful UNESCO world
heritage old town and good restaurants then the
capital city has much to offer
The challenges for the country lie principally
with very limited air accessibility, and the pro-

posed launch of a national airline would provide
a major boost to the connectivity from an international meetings perspective-particularly if regular
connections can be firmly and consistently established with the key export hubs for meetings,
London, Paris, Milan, Barcelona, Geneva, Brussels,
Amsterdam, Berlin and in Baltic regional terms,
Oslo, Stockholm and Copenhagen. In addition to
become a major international player ( and being a
small country is not of itself a limiting factor if the
country/Vilnius adopts this sector as an economic
development priority) Vilnius should have a purpose built international class convention centre
for between 2-3000 as this would enable to city
to bid and win international conferences and conventions from among the literally thousands of associations and society that rotate their meetings
around Europe and indeed more globally. Such a
development would provide the impetus for further hotel expansion and the development of the
soft or human infrastructure required to service
such as industry and this should include the establishment of higher education opportunities in
the field of event management now freely available in universities in countries such as the UK.
The opportunity for Lithuania is very real indeed, the country from an international meetings
perspective is largely undiscovered (the Convene
event held each February will over time accelerate the recognition of Vilnius and Lithuania) The
economic and knowledge transfer prizes of developing this sector can be very real prospects
if the increased investment from the public and
private sector (and it must have and needs both)
is secured.
I for one have become an automatic meeting
industry ambassador for Vilnius and Lithuania as
have the 110 plus international meeting planners
Convene and the Vilnius Meetings Industry community hosted in February of this year-such initiatives are vital to grow the sector.
Paul Kennedy MBE is currently the Chairman of the
Centaur Travel Group of Exhibitions including The
Meetings Show UK, Strategic Business Consultant to
the Slovenia and Sicily Convention Bureau. Kennedy
advises municipal, regional and national governments about the strategic development of the meetings industry.

A Heat wave in Vilnius, beautiful women, great
architecture, lovely countryside and a vibrant
beach scene - I went to Palanga, and found myself
in a dressing room with 5 naked women after I
had been volunteered to join a cabaret act in the
wild west bar - made it quite an easy decision for
me to start a travel company to this little known
part of Europe. I had fallen in love with Lithuania.
The following March, with the help of Jurgis
Zabaliunas, a family friend, who now , with his wife
Danute, runs the successful Nemunas Tour guest
house in Kaunas, I embarked on a research trip to
Vilnius. The meetings were successful. How many
people Mr. Teubler will you bring to Lithuania?
was a question often asked. To be truthful I had no
idea but had a hunch that Vilnius would quench
the British thirst for City breaks, as a place not yet
discovered.
Luckily my hunch was right, and after a chance
call to the Guardian travel editor, whose Dad
coincidentally had been born in Lithuania -aiding
my marketing push- I found a year later that I
had sent my first 350 clients to Lithuania.
Things grew quickly from there, and after having
a good experience visiting Vilnius my clients
wanted to know what other places I had in store.
In truth none, but soon Riga and Tallinn followed
by Helsinki, St. Petersburg and Moscow. Joining
the EU really helped, along with articles in many
newspapers, including the Sunday Times, and in
2004 figures doubled, and continued to grow.
So what has changed in the past 12 years? Well
firstly I don’t believe I would have succeeded
now with my business plan of 13 years ago. I
was helped by an airline that had a monopoly
to the county. Although exceedingly difficult to
deal with, the agency discount I got from them
compared with the published fare was more than
I make for a whole city break these days.
No Ryanair or Wizzair then, and hotel websites
that were appalling, and quite frankly, tourists
didn’t trust. They would however travel with us,
who had recommended a good place to stay ,
knew the city well and had all the appropriate
bonds to protect them if anything went wrong.
Today however is a different ball game. Hotel
sites are good and more often than not rooms
can be booked on them or through hotel rooms
sites, like Booking.com, where margins are
competitive. Airlines, never particularly easy to

deal with, even in those early days, are now more
like competitors than colleagues. Book your low
cost flight Mr. Jones, and by the way do you want
a hotel, or some car hire? We can t compete with
those prices.
However, what we can offer is the experience
we have built up over 13 years. Guides who have
worked with us from the start and really know
what the British client wants. No other company
can offer that. These days we are doing more and
more 4 and 5 star breaks with clients who are time
poor, want a really good service, have no time to
plan it themselves and are prepared to pay for it.
We do trips around the whole of Lithuania, not
just Vilnius, with Palanga and Kaunas getting
more people to stay. However the trips overall
have become much longer with clients staying for
between 2 and 3 weeks. A Baltic trip with Russia ,
where Lithuania is just one part.
In general the trips are cultural. We do try and
persuade tourists to do cycling, or fishing, we even
had a few do an ice sailing holiday in Kaunas this
winter. But these are niche products in what is still
a niche country, so the cultural trips are the most
successful. We might have many of our tourists do
a day’s cycling or kayaking, but not many actually
coming specifically for a cycling holiday.
I still think the governmental department
underestimate the amount of revenue tourism
can bring in. Sure there are a lot of countries
competing for that business, but there are still
Millions of people in Britain who have never
visited or contemplated visiting Lithuania. I know,
from the experience of all my clients, they are in
for a treat if they do.

CWT Travel Manager Survey Shows Cost
Control Continues to Drive Buyer Behavior
Carlson Wagonlit Travel published its CWT Travel
Management Priorities in 2013 report based on an
international survey of nearly 800 travel managers. The scope of the survey includes companies
with mid-sized national programs and an annual
travel spend in the range of US$2 million as well
as companies with large, international travel programs with an annual travel spend of more than
US$100 million.
Travel managers concentrate efforts on further
savings
The report shows that the overall ranking of
priorities for 2013 remains very similar to the order of priorities for 2012. Travel buyers intend to
focus on areas representing the greatest savings
opportunities rather than those associated with
the traveler experience. This is true regardless of
the size of the company, the industry type, the
budget spent on travel or the scope of the travel
program.
The measures that travel managers plan to
take to achieve these objectives vary according
to region. While North American travel buyers
are aiming to further consolidate their programs
and standardize processes, their counterparts in
Europe, the Middle East and Africa are tightening
air and rail policies to drive down air and ground
costs.
Business travel trends indicate the challenges
for 2013

The second part of the report covers the Business
Travel Trends for 2013 and digs into the changes
that travel buyers are likely to see over the year
and the challenges they will be faced with in the
current economic climate and evolving business
travel landscape.
From a pricing perspective it is likely that global inflation will hit travel prices modestly overall, with increases of under 5 percent; in addition,
travel managers will need to monitor programs
and suppliers closely, paying particular attention
to areas such as rising ancillary fees and fuel surcharges.
Changes in technology will affect the travel
process with consumer-influenced technology
increasingly finding its way into corporate travel
through services such as travel review sites and
mobile apps specifically designed for business
travelers.
Travel management 2.0 will also be a major
theme in 2013 as companies seek to find the right
balance between exercising the right level of control over traveler booking behaviors while ensuring that travel is still "managed" for budgetary,
and safety and security reasons.
Finally, risk management will also play a key role
as companies send travelers to increasingly high
risk areas and duty of care during business travel
becomes an integral part of a company's legal responsibility to its employees.

On May 22nd, Members of the British Chamber of Commerce were invited to the New Members’ Evening, held at Kempinski Hotel Cathedral Square.
Recently joined BCC members had the opportunity to make short introductory presentations followed by networking over a glass of wine and delicious snacks. BCC Members in attendance were
kindly welcomed by Mr Robert Juodka, Member
of BCC Board (Membership Subcommittee) and
Mr Noel Attard, Managing Director of Kempinski
Hotel Cathedral Square. (In the picture)
Short introductory presentations were made by
the following new BCC members:

On June 14th, the British Chamber of Commerce and French Chamber of Commerce in
Lithuania invited their members to exclusive
business day out in Kaunas, the 2nd largest
town in Lithuania.

Corporate members AD REM TRANSPORT,
BIKUVOS Prekyba, KEMPINSKI Hotel
Cathedral Square, TAEM Urbanistai and Small
company members MAGISTRAI and RAIMDA
Auditas.
The British Chamber of Commerce expresses
a great deal of appreciation to the event’s
sponsor Kempinski Hotel Cathedral Square

Aksinavičius, company Managing Director and
Andrius Baranauskas from Kaunas Municipality. After a short tour in the company, wine and
snacks were served in the most outstanding terrace, courtesy by Callcredit Operations.

The aim of this event was to provide members
with a broad overview of Kaunas and its advantages or business and potential investors by visiting major strategic companies such as Kaunas
Free Economic Zone and Kaunas Airport. Nearly
40 members from both chambers expressed their
interest to go and explore business opportunities
there. After visiting Kaunas Free Economic Zone
and Kaunas Airport, participants were also given
a tour in company Ryterna, the largest local producer of garage automotive gates, followed by
lunch at IBIS Hotel. After the lunch, BCC Members
visited Callcredit Operations, a British Investor,
where presentations were delivered by Dainius

New Conference team member at
BEST WESTERN Hotel Vilnius

The Best Western Hotel Family connects more
than 4.200 hotels around the world. There are
already three Best Western Hotels in Lithuania:
BEST WESTERN Vilnius in Vilnius, BEST WESTERN
Santaka in Kaunas and BEST WESTERN Central in
Druskininkai. All the hotels provide not only accommodation but also SPA, catering and conference services.
The BEST WESTERN Hotel Vilnius is a four star
hotel and conference centre. Its 114 comfortable

Raidla Lejins & Norcous Wins Influential Chambers Europe Award for Excellence in the Baltics

Raidla Lejins & Norcous beat notable competitors to win the coveted title of Baltic Law Firm of
the Year 2013 at the Chambers Europe Awards for
Excellence 2013.
In recognising Raidla Lejins & Norcous, Chambers Europe emphasised the firm’s sterling reputation:
‘Extolled for its excellent corporate and commercial work, Baltic titan Raidla Lejins & Norcous has
an admirable reputation in the region, with clients
noting its effective cross-border collaboration on
pan-Baltic deals. It retains top-tier rankings across
many practice areas, with its Lithuanian energy
practice gaining particular recognition.’
According to Chambers Europe, Raidla Lejins &
Norcous merited particular plaudits for landmark
cases involving the banking and energy sectors.
Notable achievements included the firm’s representation of Höegh LNG on its long-term lease
agreement for a floating LNG terminal in Lithuania and advising AB Ūkio Bankas on the transfer of
assets worth EUR 785 million to AB Šiaulių Bankas.

Dr Irmantas Norkus, Managing Partner

Dr Irmantas Norkus, Managing Partner of Raidla
Lejins & Norcous Lithuania office, pointed out:
‘We are especially honoured to have been
placed among this group of elite award winners,
which is yet another recognition of our top place
in the Baltic market. At the same time, it is an incentive and an obligation for the future to strive
to provide the highest quality services to our clients in four countries, including our newest office
in Belarus.“
The Chambers Europe Awards for Excellence
honour outstanding law firms and legal professionals in Europe. The award reflects both preeminence in key practice areas, and achievements
over the last 12 months, including notable work,
strategic growth, excellence in client service, and
contribution to the legal profession.

GSK’s Good Health Club: find
your recipe for a healthy lifestyle!

On May 29th, traditional Breakfast Technical
Briefing was held in Shakespeare boutique
Hotel.
Mr Andrius Ivanauskas, attorney at law, GLIMSTEDT, covered a topic “Lithuanian Private equity
funds: inside and outside”. The presentation provided a general picture of the Lithuanian private
equity funds and covered two main subtopics: internal structuring of the private equity funds and
the structure of investments.
As usual, participants enjoyed delicious English
Breakfast and nice cup of morning coffee, prepared by the Sonnets restaurant.

Agnė Šeikytė, conference manager


11

Chronicle of BCC Events

rooms and 8 conference halls combine the comfort with subtle classical elegance and the latest
technology.
The BEST WESTERN Hotel Vilnius is happy to
have a growing interest in providing conference services to Lithuanian and foreign markets.
There is growing demand for bigger conference
rooms and the most popular conference Hall at
the hotel remains the GLASS HALL which can accommodate up to 420 people. The Europa Classic
restaurant offers a rich buffet breakfast and modern Lithuanian/European menus for conference/
events participants; the Winter garden creates a
nice atmosphere for events.
The hotel is preparing for the coming conference season in autumn and introduces a new
team member, conference manager Agnė Šeikytė.
Agnė has gained a lot of experience in her previous positions working in the conference and recreation sector, organizing conferences, events,
tournaments for people and organizations from
different cultures. Knowing the cultures opens
the door for a high standard of services meeting
the clients needs. Agnė has only been with the
company for a matter of weeks, but has already
brought many new and creative ideas on how to
meet the guest needs to acheive the best results
in successfull events, happy clients and profitable
business.

The Good Health Club is a social initiative conducted by pharmaceutical company “GlaxoSmithKline Lithuania” (GSK) aiming to promote healthy
lifestyles and disease prevention among the residents of Lithuania. The year of 2013 is officially
announced as the Year of Health in Lithuania, so
GSK’s programme (already in the second year) is
already acknowledged by the community and
healthcare NGOs.
The Good Health Club features series of free of
charge exercises in the open during the summer
season for people of different ages and of varying physical backgrounds – from the beginners to
the experienced, from students to elderly people
– as well as families with children. Some of the

courses have been adapted for people with physical disabilities. Exercises are run by professional
trainers together with local celebrities hoping to
raise community awareness on the importance
of healthy living and regular exercise. The lively
sessions prove that exercising should not be boring, it is more of a fun and socializing activity with
community of believers in active healthy living.
Join Good Health Club exercises every Thursday
at 6.30 p.m. at a site by the White Bridge (prie Baltojo tilto), look for a tent with club’s logo and for
more news follow us on Facebook.
This year Good Health Club also offered special
free exercises for patients of osteoporosis, arthritis
and Parkinson’s at a municipal medical polyclinic
in Vilnius. The patients were able to learn exercise
techniques specially designed for them by professional kinesitherapists and were encouraged
to continue exercising at home to improve their
medical conditions and to increase their quality
of life.
The Good Health Club’s partners – Vilniaus Municipality, Vilnius University Representation of
Medical Students, Sports Club.
For more on “GlaxoSmithKline Lithuania” corporate responsibility programmes visit www.gsk.lt


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