The town of Maribor in Slovenia has been chosen to host the ISPA European Conference in 2002. Maribor is famous for its “Golden Fox” race - an international downhill ski race for women staged for more than 30 years.
The country of Slovenia, a green oasis in central Europe is a country rich in diversity. On one side the Alps, interlaced with river gorges and adorned with waterfalls and glacial lakes. On the other the blue Adriatic Sea. Cultural sites range from Roman monuments to medieval castles. National traditions are extremely colourful and carefully presented in age-old crafts, customs and culinary specialities.

The people of Slovenia discovered the healing powers of Slovene thermal springs hundreds of years ago and its rich thermal culture is evident today in 15 spa tourist centres.
The optional pre-conference tour to Slovenian spas, combined with sight seeing opportunities, cultural events and gastronomic delights promises to be a memorable experience to stimulate even the most travel weary palate. This programme starts on Friday 24th May and is centred on the Lasko Health Spa and culminates at Maribor on Wednesday 29th May in time for the opening event of the conference at the National Theatre.

The conference features three keynote speakers one on each of the three days.

These are Slovenian born Sabrino Mesko, a former ballet dancer who is now a world renowned yoga therapist having studied with many Yoga teachers including Guru Maya in India and Master Paramahansa Yogananda in Los Angeles.

Sabrina is the author of two books with worldwide sales “Healing Mudras” and “Mudra - Gestures of Power”. She has homes in her native Slovenia and in Malibu, California. Her articles have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the London Sunday Times, Women First magazine and many, many more.

The title of her keynote speech is “A New Spa Experience with the Power of Mudra”.
The speaker on the second day is Dr. Michael Arloski, a personal and professional coach, psychologist and speaker/trainer, on “The Ten Tenets of Wellness”. Dr. Arloski`s highly regarded presentations engage audiences through lively interaction, humour, story-telling and perceptive analysis. He has worked with groups as diverse as Native American youth and high-level German businessmen.

Last, but not least, on Saturday 1st June Dr.Karl-Ludwig Resch will address the conference on “Wellness Architecture - Living European Spa Tradition”.

Dr. Resch is the director of The Balneology and Spa Medicine Research Institute of the State of Saxony (Germany), one of the largest research facility`s in the field of natural and complementary medicine.

Dr.Resch trained as a general physician in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and previously worked with the Universities of Munich, Vienna and Exeter. He acts as an advisor on health to the Saxon Ministry of Health and several health insurance companies.

Fluent in several languages he has published more than 350 scientific papers and contributes regularly to magazines, radio and television throughout Europe and is editor or co-editor of 3 scientific publications.

The nearest airport is Graz in Austria, with regular services by major carriers - Maribor is 1 hour by road. Alternatively Vienna is 1.5 hours by road. The national carrier Adria Airways serves the Slovenian airport at Ljubljana with regular services from London Gatwick, Amsterdam, Paris CDG, Frankfurt and Munich. Adria Airways are offering special fares for the ISPA Europe Conference and transfers are available to both Maribor, for the conference, and Lasko for the pre-conference program.

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