04 February 2000
The consortiums have until April 30 to present their development plans for the 658,000 square metre site. The cost of the relaunch will depend on the type of initiatives put forward by the groups, said Ludovico Barone, the director of the council-owned company, Terme di Agnano Ltd.
The City and Province of Naples are likely to hold a 20% stake in the new management company, with the private investor retaining an 80% shareholding.
The decision to develop Terme di Agnano into a 'beauty farm' follows spa towns such as Germany's Baden-Baden, which is having to diversify in the wake of public spending cuts. Where once Germans could visit thermal baths for four weeks every three years at the expense of the state, cutbacks introduced by former chancellor Helmut Kohl have halved funds for spa resorts.
A German health ministry official said: 'We have reached a plateau, where we cannot get more and more and better benefits.'
PFfeb2000
