ABSTRACT
The proliferation of spa and wellness hotel developments around the world means that it is possible to experience a large number of health and wellness products almost anyplace where there is a reasonable infrastructure for tourism. Products can include national and regional assets and resources, such as mineral waters, mountain chains, seas, or rivers, indi genous and local traditions and treatments, or site-level facilities and packages. Although many countries do not have natural sources of medical or thermal waters, swimming pools, saunas, steam rooms, massage and fi tness facilities can be created anywhere. This is unproblematic if health is the secondary motivation of tourists (i.e. they are business or conference tourists who may just use the facilities if they have time, or sightseers for whom spa facilities are an added bonus). However, for more dedicated health tourists, the expectation is likely to be higher and the search for some form of uniqueness or local features may lead to disappointment if it is unfulfi lled. They may be satisfi ed if the health resort or destination can offer an extremely diverse range of products (e.g. ten different massages, a whole range of fi tness activities, a multi-cuisine buffet). An especially high quality experience could also count in the destination’s favour. Competitive pricing is less of an incentive as most wellness tourists are happy to spend large amounts of money on pampering and relaxation. One exception is the cost of medical treatments where tourists travel long distances for cheaper prices than at home and/or proven healing effects of natural assets.
