Exploring Health Tourism

"Exploring Health Tourism" addresses the growing segment of wellness and medical tourism. It introduces into health-related tourism products and services and provides insights into the current situation and the future potential. An easy taxonomy and a toolkit assist NTOs and DMOs with their planning and management of health-related activities.

The ETC/UNWTO publication on Exploring Health Tourism aims to provide a better understanding of the growing segment of wellness and medical tourism. The study introduces the evolution of health-related tourism products and services from all around the world and provides insights into the current situation of the industry, as well as the future potential. It also includes a comprehensive taxonomy that serves as a common reference for tourism destinations operating in this field, as well as a practical toolkit to assist NTOs and DMOs with their planning and management of health-related tourism activities."

Health and Wellness Tourism takes an innovative look at this rapidly growing sector of today¿s thriving tourism industry. This book examines the range of motivations that drive this diverse sector of tourists, the products that are being developed to meet their needs and the management implications of these developments. A wide range of international case studies illustrate the multiple aspects of the industry and new and emerging trends including spas, medical wellness, life-coaching, meditation, festivals, pilgrimage and yoga retreats. The authors also evaluate marketing and promotional strategies and assess operational and management issues in the context of health and wellness tourism. This text includes a number of features to reinforce theory for advanced students of hospitality, leisure and tourism and related disciplines.

The Routledge Handbook of Health Tourism provides a comprehensive and cutting-edge overview of the philosophical, conceptual and managerial issues in the field of health tourism with contributions from more than 30 expert academics and practitioners from around the world. Terms that are used frequently when defining health tourism, such as wellbeing, wellness, holistic, medical and spiritual, are analysed and explored, as is the role that health and health tourism play in quality-of-life enhancement, wellbeing, life satisfaction and happiness. An overview is provided of health tourism facilities such as thermal waters, spas, retreats and wellness hotels and the various challenges inherent in managing these profitably and sustainably. Typologies are given not only of subsectors of health tourism and related activities but also of destinations, such as natural landscapes, historic townscapes or individual resources or attractions around which whole infrastructures have been developed. Attention is paid to some of the lifestyle changes that are taking place in societies which influence consumer behaviour, motivations and demand for health tourism, including government policies, regulations and ethical considerations. This significant volume offers the reader a comprehensive synthesis of this field, conveying the latest thinking and research. The text is international in focus, encouraging dialogue across disciplinary boundaries and areas of study and will be an invaluable resource for all those with an interest in health tourism.

Around the world, there is mounting evidence that parks and protected areas contribute to a healthy civil society, thus increasing the economic importance of cultural and nature-based tourism. Operating at the intersection of business and the environment, tourism can improve human health and wellbeing as well as serve as a catalyst for increasing appreciation and stewardship of the natural world. While the revenues from nature-based activities help to make the case for investing in park and protected area management; the impacts they have need to be carefully managed, so that visitors do not destroy the natural wonders that attracted them to a destination in the first place. This book features contributions from tourism and recreation researchers and practitioners exploring the relationship between tourism, hospitality, protected areas, livelihoods and both physical and emotional human wellbeing. The book includes sections focused on theory, policy and practice, and case studies, to inform and guide industry decisions to address real-world problems and proactively plan for a sustainable and healthy future.

Geothermal springs constitute a major tourism resource, providing spectacular settings, recreation facilities, a recognised value in treatments beneficial for health and wellness, a sense of heritage and adventure, and links with the natural environment. Health and wellness tourism accounts for a significant proportion of the world’s tourism consumption, with components ranging from hot spring bathing for leisure and recreation, through mineral water use in health treatments under the supervision of highly specialised medical professionals, to water treatments in the wellness and beauty therapy sector and the use of mineral water for drinking purposes. This makes it an economically and socially important area of tourism demanding in-depth analysis. This book explores health and wellness tourism from a range of perspectives including usage, heritage, management, technology, environmental and cultural features, and marketing.

This book aims to contribute to the literature and aid in developing a theoretical and practical framework in the area of health and wellness tourism. With contributions and research from different countries using a practical approach, this book is an essential source for students, researchers and managers in the health and wellness tourism industry. Recently, there has been an increased interest in health and wellness due to greater life expectancy, aging populations, increasing levels of stress among others. In this context, the concepts of health, wellness, beauty, relaxation, and tourism can be combined to satisfy the needs of people seeking better quality-of-life. This has given rise to health and wellness tourism, a new market segment that contributes to employment and economic growth in the new economy. Health and wellness tourism involves two aspects: therapeutics, which seeks to cure certain diseases; and relaxation and leisure. As an alternative to traditional tourism, health and wellness tourism provides a new means of achieving regional and local development from a demographic, social, environmental and economic point-of-view. It contributes to tourist destinations’ economic growth, acting as a pillar to support other complementary activities. In short, health and wellness tourism contributes to employment growth and regional wealth, contributes to tourism seasonality, promotes quality in tourism destinations, helps create new tourist services with high value, promotes establishment of international cooperation networks, and yields a number of additional benefits. Featuring a variety of programs and initiatives from different regions, with an emphasis on thermal and thalassotherapy establishments, this volume sheds light on this emerging market segment and its implications for economic and policy development.