Quality of Life and Health Tourism: A Conceptual Roadmap of Enhancing Cognition and Well-Being

Evgenia Gkinton (), Giorgos Telonis, Constantinos Halkiopoulos () and Basilis Boutsinas
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Evgenia Gkinton: University of Patras
Giorgos Telonis: University of Patras
Constantinos Halkiopoulos: University of Patras
Basilis Boutsinas: University of Patras

A chapter in Tourism, Travel, and Hospitality in a Smart and Sustainable World, 2023, pp 651-666 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract Health tourism is a unique form of tourism that mixes vacations with the prevention and treatment of physical and mental conditions. It refers to all relationships and phenomena that result from a change in location and residence of individuals and aims to promote, stabilize, and restore, as needed, their physical, mental, and emotional health and well-being using services in a location that is not their permanent place of residence or employment. Wellness tourism encompasses all interactions and phenomena resulting from the travel and stay of individuals whose primary objective is to restore, preserve, and improve their physical and mental health and social well-being. Wellness is a combination of attitudes and behaviors designed to prevent disease, improve health, and enhance the quality of life. This paper aims to investigate the contribution of wellness tourism to enhancing the quality of life. In addition, cognitive and emotional characteristics of the tourist traveler's personality that can be enhanced through wellness tourism and contribute to the general improvement of life quality are investigated. This article is an overview review of research conducted over the past ten years. The results underlined, among other things, the role of wellness tourism in enhancing the quality of life in its many facets, including physical and mental health, well-being, and social environment. In addition, enhancing cognitive function and emotional well-being, both of which can be attained through wellness tourism, are two additional determinants of a harmonious quality of life. Health tourism in general and wellness tourism can bring numerous benefits, both at the individual level to the physical and psychological health of the beneficiary of the tourist product and at the community level by contributing to their economic and social vibrancy. As a result, upgrading tourist facilities and infrastructure and attracting investment funds to strengthen health and wellness tourism in tourist-travel destinations is considered an unavoidable necessity, as it can bring substantial social, economic, and cultural benefits to the local communities of states.

Keywords: Quality of life; Health tourism; Cognition; Well-being; Tourism industry; Data analytics; D91; Z32; O32; I12; I31; C80 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:prbchp:978-3-031-26829-8_41

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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-26829-8_41

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