Evolution of Demand for Portuguese Thermal Spas: An Exploratory Data Analysis of Administrative Data

Jéssica Alves (), Maria José Alves () and Alcina Nunes ()
Additional contact information
Jéssica Alves: Instituto Politécnico de Bragança
Maria José Alves: CIMO, Laboratório Colaborativo AquaValor, Instituto Politénico de Bragança
Alcina Nunes: UNIAG, Instituto Politénico de Bragança

Chapter Chapter 10 in Sustainable Approaches and Business Challenges in Times of Crisis, 2024, pp 167-185 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract Well-being or positive health is not a new concept; However, since the mid-twentieth century, scientific institutions have addressed the issue and its implications for medicine and public health. It can be observed that wellness and healthy living are becoming more and more important in society. Consequently, there is an increased need to look for products and services that mitigate the risk of these diseases associated with modern society. Thus, a fusion between tourism and wellness emerges, with thermal spas being an essential factor in the health and wellness promotion equation. In Portugal, thermal services are well known. However, the demand for its services is subject to difficulties well observed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, it is fundamental to characterize the Portuguese thermal market on the demand side to segment it and find the best strategy to meet the user needs. Secondly, it is relevant to understand the weight of each segment in the market. Focusing on the division between classic thermal services—considered therapeutical health services—and wellness services provided by Portuguese thermal establishments, this research aims to characterize the thermal market on the demand side. In particular, the study seeks to understand how wellness services are evolving regarding the total demand for Portuguese thermal establishments. Based on the descriptive analysis of administrative data of registers in all the Portuguese thermal establishments, it is possible to conclude that the increasing demand for thermalism products and services (both therapeutic and wellness) suffered a severe crash with the financial crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic. Age is an essential factor that distinguishes the market segment of the therapeutic thermal offer. The consumers of such a thermal component are older than the ones demanding wellness services. Finally, specific international markets (France, Spain, and the United Kingdom) become more important in the user’s segments.

Keywords: Well-being; Demand segment; Thermal establishments; Wellness tourism; Portugal (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:prbchp:978-3-031-48288-5_10

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/9783031482885

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-48288-5_10

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().