Strategic Approach to Thermal Tourism During and After Covid-19

Dália Liberato (), Joana A. Quintela (), Paulo Neto (), Pedro Liberato (), Filipa Brandão () and Elga Costa ()
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Dália Liberato: School of Hospitality and Tourism of Polytechnic Institute of Porto (ESHT)
Joana A. Quintela: Portucalense University (UPT), REMIT—Research On Economics, Management, and Information Technologies
Paulo Neto: School of Hospitality and Tourism of Polytechnic Institute of Porto (ESHT)
Pedro Liberato: School of Hospitality and Tourism of Polytechnic Institute of Porto (ESHT)
Filipa Brandão: GOVCOPP—Research Centre On Governance, Competitiveness and Public Policies, Management, Industrial Engineering and Tourism, University of Aveiro
Elga Costa: School of Hospitality and Tourism of Polytechnic Institute of Porto (ESHT)

A chapter in Recent Advancements in Tourism Business, Technology and Social Sciences, 2024, pp 641-652 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract Health and wellness have become important motives for consumption, attracting the researchers’ interest. One of the current challenges in academic research and in the wellness tourism industry is the conceptual development related to the key term wellness. In recent years in Europe, classical thermalism, focused essentially on the “cure” dimension, has been replaced by modern thermalism, which is particularly based on the “wellness” dimension, and the offer is more focused on preventive therapeutic motivations, combined with recreational and tourism aspects. Although the pandemic period led to the stagnation of tourism businesses, health tourism capitalized on the opportunity and developed successfully from the impact of the pandemic. The main objective of this work is to understand the challenges and strategies of the sector during and after Covid-19, namely whether the impact of the pandemic confirmed the need to reassess products and services, with complementary and composite offers that combine nature, sports, and nutrition, among others. A qualitative methodology approach was used to answer this objective, drawing on semi-structured interviews. The results report the challenges that Covid-19 represented to the sector, regarding the expenses increasing with disease prevention and equipment maintenance, the lack of investment, and the decrease in wellness products consumption.

Keywords: Thermal tourism; Wellness; Health; Covid-19; Tourism industry (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Z32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:prbchp:978-3-031-54342-5_40

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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-54342-5_40

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