Wellness Tourism - A Destination Perspective

Core values of society, health and wellbeing impact today on all aspects of our lives, and have also increasingly influenced patterns of tourism consumption and production. In this context wellness has developed into a significant dimension of tourism in a number of new and long established destinations. However, although it is consistently referred to as one of the most rapidly growing forms of tourism worldwide there still remains a dearth of academic literature on this topic.

This book uniquely focuses on the supply side of wellness tourism from a destination perspective in terms of the generation and delivery of products and services for tourists who seek to maintain and improve their health. This approach provides a better understanding of how wellness tourism destinations develop and explores the specific drivers of that growth in a destination context and how destinations successfully compete against each other in globalised market place. A range of wellness destination development and management issues are examined including the importance of authenticity, an appropriate policy framework, delivery of high quality goods and services, participation of a broad range of stakeholders and the development of networks and clusters as well as collaborative strategies essential for a successful development and management of a wellness tourism destination. International case studies and examples from established and new wellness tourism destinations are integrated throughout.

This timely volume written by leaders in this sector will be of interest to tourism and hospitality students and academics internationally.

List of contents

Part One: Introduction 1. Wellness Tourism from a Destination Perspective: Why Now? 2. Towards a Conceptualisation of Wellness Tourism 3. Wellness Tourism and Destination Competitiveness Part Two: The Role Of Stakeholders In Wellness Tourism Destinations 4. An Examination of the Extent of Collaboration Between Major Wellness Tourism Stakeholders in Australia 5. Wellness Tourism: The Factors and Processes that Drive Regional Destinations 6. Health Regions: Building Tourism Destinations Through Networked Core Competencies 7. Identification and Development of Core Competencies as a Basis for Regional Development with Special Focus on Health Tourism 8. Fit for Purpose: Delivering Wellness Tourism Through People Part Three: Relationships Between Nature, Wellbeing and Destinations 9. Researching the Links Between Parklands and Health 10. Exploring Visitor Wellbeing in Parks and Nature Reserves 11. Nature-Based Wellness Tourism: The Case of the Margaret River Region in Western Australia 12. The Kneipp Philosophy – A Healthy Approach To Destination Development Part Four: Drivers of Wellness Tourism Development: International Experiences 13. Regional Trends and Predictions for Global Health Tourism 14. Fantasy, Authenticity and the Spa Tourism Experience 15. Wellness Tourism: A Perspective from Japan 16. Health Tourism in the Context of Demographic and Psychographic Change: A German Perspective 17. Australia’s Approach to Health Care and its Implications for Health Tourism Part Five: Conclusion 18. Concluding Discussion: Implications for Destination Development and Management

About the author

Cornelia Voigt has worked as a researcher and lecturer at different universities. Her research on wellness tourism won several additional awards and she has published in leading international tourism journals.
Christof Pforr is Course Coordinator for Tourism and Hospitality and Group Leader of the Research Focus Area ‘Sustainable and Health Tourism’ with the School of Marketing, Curtin Business School, Australia.

Summary

Core values of society, health and wellbeing impact today on all aspects of our lives, and have also increasingly influenced patterns of tourism consumption and production. In this context wellness has developed into a significant dimension of tourism in a number of new and long established destinations. However, although it is consistently referred to as one of the most rapidly growing forms of tourism worldwide there still remains a dearth of academic literature on this topic.

This book uniquely focuses on the supply side of wellness tourism from a destination perspective in terms of the generation and delivery of products and services for tourists who seek to maintain and improve their health. This approach provides a better understanding of how wellness tourism destinations develop and explores the specific drivers of that growth in a destination context and how destinations successfully compete against each other in globalised market place. A range of wellness destination development and management issues are examined including the importance of authenticity, an appropriate policy framework, delivery of high quality goods and services, participation of a broad range of stakeholders and the development of networks and clusters as well as collaborative strategies essential for a successful development and management of a wellness tourism destination. International case studies and examples from established and new wellness tourism destinations are integrated throughout.

This timely volume written by leaders in this sector will be of interest to tourism and hospitality students and academics internationally.

Product details

• Authors: Cornelia (Curtin University Voigt, Cornelia Pforr Voigt
• Assisted by: Christof Pforr (Editor), Christof (Curtin University Pforr (Editor), Cornelia Voigt (Editor), Cornelia (Curtin University Voigt (Editor)
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd.
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 31.12.2017
• EAN: 9781138082007
• ISBN: 978-1-138-08200-7
• No. of pages: 320
• Series: Routledge Advances in Tourism; Routledge Advances in Tourism
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Business > Miscellaneous; Travel > Travel guides > World, Arctic, Antarctic