Journal of Vacation Marketing

 

Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Click here for more information

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Spivack, S. E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati  
What's this?
Journal of Vacation Marketing, Vol. 4, No. 1, 65-77 (1998)
DOI: 10.1177/135676679800400106

Health spa development in the US: A burgeoning component of sport tourism

Sheryl Elliott Spivack

The George Washington University, Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management, 2206 Eye Street, NW, Washington, DC 20052

Health spa tourism development in the US has shown rapid growth during the past two decades. Much of the development has been stimulated by a growing consumer interest for products that contribute to notions of fitness and wellness, including the type of vacations purchased. A demand-side model is presented for analysing the fit of health tourism to overall tourism, and in particular sport tourism. A supply-side model presents health tourism development in two branches: traditional medical institutions and health spas. A qualitative assessment of spa evolvement in the US is presented for the purpose of determining the implications this type of development may have for other countries desiring to diversify their own tourism product. Based on a review of guidebooks, interviews with spa owners and mallagers and inspections of the services and facilities of various types of spa segments, the article concludes that health tourism development may have many beneficial consequences, both economic and environmental, for a destination. The article points to a need for more quantitative research in terms of the number of people travelling for health reasons as well as the performances of different spa segments in order better to assess the future impact of this burgeoning tourism sector.

Key Words: health tourism • sport tourism • amenity spa • destination spa • luxury spa • medically oriented spa • new age spa


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?