Sustainable development of industrial heritage tourism - a case study of the industrial monuments route in Poland.

Natural resources are recognized among the key determinants for the improvement of wellness, and thus the development and sustainability of health tourism destinations. This study applied a systematic review to investigate the contributions mapping and analyzing under different perspectives the value of the natural resources of a destination and related activities for health tourism. The main research topics identified from a review of 52 papers include the analysis and exploitation of natural resources in health tourism, the nature-based factors considered in clustering of tourists and their motivations, the development of value offer and marketing, as well as the cultural issues. Research gaps and future directions are summarized in a research agenda laying the foundations for the development of a multidisciplinary research stream focused on nature-based health tourism. Results also represent a key reference for managers and policy makers to identify key issues, areas of intervention and practices for industry development in the health tourism destinations through an effective and sustainable exploitation of natural resources.

https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/5/2661/pdf

Natural Resources in Health Tourism: A Systematic Literature Review

Wellness and Tourism-Mind, Body, Spirit, Place is a part of the book series edited by Jafar Jafari and Marta Jacob Escauriaza, titled Innovation and Tourism: Connecting Theory & Practices. It is wo...

Wellness and tourism-mind, body, spirit, place

Developing the Spa Assessment Model (SAM) and its application on the Kopaonik-Jastrebac spa zone (Serbia)

Slovak spa services are not given sufficient attention directly following the support and sustainable development. The paper focuses on the evaluation of the overall development and current level of efficiency of the Slovak spas in 2013–2018, through the application of DEA models. Input variables (total number of beds, employees, medical staff) and output variables (use of bed capacity, number of treated clients) within the structure of DEA models analyzed (CCR-I, CCR-O, BCC-I, BCC-O) are determined by results of the correlation analysis. The data were obtained from the annual reports of the spa enterprises. By the results, the average efficiency score for all enterprises reached 0.7527, i.e., the average spa enterprise would need only 75.27% of currently used inputs for a given output production to move to the efficiency frontier. The development of the average efficiency score confirmed a positive growing trend until 2015; however, the efficiency decreased by 1.84% in a year-to-year comparison in 2016–2018. In each year of the analyzed period, the number of inefficient enterprises (66.67%) exceeded that of the efficient ones (33.33%). Through research carried out in spa facilities, the authors contributed to expanding the application of the DEA method in another tourism sector.

https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/13/7422/pdf

Application of the DEA Model in Tourism SMEs: An Empirical Study from Slovakia in the Context of Business Sustainability

Literature on the trends of health tourism development has proven that it is becoming one of the most important tourism activities. With the growing popularity of this form of tourism, the structure of the needs of tourists and spa patients is simultaneously changing. This article presents the results of self-research carried out in Polish spa resorts based on a sample of 753 patients and spa tourists. The purpose of the research carried out was the development of a value proposition for the client of a spa enterprise as an element of a business model. At the same time, this paper points to the need to base spa activity on the values of sustainable development through key spa resources in the form of a therapeutic climate and natural raw materials applied in spa therapy. The key values for patients and spa tourists are the improvement of health with natural therapeutic resources, recreation in a place with a healing climate, achieving the effect of the treatment, the development of cultural activities, the possibility of taking care of a child during treatment, and the introduction of a psychologist and leisure animator. The mentioned features may become the basis for building a business model of spa enterprises to adapt the value propositions of a client in their business models to the needs demonstrated by the beneficiaries of these values. The problem raised in the article requires a simultaneous consideration of the principles of sustainable development in relation to the natural resources used in spa therapy.

https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/13/3598/pdf

Katarzyna Wybrańczyk

Papers

Proposal of Value for Customer of Spas: Expectations of Spa Patients and Tourist in Polish Spas

Postawy pracownika wobec zmian oraz wybrane koncepcje wprowadzania zmian w postawach pracowniczych

Przebieg procesu zmian w organizacji - przegląd wybranych koncepcji zmian