Health, Wellness and Tourism: healthy tourists, healthy business ...

Today´s health spa hotels are mostly managed by managers graduated from business or
tourism schools but the investigation and treatment part of the hotel is managed by medical
doctors. Most of them represent the conservative approach on health spa and they do not
tolerate the coexistence of different forms of health tourism and do not consider health spas as
a part of tourism. Their view on wellness as a heterogeneous element which does not come
under spa care and had not had to be a part of health spa facilities or of spa destinations is at
the same time a very rigid one.
Managers, who consider health spa as one of the dynamically developing forms of tourism,
understand also the role of wellness as well as an appropriate supplement to spa care or even a
part of health spa facilities.
From the point of view of both approaches there is a difference among complex spa care
guests, allowance spa care guests and commercial spa care guests. The complex spa care
guests must fully regularize themselves to complex spa arrangement. The allowance spa care
guests have more free scope in the field of accommodation and catering, as well as cultural,
sport and other services. They can make changes in treatments with permission of the health
spa medical doctor. Commercial spa care guests are independent guests who have free scope
in the field of accommodation and catering, as well as cultural, sport and other services. All
changes in treatments must be discussed by a medical doctor.
Health spas managed by medical doctors are strongly oriented on particular components of
health spa care system and wellness components are incorporated into product offered to
guests as sport activities only. According to diagnosis guests always receive tailored treatment
with the possibility to order additional treatments on a commercial basis.
Managers, who consider health spa as one of dynamically developing forms of tourism,
understand also the role of wellness as an appropriate supplement to spa care or even a part of
health spa facilities. They are regularly innovating products offered to customers and looking
for new opportunities as wellness which they incorporate into their offer.
Such health spa facilities offer different types of massages (e. g. thai, reiki, chocolate, honey,
stone, and alike) meditation therapies, drum circles, beer or wine bath, salt caves, Nordic
walking, yoga, oxygen therapy, crymotherapy, Finish sauna, Russian bath, Turkish bath,
phototherapy, sound therapy, special food arrangement, possibilities to learn about nutrition
and healthy food preparation practices and alike.
Managers observe some trends in health spa which bring health spa close to wellness and can
be defined as follows:
• Shorter length of stay (the most common is a long weekend stay – 3 nights);
• Higher number of frequent visitors (visiting a spa 3 or more time per year);
• Increasing number of guest from 25 – 40 age group;
• Demand for special packages (Eastern, Christmas, New Years Eve, etc.);
• Demand for special events in spas (wedding party, birthday party, etc.);
• Demand for special targeting packages (weight-loosing, anti-stress, managerial,
women, etc.);
• Demand for special/exotic treatments (massages, catering, training, etc.);
• Demand for additional services e. g. cosmetics, manicure, pedicure, visage,
hairdresser;