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

(2005) identified in their study 14 factors of general tourist motivation. These factors were
novelty, escape/relax, relationship (strengthen), autonomy, nature, self-development (host-site
involvement), stimulation, self-development (personal development), relationship (security),
self-actualise, isolation, nostalgia, romance and recognition. The push motivations are noticed
to be useful in explaining the desire for travel, as they are recognized as basis of
understanding tourists’ behaviour (Crompton 1979, Kim et al. 2008). Pull factors are more
tangible and they are related often to attractiveness of a destination (e.g. Baloglu & Uysal
1996, Bowen & Clarke 2009). Pull factors can be diverse destination attributes (e.g. spa
facilities, high quality accommodation, amusement parks, national parks) and activities (e.g.
outdoor activities, courses, excursions) that tourists are interested in.
There are only few studies that have concentrated on wellness and wellbeing tourism
motivations. These studies are mainly focused on sub-sectors of wellness tourism, such as spa
or spiritual tourism (Koh et al. 2010, Lehto et al. 2005, Mak et al. 2009) or on the push factors
(internal motivations) (Chen & Prebensen 2009, Koh et al. 2010, Mak et al. 2009) and Asian
(see Chen & Prebensen 2009, Mak et al. 2009) or US target groups (Lehto et al. 2005).
Mak et al. (2009) have studied underlying motivations for spa visits. They found five
motivation factors among Hong Kong spa-goers. These factors were friendship and kinship,
health and beauty, self-reward and indulgence, relaxation and relief, and escape. The top five
motivations (mean over 3 on five-point Likert scale) were ‘to seek physical relaxation’, ‘to
pamper oneself’, ‘to reward oneself for working hard’, ‘to seek mental peacefulness’ and ‘to
get away from the pressures of work and social life’. Koh et al. (2010) have segmented spa
goers using benefit segmentation. The benefit attributes they have used are very similar to
motivation attributes used in different studies. They identified four motivation factors: social,
relaxing, healthy, and rejuvenating. They also grouped spa goers valuating similar benefits
into three clusters – escapists, neutralists and hedonists. For instance, escapists were interested
in improving their health (mean 3,95 on five-point Likert scale) and rejuvenating themselves
(mean 3,99). Hedonists were interested the most in relaxing and rejuvenating (means in both
4,78).
Lehto et al. (2006) examined motivations of yoga tourists by using 18 motivation statements.
They identified four motivation factors in their study 1) seeking spirituality, 2) enhancing
mental wellbeing, 3) enhancing physical condition, and 4) controlling negative emotions.
They found out that the top five motivations (measured using five-point Likert scale) were to
renew myself (mean 4,46), to relax (mean 4,46), to be more flexible in body and mind (mean
4,42), to let go of stress from a busy life (mean 4,41), and to help me gain a sense of balance
(mean 4,38). Kelly and Smith (2009) also found out in their case study that the focus of retreat
holidays is “the self”.
Chen and Prebenson (2009) have studied wellness motivation attributes for Taiwanese tourists
by using 16 different variables: health consciousness, physical therapy, social activity,
recreation, enhancement of quality of life, effortless activity, affordable activity, pursuing
multiactivities, relaxation, business engagement, word of mouth, curiosity, mental therapy,
attractiveness, experiencing nature, and meditation (measured using 7-point Likert scale).
They found out that the most important motivation factors were relaxation (mean 5,40),
pursuing multiple activities (mean 5,24), recreation (mean 5,16), and experiencing nature
(mean 5,04). The results show that a stay in a wellness destination or resort is not just for
being pampered, and tourists are interested in doing also different activities during their
wellbeing holiday (Chen & Prebenson 2009). Smith and Puczkó (2009, 262-263) have also