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

year-long Ottoman occupation: the Turkish baths and the culture of spa visits that Hungarians
adopted are among the positive legacies of this historical period. The Turkish-style heritage
baths of Budapest are today equally popular as leisure facilities for local residents and
heritage attractions for tourists. The third golden age of spa-going in Hungary started in the
19 th century when balneology – the study of the art and science of bathing – became both
popular and scientifically approved. The establishment of the “Balneological Society of the
Countries of the Hungarian Holy Crown” in 1891 (MBE 2004) facilitated scientific cooperation
in balneology, thus resulting in a more effective healing process and contributing to
the development of medical spas around the country. The period’s typically science-oriented
focus on the medicinal values of natural waters significantly affected Hungarian spa tourism
development throughout the 20 th century.
However, political and economic factors have also played a significant role in shaping the
industry. By 1920, due to the Trianon Peace Treaty ending World War I, Hungary lost more
than two thirds of its territory, and the majority of the country’s internationally established
thermal and mineral spas were located behind the newly drawn borders. As a consequence,
the focus of spa tourism development shifted to the exploitation of thermal resources of
Budapest and other destinations within the country. Unfortunately, the outbreak of World War
2 in 1939 interrupted the progress of Hungarian tourism development, and in the newly
established socialist political system spa and health tourism development was mostly limited
to state-controlled social tourism (Lengyel, Puczkó and Rátz 1996).
Hungary is the fifth richest country in thermal and healing waters after Japan, Iceland, France
and Italy. According to the natural healing assets register, Hungary has 1372 thermal wells, of
which 224 are mineralised and 197 medicinal; five medicinal caves, five medicinal mud
sources, one mofetta (a carbon dioxide bath), one natural healing lake (Lake Hévíz), and
altogether 385 spas, of which 65 are classified health spas (Aquaprofit 2007).
In Hungarian tourism, spa and health tourism is a key priority product. The Hungarian
National Tourist Office declared year 2008 the “Year of Waters” including mineral and
thermal waters, putting the field in the focus of the organisation’s domestic and international
marketing efforts. During the last five years, significant capital investment with state support
has been realised in spa and health tourism, resulting in the development of new spas and
wellness centres as well as the necessary tourism suprastructure (hospitality services).
Research methods
During the fellowship period in Japan, both secondary and primary research methods were
used to analyse the role of hot springs in Japanese tourism, the characteristics of supply and
demand, the factors influencing the development of supply and demand, and to compare the
characteristics of tourism based on thermal resources in Japan and in Hungary.
Secondary research methods included the collection and analysis of literature sources on
Japanese tourism, hot springs, social and economic development, using the Library of the
Japan Foundation in Tokyo, the Library of Sapporo Gakuin University in Sapporo, and the
Library of Hokkaido University in Sapporo. This information was later supplemented by
statistical facts and other sources on Hungarian spa and health tourism.
Primary research, on the one hand, included participant observation in the form of visiting
onsen destinations, baths and spas, at a variety of locations around Japan (Toyako, Jozankei,
Sapporo, Hakone, Kawaguchiko, Beppu, Osaka, Tokyo). During these visits, data collection