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

healthy lifestyle. Hence, to develop tailor facilities product and service to meet particular
groups’ needs, and upgrading the quality of spa destination are as an important for market
segmentation. Research has paid limited attention to the mature travellers studied, or the
mode of spring/spa destination choice. It is vital to be aware that mature traveller needs are
more diverse and multifaceted than ever, and this highlights the need for innovation to meet
the demand for a variety of recreational activities.
Characteristics of mature spring traveller
According to the Taiwan Tourism Bureau (2004), the Central Geological (2002) survey that
Taiwan has over 128 nature spring destinations located in different geological areas including
plains, mountains, valleys, and oceans. It has been identified different type of springs (i.e. s
hot springs, cold springs, mud springs, and seabed springs) with different destination
attributes based on the water temperature, geology, chemistry, and mechanism.
As spring have multi functions for curative effects and medical benefits of soaking. It has
gained popularity for people to ‘taking the water’ in the natural spring/spa destination,
particularly for aged people and patients. Travelling for mineral spring therefore has become
one of most representative recreational activity in Taiwan. (Hsieh et al., 2007). This vogue
beneficial effects relevant industry growing well not only for health tourism industry but also
for medical treatments, social insurance system, and national economy. The majority of
health spa tourism in Taiwan is domestic tourism, the total number of visitors increased from
approximately 4 million in the 2002s to 15 million people (23%) to visit hot springs for
experience their therapeutic techniques and leisure activities purposes, compare with inbound
demand only 17% for hot spring tourism (Taiwan Tourism Bureau, 2004). Nowadays, people
traveling for health in spa resorts and destinations as an attraction phenomenon. Particularly
the new health spring/spa revive health tourism market, the features and potential attraction
draws people to visit particular destination.
The emerging health and spa tourism is blooming in Taiwan since the government carried out
the ‘Taiwan hot spring tourism year’ by 1999. Following the Taiwan Tourism Bureau was
allied springs festival to revive the health spring/spa industry, it is not surprising to see or hear
that the reason travel for desirable health spring/spa destination in the mass medium. It
indicates the health spring/spa tourism is not only as an important curative activity for
domestic tourists but interests overseas tourists. With this potential growth health spring/spa
market, the further developments of health tourism are crucial to the Taiwan tourism industry.
With the society transformations, a number of sociologists recognised the phenomenon of
leisure activities may create a new lifestyle to good and reenergised for mature travellers. As
different value orientation on new aged have different needs in terms of attitudes and quality
of leisure. Thus, it is possibly different approaches on the ways to travel and time to spend.
Norman et al. (2001) refers to mature market as a complex phenomenon in which of
interaction on the biological, psychological, historical and social factors. It is means that
characteristics of mature traveller are response to various activities in particular the new-age
of baby boomers entry mature travel market. As people in the modern time have more
opportunities to arrange their working hours and leisure time, in addition, life expectancy
continue to rise, it impel many people doing more physical health activities during their lives.
Health spring/spa tourism products are dependent on natural resources such as mineral water
and seaside location. Although, the broad reasons for participating in spring/spa travel are to
socialise, improve well-being, and physical therapy, the new sense in a quest of health is
spiritual events and travel for the purpose of mineral cures. Research has paid limited