Author(s): Liberato, Dália ; Brandão, Filipa ; Teixeira, Ana Sofia ; Liberato, Pedro
Date: 2021
Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.22/18552
Origin: Repositório Científico do Instituto Politécnico do Porto
Subject(s): Health and well-being tourism; Thermal baths; Spa; Satisfaction; Behavioural intention; Turismo de saúde e bem-estar; Termas; Spa; Satisfação; Intenção comportamental
Nowadays, successful tourism destinations must offer diversity and new tourism products, addressing special interest niches, where it is possible to frame health and wellness tourism, with special emphasis on thermal tourism. It has been observed some changes regarding the customer characteristics, treatments, products, and services made available, as a strategy to overcome imbalances in physical and psychological well-being, diagnosed in the consumer. It is in the spas, with body and mind recovery treatments offer, complementary to the classic treatments, that individuals recover their well-being and, consequently, improve their quality of life. The quantitative research was based on a sample of 201 participants in the North and Centre of Portugal, in a pandemic context(COVID'19). The results confirmed that the socio-demographic profile of the participants influences the choice of the available services; the most valued aspects in the selection of the thermal establishment influence the degree of satisfaction regarding the trip and the thermal experience, and the intention to recommend and revisit the destination; and, Finally, overall satisfaction with the thermal destination significantly influences the loyalty to the health and wellness destination. Main contributions were identified, concerning the quality and variety of treatments, infrastructure, price, location, access and service, and the need for product design and proposals directed at identified target markets.
