Abstract
Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) possess many natural resources that can be exploited for the development of medical tourism. The offer of medical tourism in B&H is focused on spa tourism. B&H has 16 registered spa-centers offering different types of services. This study provides a complete overview of the assessment of the current state of spa-centres using expert decision-making and methods of multi-criteria analysis. An innovative and novel MCDM model based on integration of the FUCOM (full consistency method) and fuzzy MARCOS (Measurement of Alternatives and Ranking according to COmpromise Solution) methods was used. The model consists of 16 alternatives and eight sustainable criteria. The results of this research have shown that the spa-centers of Ilidža near Sarajevo, Fojnica and Vrućica have the best assessments of the current situation and prerequisites for sustainable business. These spa-centers should be a benchmark to other spas providing direction on how to improve their business to be more sustainable and competitive in the market. These results were confirmed by a sensitivity analysis with two approaches used. The first approach was to compare the results obtained by the fuzzy MARCOS method with other fuzzy methods, and the second approach was to examine the influence of the application of different weights on the final ranking of the spa. The results of this study can serve spa-canter managers to understand the position of their spa-centers in order to exploit advantages they have and eliminate the shortcomings to improve their business.
Highlights
Contemporary trends in tourism require specific tourism products that emphasize authenticity, uniqueness and intact resources [1]
An innovative and novel MCDM model based on integration of the Full COnsistency Method (FUCOM) and fuzzy MARCOS (Measurement of Alternatives and Ranking according to COmpromise Solution) methods was used
The results of this research have shown that the spa-centers of Ilidža near Sarajevo, Fojnica and Vrucica have the best assessments of the current situation and prerequisites for sustainable business
Summary
Contemporary trends in tourism require specific tourism products that emphasize authenticity, uniqueness and intact resources [1]. Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) owns significant resources that are not used adequately and in a sustained way. The offer of spas is a type of medical tourism that needs to be improved in order to improve tourism to achieve sustainability in B&H. The spa offer in B&H is being built on these natural resources. The main activity of spa-centers is the health function of treatments, which is the most important and oldest function of spas. More attention is paid to the importance of the spa offer for the purpose of sustaining tourism development. The priority of spa development should be built on the health and tourism function available to spa-centers in B&H. The development of spa-centers is conducive with development of the local tourist offer [3]
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