Development Potential of Spa Enterprises from the Perspective of Global Trends in Health Tourism

Abstract

Purpose. The identification of current, global trends in health tourism and their confrontation with the development potential of selected Polish spa enterprises. Method. The study was of exploratory nature and used the focus group interview method. Seventeen people participated in the discussion, including the management board representatives of spa enterprises and experts from the health tourism sector. Results. The research allowed to determine the development potential value of spa enterprises and its adaptation capacity to both worldwide competition and trends in the global tourist demand. The rivalry between spa enterprises is focused on the domestic market, neglecting the European and global competition. Only few spa resorts identify global trends in health tourism, perceiving them as a risk factor in enterprise management. Research and conclusions limitations. The study was not based on representative samples, as the number of spa enterprises presenting high potential and importance in tourist traffic management is small and covers 27 entities. The study also used secondary sources describing trends in health tourism, collected at different periods and from the perspective of various criteria, which limits generalisation of the research results. Practical implications. The adaptation of spa enterprises to global trends in health tourism requires collective actions undertaken by enterprises, municipalities and also the spa sector. Originality. The potential of spa enterprises is a relatively rarely discussed research problem, whereas trends in tourism, including health tourism, are much more frequently analysed.In turn, research on the adaptation capacity of spa enterprises to global trends remains poorly developed. Type of study. The article is of an overview of empirical nature. Global trends in health tourism are reviewed, and the presented empirical research confronts the development potential of spa enterprises with the possibilities of spa entities in responding to the identified trends.