Health resort services: Essence, specific features, and approaches to classification

Abstract

Aim. The presented study aims to analyze existing approaches to determining the essence of a health resort service and indentifying its individual components and to build a model of such a service as a multicomponent product of the regional health resort complex.Tasks. The authors investigate approaches to defining a health resort product; describe the relationship between the concepts of ‘health resort product’ and ‘health resort service’; substantiate the need for a compositional approach to modeling health resort services; specify the definition and build an original model of health resort services.Methods. This study uses general scientific methods of cognition, a compositional approach, and modeling methods to investigate various approaches to defining and identifying the components of a health resort service package. The necessity of expanding the range of organizations involved in the creation of such a service is substantiated.Results. In modern conditions, a competitive health resort service is often not a product of a specialized health resort organization, but the result of collaboration of several organizations that are different from a functional perspective. A health resort organization can be created not independently, but with the involvement of joint participants. A health resort service is a package of benefits. Thus, a model of such a service should include several levels, including basic components, additional services, and a certain degree of customization.Conclusions. Currently, a health resort service is a multicomponent package of tangible and intangible elements (services, events, impressions, goods) that allow the customer to satisfy the needs for recreation (wellness and leisure) in general. Such an approach helps to increase the service’s adaptability to the needs and requirements of a particular customer. By developing the package of components of a health resort service, it will be possible to increase the overall economic and investment attractiveness of the health resort complex. The compositional approach makes it possible to plan the activities of a health resort organization more clearly, ensuring greater transparency of the production of services, calculation of their cost, etc.