Application of a Decision-Making Tool for Ranking Wellness Tourism Destinations

Abstract

One of the tourism industry’s segments with the strongest growth rates today is health tourism. Health tourism includes two subgroups: medical tourism (traveling outside one’s country of residence for the purpose of receiving medical care, such as surgery and health services) and wellness tourism (travel to specific locations for health promotion in a preventive way). The economic strength and sustainable growth of nations can both benefit from health tourism. This study applies a methodology to quantify the potential of Portuguese wellness tourism (thermal spas in Northern Portugal) using a multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) tool, namely the preference ranking organization method for enrichment evaluations (PROMETHEE) and geometrical analysis for interactive aid (GAIA), to achieve a robust evaluation and ranking the alternatives. Therefore, in this study, the aim is to rank ten thermal spas in Northern Portugal in terms of fifteen indicators, mostly related to digital services, containing the tourism data obtained between 2020 and 2022. The suggested approach offers trustworthy and reliable outcomes for any qualitative or quantitative criteria to assess thermal spas, which is crucial for consumers, businesses, and even governments. The results showed that PROMETHEE and GAIA can be implemented as an effective method in wellness tourism destinations evaluation.

Optimization of Tourism Management Based on Regional Tourism Competitiveness Evaluation: Evidence from Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China

“…Secondly, this study examined three indexes of tourism resource dominance (number of excellent tourism resources), combination (number of basic types of tourism resources out of 110), and scale (total number of tourism resources) to reflect the regional resource endowment based on a summary of previous evaluation factors [47]. The number of hotels and B&Bs were considered as indicators of accommodation and catering facilities [48].…”

Business Opportunities and Drivers for Health and Spa Tourism: A Qualitative Research on Baile Felix Spa Resort, Romania

“…In the last 10-15 years, there has been a positive shift due to an increasing interest in healthcare, the revival of entrepreneurial initiatives, and a growing interest in the professional management of existing tourism holdings [17]. The development of wellness tourism, not only in Romania but across Europe, has led to a reassessment of positioning and promotional strategies for spa resorts and also prompted the enrichment of spa offerings with innovative and sustainable services [17,123,[125][126][127].…”

Do Size and Ownership Determine the Willingness for Sustainable Innovations in Spa and Health Tourism? A Case Study on Baile Felix Spa Resort, Romania

“…Over the last two decades, several factors (economic, political, changing trends) have led to the decline in spa resorts and to a decrease in the number of foreign tourists. However, tradition, international certifications, employee qualifications, healing natural resources, modernization of infrastructure [67], accommodation and treatment facilities, the implementation of modern spa services and a lower level of tariffs can be a competitive advantage in revitalizing this sector in Romania's economy. There is a growing interest in changing the way people take care of their health, the development of health and wellness tourism in Romania and in Europe in general, driving to the re-evaluation of the positioning and promotion strategies of spa and health resorts, by supplementing the spa offer with innovative [68] and, at the same time, sustainable services [69].…”