Consumer preferences for wellness vacations destinations in the Czech Republic

Abstract

The development of the wellness travel industry has been propelled by the rising concerns of an overworked population faced with both physical and mental health issues. Wellness vacation enables travellers to rejuvenate themselves after a long working period due to burnout, stress, and feeling overwhelmed, especially after the recent COVID-19 pandemic. As the traits and preferences of Czech travellers could have been impacted by the recent pandemic lockdown, and as there are scarce published works that have documented their recent preferences for vacation destinations; this study investigates the traits and behaviours of Czech tourists in selecting wellness vacation destinations in the Czech Republic (CR). Data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire survey, and participants who are familiar with wellness vacations in CR and at least visit a wellness vacation destination once a year were invited to participate in the study. Two hundred and sixteen respondents participated and 182 responses were finalised for data analysis after removing incomplete responses. Data analysis was conducted using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 25, and description analysis was carried out to tabulate travellers' gender, age and income of participants, frequency of wellness vacation visits per year, intention to travel and willingness to travel based on distance. Findings show Czech travellers of both genders have similar preferences when it comes to wellness destinations. The result also shows most Czech travellers are willing to travel far distances (of more than 200km) to visit wellness destinations, which suggests that wellness destinations do not have to be concerned about the location if they are providing quality products and services to their visitors. The study also makes several suggestions and recommendations based on the results, including innovative ideas for future wellness vacation retreats to target both genders and age categories, especially for Millennials who work in busy cities where services such as digital detox would appeal to this market segment.