Lifestyle Segmentation of Spa Users: A Study of Inbound Travelers to Hong Kong

Abstract

Based on the increasing popularity of the wellness/spa trend and the growing numbers of inbound tourists to Hong Kong, it is crucial for spa industry experts to understand the ever-changing desires of consumers. The study aims to identify the lifestyle dimensions of international spa visitors to Hong Kong and to profile each segment based on their sociodemographic and travel characteristics. The study adopts a quantitative approach to segmenting international spa visitors in Hong Kong by lifestyle. The results of the lifestyle segmentation revealed five clusters of spa visitors. The segments are "health conscious and intellectual", "average", "family focused", "pleasure oriented", and "carefree". It is found that the majority of travelers who visit spas in Hong Kong are health conscious and intellectual. In general, visitors prefer day spas, to visit with their partner or friends, and to enjoy body massage treatments.

Exploring the Determinants of Hot Spring Tourism Customer Satisfaction: Causal Relationships Analysis Using ISM

“…With the increasing awareness of the value of spa treatments, people began to attach importance to the commercial and economic value of hot springs, particularly the tourism industry, mainly for the behavior and demand characteristics of tourists [18], travel motivations [36,38,42,43], the geographical characteristics of customer marketing [15], as well as visitors' evaluation of spa experiences [44]. In addition to focusing on the value of hot spring resources, researchers later began to discuss the influencing factors of hot spring tourism development, such as hot spring hot brand [45], the coordinated development of the entire region's economy, and ecology at the external macro level [12,15,46,47], while other scholars studied the advantages and disadvantages of hot spring resorts with case analyses [12], focused on services and activities at hot spring destinations [48][49][50], and service quality and consumer preferences [15,22,35,48].…”

“…Hot Spring Quality It refers to the quality of hot springs such as the water quality, and water temperature [47].…”

Comparison of Spa Choice between Wellness Tourists and Healthcare/Medical Tourists

“…Valentine [ 30 ] highlights the usefulness of natural remedies based on air, water, rest, and healthy diets as a key factor for visiting a spa. Similarly, other authors have found that customers decide to go to spas because they consider them useful for improving their health [ 31 , 32 , 33 ]. Some authors have also found that spas are considered a useful place for socializing and building relationships [ 7 , 31 ].…”

“…Huh, Lee, and Lee [ 53 ] identify a spa-goer market segment that they call “pleasure pursuers,” which is the largest segment in their study. Kucukusta and Denizci Guillet [ 32 ] also identify a segment of pleasure-oriented spa-goers. Han, Thuong, Kiatkawsin, Ryu, Kim, and Kim [ 54 ] use the emotional dimensions of pleasure and arousal in their study on customers’ intention to return to a spa hotel.…”

“…Wellness is often associated with tasteful, trendy, and stylish products in the media [ 73 ]. With regard to the healthcare/medical benefits obtained at spas, Koh et al [ 7 ] conclude that the health benefits and rejuvenation are the most important spa-selection criteria for spa tourists in the U.S. Hsieh [ 31 ], Kucukusta and Guillet [ 32 ], and Kamenidou et al [ 33 ] highlight health improvements through spa treatments as one of the essential reasons for going to spas, while Kamenidou et al [ 33 ] identify therapeutic reasons and body care as motivational factors for spa tourists.…”