Motivations and destination selection of mature international thalassotherapy tourists

Kurtulmuşoğlu, Feride Bahar; Eşiyok, Bülent

doi:10.1080/13683500.2016.1170109

Cited by 11 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…Anaya-Aguilar et al (2021c), Chrobak et al (2020), Esiyok et al (2017), Han et al (2018b) Irimiás (2013), Kurtulmuşoğlu and Esiyok (2016) and Smith and Puczkó (2015) investigate tourist behaviour , namely the motivations and profile of this type of tourist, such as health and spirituality, they also seek pleasure with the experience of well-being, relaxation, nature, unique environments, traditions and culture. The demands of today's tourist require a constant updating of the skills of the sector's professionals, with emphasis on communication skills in the direct relationship with the customer, to ensure their satisfaction and consequently loyalty (Emir and Saraçli, 2011; Thal et al , 2021).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Tourist Behaviour – The motivations and new priorities and demands of tourists' (Smith and Puczkó, 2015; Anaya-Aguilar et al , 2021c; Chrobak et al , 2020; Esiyok et al , 2017; Han et al , 2018b; Irimiás, 2013; Kurtulmuşoğlu and Esiyok, 2016), looking for memorable experiences with thermal water.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Management – These characteristics call for communication management and mean governments and destination managers must acquire new skills, in order to produce increasingly attractive destinations (Emir and Saraçli, 2011; Heung and Kucukusta, 2013; Kurtulmuşoğlu and Esiyok, 2016; Rodrigues et al , 2019; Thal et al , 2021). Furthermore, Álvarez-Nobell et al (2022) consider that a communication department in an organisation has a dual role, influencing at an internal level and impacting on the external results of the activities promoted.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A theoretical reflection on thermalism and communication: future perspectives in times of crisis

Antunes

Gonçalves

Estevão

2022

JHTI

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PurposeThe purpose of this article is through a systematic literature review (SLR) to present a conceptual approach to the importance of communication for thermalism. An in-depth analysis of scientific publications provides a conceptual understanding about the definition of thermalism and the importance of communication in the thermal sector. The intention is also to identify the major challenges for communication in thermalism in times of crisis. The literature on conceptual approaches in the field of thermalism is almost non-existent, and this is an important contribution of the research presented.Design/methodology/approachTo achieve the objectives, an SLR was carried out, through the Preferred Reporting Items Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) Statement method, using the Web of Science and Scopus databases. A total of 139 articles were found, of which only 26 were used for the qualitative analysis. EndNote 20 and Nvivo software were used to identify the articles for the study, their analysis and systematization of the collected information.FindingsThe results, among others, through an in-depth analysis of scientific publications, clarified the definition of thermalism and provided relevant results for better understanding of the importance of the dimensions of communication for thermalism.Research limitations/implicationsThe research addresses the current scarcity of academic work on the importance of communication applied to a thermal destination and the lack of relevant strategic models for the diffusion/promotion of a destination. Finally, a limitation was the fact that only 2 databases were considered and only journal articles were included. As a future line of research the authors propose extending the theme to thermal tourism experiences. In addition, scientific studies focusing on water-based experiences connected with thermalism are almost non-existent and very relevant for the future of the sector, as well as studies in the area of communication with the following research questions: where do tourists consult information when choosing a travel destination? and what are the appropriate communication channels to reach the thermal market?; We close this reflection by concluding that the thermal tradition, through the know-how of the medical class, the properties of thermal waters and the cultural history associated with its early days, stimulated more recently by implementing innovations, will regain its role in preserving health and well-being through thermal water and the exploitation of territories' endogenous resources. These factors are the basis through which communication sciences can create strategies adapted to each country to promote a thermal destination brand.Practical implicationsResearch in tourism destination management has provided solutions, through communication, to problems that are faced daily by countries, and the authors hope this research also contributes to the recovery of thermal tourism destinations in times of crisis. It is also from this perspective that based on the main themes and dimensions of communication identified in the SLR that the authors propose the Corporate, Organisational, Skills, Management and Online (COSMO) model to help promote resilient thermal destinations prepared for future crises. The diversity and originality of this research model will be useful for destination promoters, spa managers and communication professionals.Social implicationsThis study contributes to the literature by providing a theoretical framework of excellence in thermalism. One possible way to solve the ambiguity of terms related to thermalism is to consider another more comprehensive term as a combination of different approaches. The aim is not to create an academic division, but rather to contribute to better conceptual understanding, from a theoretical and paradigmatic perspective, of what thermalism is. Here, a new targeted and more comprehensive concept emerges, which from the academic perspective of communication sciences will lead to prevention for a new way of feeling good with life, contributing to promoting thermal destinations in the world with a greater understanding.Originality/valueFor better understanding of the concepts, this study proposes a new definition of thermalism. As research related to thermal destinations, through communication management contributes to attract tourists, promote experiences, provide the human capital of the sector with skills and create authentic and resilient place brands. It is from this perspective that the model was proposed, based on the dimensions of communication related to the main themes obtained through the SLR. This model supports a plurality of communication strategies, with different characteristics and objectives but which meet a collective purpose: to disseminate information about thermalism, in order to build collective knowledge to promote thermal destinations. The analysis highlights the need for further research into thermalism, with special focus on communication.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A theoretical reflection on thermalism and communication: future perspectives in times of crisis

Antunes

Gonçalves

Estevão

2022

JHTI

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“…The desire among seniors to improve their mental and physical well-being can be attributed to improved medical services and avenues of health recovery (Hallem & Barth, 2011; Kurtulmuşoğlu & Esiyok, 2017). Other studies have found that health is the most important travel motivation in the senior market (Alén et al, 2017; Lu et al, 2016).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding the Dimensionality and Underlying Nature of Senior Overseas Travel Motivations

Otoo

Hwang

Kim

et al. 2021

Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research

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The global increase in the elderly population has a direct influence on the travel, tourism, and hospitality sector because senior travelers have become major consumers. Therefore, developing a deeper understanding of senior motivations for overseas travel is required. However, the presence of theoretical and practical gaps limits the comprehension of this demographic market. Thus, this research sought to identify the underlying dimensionality and measurement of senior travel motivations and developed a scale to measure them. In addition, it validated the scale across future travel behaviors and preferences for tourism types and sites. An eight-factor structure of senior travel motivations was generated. The overall construct satisfied a series of convergent, discriminant, and nomological validity tests. Furthermore, the scale demonstrated a predictive explanatory power for profiling the future travel behavior and preference of seniors.

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“…For example, Ref. [81] showed that, for thalassotherapy tourists, motivations across the two age groups could be differentiated in terms of their relationship to income levels, distance travelled, and education, with the over 55s being less influenced by their income constraints, but more heavily influenced by the distance involved in travel to a destination and the educational aspects of the trip. Kaufman and Weaver [82] however, found that seniors were more likely to visit heritage destinations that involved a long journey when compared to younger people.…”

Section: Tourist Motivationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fuzzy Modelling of Tourist Motivation: An Age-Related Model for Sustainable, Multi-Attraction, Urban Destinations

et al. 2020

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Tourist motivation, as a core of travel behavior, significantly influences consumer intentions and has attracted academic attention for decades. A plethora of studies analyse sets of internal and external motivators, while methodologies that exclusively focus on a single factor, such as age, that can sometimes have a determining influence in multi-attraction destinations, are less prevalent. This study introduces a fuzzy logic approach to develop a new model for analysing the internal motivations of different-aged consumers in multi-attraction urban destinations. Fuzzy models, as a mathematical means of representing vagueness and imprecise information, have the capability of recognizing, representing, manipulating, interpreting, and utilizing data and information, which typically for urban tourist motivations, are vague and lack certainty. This research tests the model in a real-life setting, using the example of Novi Sad, a mid-sized European city, which is typical of many similar cities who are attempting to develop sustainable tourism by attracting older tourists. The new model shows how tourist motivations for multi-attraction destinations are affected by age, through a specially developed m-file for MATLAB, so that it can be applied and tested in other tourism contexts. Theoretical and practical implications for sustainable destination management and marketing are described.

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Motivations and destination selection of mature international thalassotherapy tourists

Cited by 11 publications

References 70 publications

A theoretical reflection on thermalism and communication: future perspectives in times of crisis

A theoretical reflection on thermalism and communication: future perspectives in times of crisis

Understanding the Dimensionality and Underlying Nature of Senior Overseas Travel Motivations

Fuzzy Modelling of Tourist Motivation: An Age-Related Model for Sustainable, Multi-Attraction, Urban Destinations

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