Health and Wellness Tourism

Spas and Hot Springs

By (author) Patricia Erfurt-Cooper, Prof. Malcolm Cooper

Publication date:

27 July 2009

Publisher

Channel View Publications

Dimensions:

245x174mm
7x10"

ISBN-13: 9781845411121

Geothermal springs constitute a major tourism resource, providing spectacular settings, recreation facilities, a recognised value in treatments beneficial for health and wellness, a sense of heritage and adventure, and links with the natural environment. Health and wellness tourism accounts for a significant proportion of the world’s tourism consumption, with components ranging from hot spring bathing for leisure and recreation, through mineral water use in health treatments under the supervision of highly specialised medical professionals, to water treatments in the wellness and beauty therapy sector and the use of mineral water for drinking purposes. This makes it an economically and socially important area of tourism demanding in-depth analysis. This book explores health and wellness tourism from a range of perspectives including usage, heritage, management, technology, environmental and cultural features, and marketing.

Hot springs are a global phenomenon but until now there has been no account of the global nature of hot spring tourism. This book fulfils the need for a comprehensive account of the significance and nature of hot spring tourism and how hot springs impact on the global spa and wellness industry.