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- User's profile of thermal establishments: a literature reviewPublication . Rodrigues, Cristina; Ferreira, Fernanda A.; Costa, Vânia; Alves, Maria José; Vaz, Márcia; Fernandes, Paula Odete; Nunes, AlcinaContemporary society has an increasingly broad and holistic perspective on health and wellness. It is scientifically proven that thermalism perfectly combines these two aspects. It provides a better quality of life and a complete state of well-being, physically and psychologically. Several studies have been carried out over the years, reflecting a paradigm shift in the conception of thermalism establishments. For this reason, the sector's stakeholders need to be prepared and have the necessary knowledge to respond to the different needs, characteristics, and motivations of both usual and new thermal users to define better action strategies. In this context, the research's main objective is to present a literature review and content analysis on the thermalism topic, through the most recognised databases, exploring the offer, identifying its users’ profiles and pointing out some trends for the market. As a result of the analyses, the growing interest and relevance of thermalism in scientific production stand out, particularly in tourism, as a social science. There are several studies that present a direct link between thermalism and tourism activity. It is notorious that thermal activity has both a recreational and medicinal dimension, all over the world. Literature analysis has also revealed the power of thermal waters for the treatment of a wide range of diseases and health issues, related to different medicalspecialities. Although the more traditional thermalism is still very present, the most recent studies portray some gradual changes on the demand and supply side, with a constant adjustment of both. Particularly in the user profile, there is evidence of a rejuvenated, healthier and heterogeneous demand, with different motivations to frequent the thermal spas. On the supply side, it can be seen that these establishments are seeking to reinvent themselves in order to complement their basic offer related to medical dimension, also focusing on the leisure, to enrich the experience of their regular users and attract others. Regarding the expected trends, they are mainly related to 1) Increased demand for prevention, leisure and well-being dimension; 2) Changes in the user profile; and 3) High potential for tourism activity.
- Pricing strategy for green hotel industryPublication . Ferreira, Flávio; Ferreira, Fernanda A.; Rodrigues, CristinaHolistic health and prevention are increasingly at the center of tourists’ decisions. Tourists expect to may continue their health and wellness lifestyles when they are away from home. Hospitality can find in the “health and wellness” sector a good response to the requalification needs for the post-COVID period. In fact, since 1900s, the hospitality niche of health and wellness has been increasing around the world, and it has been an important issue for the profit growth for the hospitality destinations. But what is wellness tourism? The Global Wellness Institute defines wellness tourism as travel associated with the pursuit of maintaining or enhancing one’s personal wellbeing. Several hotels have introduced green innovation as the innovation that emphasizes health, safety, and environmental friendliness and implementation of environmental management to ensure ecological wellbeing. One way for hotels to be environmentally friendly is to implement corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. In this paper, we will study the effects of corporate social responsibility policies in the hotel industry. To do that, we will model a non-cooperative hotel competition using game theory concepts. We recall that game theory is a formal, mathematical discipline that studies situations of competition and cooperation between several involved parties and aims to help us understand situations in which decision-makers interact. The model consists in a competition between a CSR hotel and a state-owned (SO) hotel that set room rates. The choice of room rates can be made either simultaneously or sequentially. Our main result is that the CSR hotel profits more than the SO hotel, regardless of the order of movements.
- User's profile of a portuguese thermal establishment: empirical studyPublication . Vaz, Márcia; Alves, Maria José; Ferreira, Fernanda A.; Costa, Vânia; Rodrigues, Cristina; Fernandes, Paula Odete; Nunes, AlcinaThe thermal tradition plays an important role for society by naturally promoting and improving individuals' wellbeing. Thermal treatments help cure diseases and prevent pathologies, including mental and social ones, providing users with a better quality of life. At the same time, such a wellness activity introduces leisure components resulting from a more holistic perspective on health and well-being. Given the importance of this topic, which just recently started to be the object of empirical studies in Portugal, the present study aims to identify the profile of those who attend a thermal spa. For this purpose, a self-administrated questionnaire was applied to the Termas de Chaves' users during the 2021 thermal season, i.e., between August and November. A convenience method of non-probability sampling allowed to obtain a sample of 220 thermal users. This establishment, located in the sub-region of Alto Tâmega, North of Portugal, has 300 years of history and vast experience in providing thermal services for different audiences. To better understand and identify the features of the thermal spa user, sociodemographic data were analysed and identified the characteristics, motivations, behaviours, preferences, and perceptions of the thermal spa users under study. The data collected was submitted to treatment through an exploratory quantitative analysis. The distribution data analysis was elaborated using frequencies, centrality and variability descriptive measures complemented by TwoStep cluster analysis. The results showed that most of the participants in Chaves thermal spa are women, with an average age of 69 years (SD=12.556), married, retired, and living in the northern region of Portugal. They seek these services in the season between summer and autumn, for medical advice, mainly for therapeutic reasons, and stay in the thermal spa, on average, for 14 days (SD=2.667). Moreover, the cluster analysis identifies three different groups of users to which thermal stakeholders should consider different policy approaches. By defining the users' profile, this empirical research presents a practical contribution since it provides a strategic orientation for the thermal establishments' stakeholders aiming, essentially, at the (re)qualification of supply and the increase of demand, thus contributing to the sectoral and regional competitiveness.
- Understanding behavioral intentions in a spa experience: insights from contemporary literaturePublication . Rodrigues, Cristina; Ferreira, Fernanda A.; Costa, Vânia; Alves, Maria José; Vaz, Márcia; Fernandes, Paula Odete; Nunes, AlcinaThe current emphasis on quality of life and its importance in contemporary society has brought light to the entire health and wellness industry, particularly spa facilities. These places have become very desirable and popular for health, well-being, and leisure. This popularity is largely influenced by the offer of positive experiences full of benefits for the body and mind. Therefore, it is essential to understand what makes these experiences positive and satisfying or, on the opposite, what can make them negative and what aspects can compromise a positive and memorable spa experience, important for the success of these establishments. Following this line of thought, the main objective of this study is to understand, from the existing literature, the consumption behavior toward a spa experience, from the consumers’ point of view. This paper was developed based on content analysis and literature review, a systematic and narrative approach. These three techniques were applied as a research methodology to identify keyword trends, report findings and conclusions from previous empirical studies, and discuss substantive aspects related to this topic. The findings of the three techniques are consistent and provide an overall and specific understanding of the consumer perspective regarding spa experiences. The main results highlight the most critical aspects affecting satisfaction, service quality, and perceived consumer value and identify three key moments that can systematize the spa experience: expectations, consumption, and consequences. The theoretical discussion presented in this study is valuable for spa managers. It provides several important management implications and recommendations for their success.
- Health and wellness activities: contemporary market of thermalismPublication . Rodrigues, Cristina; Ferreira, Fernanda A.; Costa, Vânia; Alves, Maria José; Vaz, Márcia; Fernandes, Paula Odete; Nunes, AlcinaThe health and well-being market has suffered many evolutions in recent years, the differences occurring mainly in your holistic vision, demand profile and supply structuring. This article aims to present theoretical reflections on the scientific advances in this area over the last years. The study presents a literature review, published in the last years, on two intrinsically related themes: “Health and Wellbeing” and “Thermalism.” It then analyses the profile of consumers/practitioners. The methodology incorporates a mixed approach: a bibliometric and content analysis of the existing literature. It is also intended to identify the main trends and transformations that have occurred in the health and well-being market. Additionally, it intends to contribute to the advancement of scientific knowledge in this field of research. The main conclusions are related to the increase in publications in this area with different subjects, highlighting its growing interest and relevance in society. It is observed an increasingly holistic understanding of health and well-being and its impacts on people’s quality of life and a change in the consumer profile, which is increasingly young and healthy with different motivations.