Publication
The evolution of thermalism in Portugal - the current state of health and wellness tourism
| dc.contributor.author | Lopes, Maria Carlos | |
| dc.contributor.author | Liberato, Dália | |
| dc.contributor.author | Alén, Elisa | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2023-06-26T12:02:00Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2023-06-26T12:02:00Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2023 | |
| dc.description.abstract | In Portugal, as in other European countries, thermal activity was developed under the influence of the Roman people. In the fifteenth century, the first thermal hospital in the world was established in Portugal. In the centuries that followed, the practice of going to the baths to cure illness developed across the continent. In 1928, the first legislation was passed that gave thermal activity the same importance as other economic activities. However, the Second World War dictated the closure of many spas. Other factors, such as drug development and the tendency to go to beaches, led to a decrease in thermal frequency. Several strategic plans to boost tourism in Portugal followed and legislation was created (DL n. º 142/2004, of 11 June) aimed at the development of thermal tourism. In turn, the National Strategic Plan for Tourism-2007 [1] advocated the consolidation and development of health and well-being tourism, which naturally includes spas. From that moment on, the conditions were in place to increase investments in the spa sector, aiming at the modernization and offer of new products and services, in the scope of relaxation, beauty, and anti-stress treatments, among many others, with which intended to attract new audiences and markets. This work intends to elucidate the evolution of thermal frequency and demand in general, verified over the years. It is also intended to understand the current state of classic thermalism and wellness thermalism in Portugal and to assess the profile of tourists who seek this type of tourism. In this sense, we resorted to the compilation and analysis of statistical data existing in the General Directorate of Energy and Geology (DGEG), the General Directorate of Mines and Geological Services (DGMSG), and the Geological and Mining Institute (IGM), from 1979 to the year 2021. As conclusions of this study, we emphasize that there is a growing propensity to frequent thermal springs, caused, mostly, by users seeking wellness treatments and services. This finding has an effect on the annual seasonality of the demand for thermal springs, which now reaches lower levels, since the frequency of wellness users has become constant throughout the year, giving rise, this time, to a weekend seasonality that is the period in which wellness users can enjoy leisure time. | pt_PT |
| dc.description.version | info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion | pt_PT |
| dc.identifier.doi | 10.1007/978-981-19-9960-4_37 | pt_PT |
| dc.identifier.isbn | 978-981-19-9959-8 | |
| dc.identifier.isbn | 978-981-19-9960-4 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10400.22/23164 | |
| dc.language.iso | eng | pt_PT |
| dc.publisher | Springer | pt_PT |
| dc.relation.publisherversion | https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-19-9960-4_37 | pt_PT |
| dc.subject | Classic thermalism | pt_PT |
| dc.subject | Thermal springs | pt_PT |
| dc.subject | Thermal frequency | pt_PT |
| dc.subject | Wellness tourism | pt_PT |
| dc.title | The evolution of thermalism in Portugal - the current state of health and wellness tourism | pt_PT |
| dc.type | conference object | |
| dspace.entity.type | Publication | |
| oaire.citation.conferencePlace | Santiago do Chile, Chile | pt_PT |
| oaire.citation.endPage | 438 | pt_PT |
| oaire.citation.startPage | 423 | pt_PT |
| oaire.citation.title | Advances in Tourism, Technology and Systems Selected Papers from ICOTTS 2022, Volume 2 | pt_PT |
| oaire.citation.volume | 340 | pt_PT |
| person.familyName | Lopes | |
| person.familyName | Liberato | |
| person.givenName | Maria Carlos | |
| person.givenName | Dália | |
| person.identifier.ciencia-id | 471D-8327-1C0F | |
| person.identifier.ciencia-id | F610-22F9-C504 | |
| person.identifier.orcid | 0000-0002-1903-5532 | |
| person.identifier.orcid | 0000-0003-0513-6444 | |
| person.identifier.scopus-author-id | 57200377509 | |
| rcaap.rights | closedAccess | pt_PT |
| rcaap.type | conferenceObject | pt_PT |
| relation.isAuthorOfPublication | 91943eb8-1a7b-4934-a616-d474a43a7ed5 | |
| relation.isAuthorOfPublication | 8af17803-7f2e-4819-bfd8-8ce657eff119 | |
| relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscovery | 8af17803-7f2e-4819-bfd8-8ce657eff119 |