CONTEMPORARY SPA TOURISM DEVELOPMENT TRENDS WITH REFERENCE TO THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA
Keywords:
spa tourism, demand in spa tourism, supply in spa tourism, spa tourists' motives, growth models
Abstract
Spa tourism refers to all travels that are organized for the purpose of treatments based on natural healing resources (thermo-mineral springs, mud, radioactive sand, climate) carried out under medical supervision. Globalization and the development of modern society have led to changes in spa tourism, shifting from traditional tourist activities to modern and complex health and recreational activities. The aim of this paper is twofold. Firstly, to analyze contemporary trends in spa tourists' motives and, secondly, to perform a comparative analysis of the projected and realized development of spa tourism in the Republic of Serbia by examining the data on the number of tourist overnight stays and occupancy of accommodation facilities in spas and climatic health resorts. By applying descriptive and comparative scientific methods, it was concluded that contemporary trends in spa visitors' motives have caused a wider tourist offer of the spas and that there is a significant lag of realized development in relation to the projected development of spa tourism in the Republic of Serbia.
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References
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2. Erdelia, G., Dincăa, A. I., Gheorghilaş, A., Surugiu, C. (2011). Romanian spa tourism: a communist paradigm in a post communist era. Human geographies – Journal of Studies and Research in Human Geography, Vol. 5, No. 2, 41-56.
3. Fontanari, M., Kern, A. (2003). The comparative analysis of spas – An instrument for the re‐positioning of spas in the context of competition in spa and health tourism. Tourism Review, Vol. 58, No. 3, 20-28.
4. Hall, C. M. (2011). Health and medical tourism: a kill or cure for global public health? Tourism Review, Vol. 66, No. 1/2, 4-15.
5. Hitrec, T. (1996). Zdravstveni turizam – pojmovi i koncepcijski okvir [Health tourism – terms and conceptual framework]. I international symposium, Opatija, 221-232.
6. International Spa Association (ISPA), Types of spas, https://experienceispa.com/resources/spa-goers, (25 December 2019).
7. Kanittinsuttitong, N. (2018). Market Demand and Capacity of Wellness Tourism in Thailand. The 26th International Society for Business Innovation and Technology Management Conference, Bangkok.
8. Koskinen, V., Wilska, T.-A. (2019). Identifying and understanding spa tourists’ wellness attitudes. Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism, Vol. 19, No. 3, 259-277.
9. Kušen, E. (2011). Positioning medical tourism in the broader framework of health tourism. Tourism, Vol. 59, No. 1, 95-99.
10. Leković, M., Cvijanović, D., Jakšić, M. (2018). Farmland real estate investment trusts. Economics of Agriculture, Vol. 65, No. 2, 745-755.
11. Leković, M., Stanišić, Т. (2017). Real estate investment trusts specialized for investing in hotels. The Second International Scientific Conference "Tourism in function of development of the Republic of Serbia – Тourism product as a factor of competitiveness of the Serbian economy and experiences of other countries", Vrnjačka Banja, 2(2), 357-375.
12. Ljubisavljević, T., Gnjatović, D. (2020). Direct investments in spa tourism of undeveloped rural regions: case study of the municipality of Kuršumlija. Economics of Agriculture, Vol. 67, No. 1, 207-222.
13. Ljubisavljević, T., Radosavljević, Z. (2018). Ownership transformation of spa resorts in the Republic of Serbia (the model of the privatization of Gornja Trepča Ltd., Gornja Trepča). Hotel and Tourism Management, Vol. 6, No. 2, 47-59.
14. Ljubisavljević, T., Živanović, S. (2019). Prospects of medical tourism development in Serbia. The Fourth International Scientific Conference "Tourism in function of development of the Republic of Serbia – Tourism as a Generator of Employment", Vrnjačka Banja, 4(2), 687-704.
15. Madžar, T., Lazibat, T., Mikulić, J. (2016). Mjerenje kvaliteta usluga u zdravstvenom turizmu [Measuring quality of services in health tourism]. Poslovna izvrsnost, Vol. 10, No. 1, 187-202.
16. Milićević, S. (2015). Od tradicionalnih banjskih lečilišta do destinacija zdravstvenog turizma [From traditional spa health resorts to destinations of health tourism], Faculty of Hotel Management and Tourism in Vrnjačka Banja, Vrnjačka Banja.
17. Milićević, S., Milovanović, V., Podovac, M. (2012). Specifičnost upravljanja banjskim turizmom u svetu i u Srbiji [Specificity of spa tourism management in the world and in Serbia]. Megatrend revija, Vol. 9, No. 3, 273-286.
18. Pavlović, M., Radivojević, N., Lazić, J. (2009). Održivi razvoj banjskog turizma u Srbiji [Sustainable development of spa tourism in Serbia]. Industrija, Vol. 37, No. 2, 37-57.
19. Płaziak, M., Szymańska, A. I. (2014). Good Practices of an Underground Health Spa Operation - The Case of the "Wieliczka" Salt Mine. Current Issues of Tourism Research, Vol. 4, No. 2, 38-44.
20. Radnic Alkier, R., Gracan, D., Fister, M. (2009). Repositioning of thermal spa tourism of north – west Croatia in accordance with the European termal spa tourism trends. Tourism and Hospitality Management, Vol. 15, No. 1, 73-84.
21. Ristić, L., Vujičić, M., Leković, М. (2016). Tourism as a factor of sustainable development of rural areas belonging to Rudnička Morava. Economics of Agriculture, Vol. 63, No. 2, 665-680.
22. Segić, S. (2011). Razvoj banjsko rekreativno zdravstvenog turizma u Republici Srpskoj kao mogućnost za strane ulagače [Development of spa recreational health tourism in Republika Srpska as an opportunity for foreign investors]. Časopis za ekonomiju i tržišne komunikacije, Vol. 1, No. 2, 189-200.
23. Stănciulescu, G. C., Diaconescu, G. N., Diaconescu, D. M. (2015). Health, spa, wellness tourism. What is the difference? Knowledge Horizons – Economics, Vol. 7, No. 3, 158-161.
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28. Stefanović, V., Gligorijević, Ž. (2010). Ekonomika turizma [Tourism Economics], SVEN, Niš.
29. Strategija razvoja turizma Republike Srbije za period 2016 – 2025. ("Službeni glasnik RS" br. 98/2016) [Tourism development Strategy of the Republic of Serbia 2016 – 2025. ("Official Gazette of the RS" No. 98/2016)], http://mtt.gov.rs/download/3/strategija.pdf, (3 January 2020).
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31. Zakon o turizmu ("Sl. glasnik RS", br. 17/2019) [Law on tourism ("Official Gazzete of the RS" No. 17/2019)], https://www.paragraf.rs/
propisi/zakon_o_turizmu.html, (6 January 2020).
32. Živanović, S. (2015). Osnovni oblici i trendovi zdravstvenog turizma [Basic forms and trends of health tourism], Faculty of Hotel Management and Tourism in Vrnjačka Banja, Vrnjačka Banja.
Published
2020-09-05
How to Cite
Ljubisavljević, T., & Leković, M. (2020). CONTEMPORARY SPA TOURISM DEVELOPMENT TRENDS WITH REFERENCE TO THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA. Tourism International Scientific Conference Vrnjačka Banja - TISC, 5(1), 215-230. Retrieved from http://tisc.rs/proceedings/index.php/hitmc/article/view/338
Section
Articles
