Wellness tourism and destination competitiveness

Destinations are a key building block for the tourism experience and may be described in a number of ways. Scott et al. (2008), for example, describe destinations as comprising a network of loosely clustered organisations. From a supply-side perspective this description highlights the organisations that operate within a destination and which, through a process of collaboration and competition, build and market a range of experiences that are offered for sale or consumption by tourists. The system through which this process occurs may be termed the destination system. From a demand-side perspective this view of a destination highlights the role of experiences that are sought by tourists. Ultimately the destination system must provide a channel that allows for the creation of products, their promotion, sale and their consumption through a process that brings the buyer (the tourist) and the seller (the organisations that provide tourism goods and services) together in a destination marketplace. Destination success is judged on the ability of this process to meet or exceed tourist expectations. Tourism demand is dynamic, creating new consumer markets and changing others. This process also creates a regular chum in product and experience offerings as new products emerge and others decline. From a destination perspective, a key objective should be to establish mechanisms that allow for early identification of change in demand for new products and experiences, a process described in the Evolved Strategic Window of Opportunity Model (see Figure 3.3). These forces can also be seen in the growing demand for wellness-related products. As Voigt (see Chapter 2 in this volume) reminds us, health-related tourism, of which wellness is a core element, has a long history of growth and decline. The recent re-emergence of demand for wellness experiences has presented destinations with a new opportunity to develop innovative products in this area. The discussion in the remainder of this chapter explores key issues related to developing competitiveness in wellness destinations.