Wellness tourism development in Thua Thien Hue province: from tourists’ perspective

Abstract

Wellness tourism has been around for a long time, and in the context of the pandemic, it has emerged as a new global tourism trend. Vietnam in general, and Thua Thien Hue in particular, have a lot of promise, but there aren't any specific products or services to help boost wellness tourism. Based on liturature review, the study focuses on estimating the necessity of wellness services/activities that should be available in Hue based on six major groups of: (1) physical; (2) mind and body; (3) spiritual and self-connected; (4) personal growth; (5) nature-oriented; and (6) social activities. Using a questionnaire survey method with 200 tourists who are knowledgeable about wellness, a number of activities such as visiting natural landscapes, cycling, walking, spending time experiencing with family/friends, reading books, spending time for yourself, bathing in hot springs... were rated as highly necessary. Simultaneously, the results demonstrate that different groups of tourists have varied perspectives based on demographic criterion. Some orientations and proposals for developing wellness tourism products in Thua Thien Hue province are offered through 6 main solutions on primary groups of activities.