Product Development for Health Tourism in Alpine Regions
Product Development for Health Tourism in Alpine Regions

Summary/Abstract: The paper deals with approaches and challenges within the development of tourism product in health tourism, especially in medical wellness. Three areas of the literature serve as a foundation of this study: product development and competitiveness of destinations, health tourism and its development in the Alpine region, and health tourism destinations as a place for product and service development. The empirical study reports the results of an online questionnaire which was sent to 58 directors of Alpine tourism destinations. The results reveal which components a health tourism product consists of; furthermore, the findings show that prerequisites and requirements for health tourism products in the Alpine regions range from specialized tourism services over specific medical treatments to natural resources functioning as a fundament or basic requirement for health products. Finally, implications for product development in Alpine health tourism destinations are discussed.

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