No. 1 (2017)

This paper aims to provide an overview of the first and second levec academic education in tourism, by presenting the current situation in Italy about the L-15 “Tourism Science” and LM-49 “Planning and management of tourist systems”, reporting both quantitative and qualitative information, on the main characteristics of degree programs.

New concept of s.p.a product creating and enhancing the brand. This article is the synthesis of a very documented research on spas in Italy focusing on the role of the spa brand. The research was carried out for the Terme d’Italia project, which included nine regions (Tuscany, Lombardy, PA of Bolzano, Veneto, Emilia Romagna, Lazio, Calabria, Apulia and Sicily). Tuscany was the region’s leader. The research proposes a reading of the evolution of thermalism an d spa tourism in Italy, with a comparison with other European countries; a specific analysis is devoted to each of the nine regions. This article puts particular emphasis on brand policies, and in particular collective brands, taking the example of beer production from the thirties of the last century, with many similarities to the case of spas and thermal well-being of today. Is an analogy to be valued because beer producers managed to value the product for the entire population, even for women and the elderly who were previously excluded; Today’s thermal well-being should be valued not only for older people but also for young people and middJle age classes.

The attention of postmodern consumers to the care of their psych-physical, nutritional and spiritual wellness is also reflected in the choice of travel and of the desired travel experiences. A new configuration of health tourism has been outlined, characterized by broad and less well defined boundaries, including all those activities (which are) both curative and maintain health, wellness and well – being. The most common form of wellness tourism is related to water and spas, structured in a monothematic offer (spa) or strongly polarized around the spa. If there is agreement that wellness can be a resource for the creation of a tourism product and become a system of attractions for the destination development, there is a lack of evolution models and knowledge of the drivers of this development. This study aims to contribute, through empirical evidence, to the definition of a wellness product as an integrated tourism product and to analyze the drivers for the development of a wellness destination. An empirical research of nine Italian wellness destinations has been conducted, through a mixed method approach. The study has identified the wellness as a positioning function of a destination and the product integration – according to the wellness experience theme – and the creation of a network of offers (between stakeholders and destinations), of which the primary development drivers of a wellness destination.

The spa system has been undergoing a gradual transformation over the years, moving away from the original, and sole, purpose of providing targeted health treatments to now offering value in the form of overall wellness for everyone, whether they are persons seeking balneotherapy or simply tourists. The aim of this study is to investigate the role played by spas in the broader wellness industry. In particular, it endeavors to address the following research points: 1) describe the demand profile for spa products; 2) define the spa supply system to assess the degree of integration among the various services offered within the whole wellness system; and 3) identify the main competitive strategies adopted by spas. In this aim, the article first offers a brief overview of the “wellness system” and of the spa sector, then discusses the findings of an empirical exploratory study of Italian spas, conducted in October of 2016. Despite the limitations attributable to the small number of participants, the study provides some interesting insights on the features of supply and demand within the spa sector; in particular, the research highlights how spas are targeting new user categories by creating an integrated spa product offering that includes cultural and natural heritage as well as the goods and services available in the territory surrounding the spa location.