Place marketing of hot spring regions: a market segmentation based on Chinese tourists' perceptions of healthfulness of places Online publication date: Thu, 24-Oct-2013
by Lizone Chang; Rian Beise-Zee
International Journal of Leisure and Tourism Marketing (IJLTM), Vol. 3, No. 4, 2013
Abstract: We conduct a qualitative and quantitative exploration into the perceived health benefits of health-promoting tourist destinations in China. The purpose of this research is to gain insights into the question of how Chinese consumers perceive and experience 'health' and 'wellness' in a place. We first explore consumer perceptions of what is healthful through phenomenological interviewing. A sample of 447 visitors to seven hot spring resorts in Taiwan is used to identify dimensions of healthfulness as well as clusters of visitors to hot spring resorts, each characterised by a distinct pattern of healthfulness beliefs. We identify six dimensions of healthfulness and four groups of consumers for health promoting places. We suggest that hot spring regions need to target a specific group of tourists based on their health beliefs and work towards congruence between tourist perception of healthfulness and place attributes. This helps marketers of health destinations to formulate consumer-oriented strategies.
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