Historic concept, future prospects

Index

• Introduction

• Conference Themes

• Abstract submission

• Important dates and deadlines

• Publication details

• Scientific Committee

• Provisional programme

• Meeting fee

• Cancellation policy

• Conference venue

• Accommodation

• More information

• Registration

Introduction

Wellness tourism is one of the most ancient forms of tourism if one considers the scrupulous attention paid to wellbeing by Romans and Greeks, the quests for spiritual enlightenment of Mediaeval Pilgrims, or the medical seaside and spa tourism of the 18th and 19th Century European élite. Arguably however, there has been an intensification in the pursuit of wellness in the history of tourism in recent years. The proliferation of wellness centres, holistic retreats, spas, spiritual pilgrimages, complementary and alternative therapies is unprecedented. Not only are many people increasingly concerned about their physical, social and psychological wellbeing in their everyday lives, but they are also prepared to travel long distances to experience different forms of wellness tourism. This ranges from the immersion of the body in the healing waters of a spa to the quest for spiritual enlightenment in an ashram, or even cosmetic enhancement through surgical treatments or beauty therapies.

The focus of this first Spa and Wellness Special Interest Group meeting will be to examine the changing nature of wellness tourism from its origins to contemporary developments. We will analyse the diverse range of definitions, products, services, destinations and tourist motivations as well as discussing future directions for research.

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Conference Themes

Abstracts for presentations are invited on the following themes:

• History of spa and wellness tourism
• Definitions, scoping, typologies of wellness tourism
• Product development in the wellness tourism sector
• Motivations and profiles of wellness tourists
• Marketing wellness tourism
• Wellness resort and hotel development
• Holistic, New Age, and Esoteric tourism
• Yoga and other forms of spiritual tourism
• Medical tourism

Abstract submission

All abstracts will be subject to double-blind review by at least two members of the scientific committee. Acceptance of a submission will be based on: theoretical and empirical significance; methodological soundness; relevance to the theme of the conference; technical competency; and logical clarity. The official language of the conference is English.

Abstracts should be submitted via this form, no later than May 14th, 2007. All fields need to be filled in. Abstracts (approximately 300-500 words) should indicate background, theoretical / practical implications, methods and / or data sources, and indicative findings of the paper. The title should be no more than 12 words. Up to 6 keywords / themes should be selected from the list to indicate clearly to which theme(s) of the conference their proposed paper relates to. Abstracts not clearly related to the theme of the conference will not be accepted. Receipt of abstracts will be acknowledged and decisions on acceptance will be provided no later than May 31, 2007.

Important dates and deadlines

Publication details

Authors will be invited to contribute case studies to a book on Health and Wellness Tourism to be published by Butterworth Heinemann in 2008.

Scientific Committee

• Melanie Smith - Budapest Business School, Hungary
• László Puczkó - Xellum Ltd. Hungary
• Sonia Sibila Lebe - University of Maribor, Slovenia
• Monica Nielson - Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, Ireland
• Jennifer Laing - Monash University, Australia

Provisional programme

Meeting fee

Cancellation policy

After registration and confirmation of this by the ATLAS secretariat, delegates are obliged to pay the conference fee. If written cancellation is received before June 1^st 2007, a refund of all meeting fees will be made, minus an administration fee of € 25. No refund will be possible after June 1^st 2007, but substitute delegates can be nominated.

Conference venue

The meeting will take place in the Hotel Delibab

Address: Délibáb u. 35., H-1062 Budapest Phone: +36 1 342 9301 Fax: +36 1 342 8153 URL: http://www.hoteldelibab.com

Accommodation

We would like to urge that participants book their room as soon as possible since the hotel will not be able to hold the rooms for the workshop participations too long.

More information

http://www.budapestinfo.hu/en/
http://spasbudapest.com/tartalom.php

Registration

• Contact

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• Registration

Submit  this form  to register for the conferenc



• Abstract submission form

Submit this form to submit an abstract for the conference

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