CHARACTERIZATION OF HEALTH-RELATED HOTEL PRODUCTS ON THE SLOVENIAN COAST

Abstract

Health services in tourism are usually provided in hotels with complementary offers and centres without accommodation. The focus of this study is on hotels on the Slovenian coast, a traditional health destination. The research is aimed at the identification of hotels that offer health services in order to analyse and determine product clusters; the paper focuses only on the structure of the coastal health products through which providers generate revenue. A total of 25 up-scale, luxury and comfort hotels with health services were identified (population) and included in the analysis. Through qualitative comparative analysis, the following clusters of hotel health products were created: (1) medical therapy, (2) physical activities, (3) spiritual and mental activities, (4) psychological and physical relaxation. The results suggest that hotels should pay attention to constructing complete health-related products by putting more energy into the reinforcement of spiritual activities, and the typical local natural healing factors related to climate and sea. It is also necessary to point out that excessive commercialization should not obscure the primary purpose – to offer preventative and curative programmes to ensure health.