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ABSTRACT
The aim of this paper is to analyse why the largest percentage of spa, wellness and health tourism customers tend to be middle aged (around 45 on average) and predominantly female. Both academic and popular psychological research indicate that life satisfaction reaches a nadir during the middle years of life during which many adults experience a so-called mid-life crisis. However, it is often the case that people become happier again as they age – the “U-bend” of life theory. The first part of this paper explores a number of studies which support these theories, followed by an analysis of primary research which consisted of 60 e-interviews with professional people aged 40 and over. The final part of the paper considers the implications for the spa, wellness and health tourism industries and makes recommendations for how these sectors can provide the ideal services for their core market of middle-aged and female guests.
Notes on contributor
Dr Melanie Kay Smith is a Researcher at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Institute for Sociology and an Associate Professor at Budapest Metropolitan University. She is also a Part-time Professor on the Masters in Wellness and Spa Design and Management at the University of Tartu Pärnu College. She is co-author of the book Health, Tourism and Hospitality: Spas, Wellness and Medical Travel (2013) with Dr László Puczkó and co-editor of The Routledge Handbook of Health Tourism (2016). She has lectured extensively on the subject of health tourism and has given invited talks in several countries. In addition, she has been an Expert Advisor for the ETC/UNWTO (Health Tourism Study).