Adapting the wellness offer in Slovenian spas to the new COVID-19 pandemic conditions

* The submitted paper is an extended version of the paper presented at the SITCON 2021 conference

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a markedly negative impact on global tourism and, on the other hand, has offered new opportunities for researchers to analyze the resilience of the tourism industry in such conditions. Recently, several scientific articles have emerged claiming that the COVID-19 pandemic could represent an opportunity for significant changes in tourism. This refers to changing practices at several levels and spreading new ethical principles. The pandemic has also made people aware of the importance of “well-being”. Even without a pandemic, wellness tourism has been one of the fastest-growing types of tourism in recent years. In all parts of the world, including Slovenia, natural spas have tried to adapt to new conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our analysis confirms that visitors to Slovenian spas strongly support introducing new/alternative activities and thus the dispersion of visitors to several locations. They showed the greatest interest in visiting nature in the vicinity of spas, which is also expected as a result of the closure during the pandemic. The purpose of our article is to give suggestions for offering alternative activities in Slovenian natural spas. However, adapting the wellness offer in spas should ensure that the basic traditional principles of wellness are maintained.

KEYWORDS:

• Wellness
• offer
• Slovenia
• spas
• COVID-19

Introduction

The pandemic that humanity is combating severely affected tourism (Sharma et al., 2021). The transformation that can occur inside this sector could be achieved if institutional revolution happens not only on demand but also on the supply side of this industry, promoting the arrival of new paths. The virus is an incredibly rare opportunity where the institutional pump is prepared for the stage of transformation (Brouder, 2020). When it comes to tourism, the COVID-19 pandemic presents an opportunity to reinterpret it while being out of the reach of exploitative patterns that don’t take into account people, places, and the natural environment, and more in the direction of tourism that has positive effects (Everingham & Chassagne, 2020).

Modern wellness centres in Slovenia, which operate according to different principles of balneology, climatology, and thalassotherapy, are traditionally most represented in spas. In recent years, natural spa complexes in Slovenia have been active, including wellness programs, thus reaching new target groups of guests. At the same time, they emphasise their advantages, such as long tradition in the field of treatment and rehabilitation with natural healing resources and thermal – recreational programs, where they intensively include foreign forms of offer (Finnish sauna, Turkish bath, Thai massage, Indian Ayurveda, etc.), medical programs for preserving and strengthening health (Gojčič, 2005).

The Foundation for Wellness Professionals defines wellness as prevention without drugs, which cannot eliminate health problems but can prevent them. Wellness focuses on minimising three dimensions of factors that cause stress: physical stress (which irritates the nervous system), chemical stress (which causes toxicity to the body), and mental damage (which can cause hormonal changes). Therefore, wellness benefits the human body: it ensures health and a higher quality of life for the population (Cherry, 2006). During the COVID-19 pandemic, all dimensions were active, so wellness has a very important role in recovery from the pandemic.

Wellness program users believe that many factors contribute to preserving good health: living in a clean environment, eating organic food, engaging in regular physical activity, and establishing a good balance between career, family, and relaxation (Cherry, 2006). All these aspects of life, career, family, and relaxation were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, tourism felt the consequences and losses after the COVID-19 pandemic, after which there were visible changes in human health, i.e. their overall psychophysical condition. As a result, people are increasingly looking for new forms of relaxation. In addition, lockdowns, travel bans between countries, and other measures to prevent a pandemic have influenced tourists to redirect their travel to domestic destinations that provide them with various health services and services of rest, relaxation, etc., spas their wellness offers. Wellness tourism, as part of health tourism, during the COVID-19 pandemic, is one of the possibilities to improve tourism offers and mitigate the pandemic's effects. Still, it is necessary to adapt to new circumstances.

The modern way of doing business in tourism in the new conditions of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) requires improving and changing tourism products and services to respond to guest requests adequately. Moreover, it is necessary to create a new, quality offer that will increase the number of guests and improve business in new conditions (Kristiana et al., 2021). In addition, the business uncertainty that companies in tourism face creates the need to create well-designed strategies and offers based on quality research that determines the growth and development of companies in tourism. The new reality facing companies in tourism requires new approaches, new skills and knowledge that will help tourism companies adequately respond to changes in the environment and create changes that will bring them survival in the market during the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), overcoming the problems that have arisen and ultimately creating a competitive advantage. Accordingly, this paper aims to examine tourists’ attitudes regarding the possibility of adjusting the wellness offer in Slovenian spas to the new conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The paper is structured as follows. Section I provide a literature review. Section II gives an overview of the methodology. Section III shows the results of the research. Section IV discusses the results and gives an overall conclusion.

Literature review

The wellness industry has experienced a real boom in the last decades. As an alternative concept, wellness generally means more than the absence of disease – it represents an optimal state of health. Supporters of these programs believe that many factors contribute to wellness: living in a clean environment, eating organic food, regularly engaging in physical exercises, balancing career and family, and good interpersonal skills (Rančić et al., 2013).

Modern wellness programs have become a mandatory part of the offer of Slovenian wellness centres. Wellness tourism in Slovenia can serve as a unique example of the mutual complementarity of health and tourism functions (Rančić et al., 2014). González and Bello (2002) show a strong relationship between tourists’ travel behaviour and lifestyle. Similarly, a study conducted by Hallab (2006) on a healthy lifestyle in the field of travel and tourism shows that the relationship between the healthy lifestyle habits of American citizens and their travel characteristics is related to tourism motivational factors and socio-demographic characteristics.

In the Slovenian tourist market, the term wellness first appeared in 2002. Wellness tourism proved to be a suitable form of tourist product outside the summer season, especially on the Slovenian coast, and outside the winter season in the Alpine part of Slovenia. Wellness tourism is not affected by seasonal fluctuations because it is available throughout the year (Rančić, 2019). On the other hand, the COVID-19 pandemic has awakened people's awareness of the importance of wellness for health (Choudhary & Qadir, 2021). Kazakov and Oyner (2021) and Voigt and Pforr (2013) believe that wellness tourism represents a mega market of the twenty-first century, the development of which is fuelled by increased stress, lifestyle, and demand for personalised services. This reflects the importance of wellness tourism in Slovenia's tourist products before, during and after the pandemic.

Considering the ability of the virus to spread rapidly (SARS-CoV-2), governments worldwide were forced to implement lockdowns. Tourism cannot operate successfully if it is devoid of the mobility of people (Sharma et al., 2021). In terms of how things played out in the past, this industry could always recover swiftly from all kinds of troubles that it had to face pandemics, epidemics, disasters, and other predicaments. Local, regional, or national governments are assisting in its recovery by enticing investors by offering them tax breaks, tempting land-use rules, etc. (Brouder, 2020; Ioannides & Gyimóthy, 2020). Grave problems encourage accelerated technological changes. Technology is a vital force when it comes to making sure there is flexibility inside the tourism industry. It can cope with the problems regarding the pandemic. These problems include ensuring tourists aren’t infected with the virus, uncovering the infected and tracing their contact, enabling online education for learners, etc. (Hall et al., 2020). During the pandemic, national tourism comes to the foreground since most tourists come from nearby areas (Haywood, 2020).

Those who provide tourism services ought to alter their unsustainable product offers and thus insist on a new demand. These measures could link, provide support, and look after the entire tourism industry to benefit everyone (Stankov et al., 2020). Buhalis and Foerste (2015) state that specialised tourist products, such as wellness offered in spas, contribute to the competitiveness of the tourist destination itself. However, adapting and differentiating the existing contents is necessary (Šerić et al., 2021). The global COVID-19 pandemic has already resulted in changes in tourists thinking and behaviour, so it is necessary to implement or link specialised tourism offerings such as wellness tourism with health tourism to improve them (Šerić et al., 2021; Cooper, 2021).

According to Salustri (2019) and Cinti (2021), the challenges to the tourism and wellness industry posed by the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) can be a stimulus for renewal of the spas offer and facilitation of changes that were not implemented before the pandemic and responding to the crisis from a perspective of “transformative resilience”. Vivona et al. (2021) examined the search for well-being in natural environments in the Covid-19 era. The results revealed that people visited outdoor spaces (parks, lakes, etc.) and walked for their well-being, although the time spent outdoors was less during lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kranjčević (2020) believes that the COVID-19 pandemic is the right time to review the existing principles and settings of sustainable tourism development, its interdisciplinarity, and thus the health security of tourism and tourists at all levels. Telišman-Košuta (2020) states that in these changes, the key attitude is towards the technology that enabled the partially normal functioning of all participants in tourism and that the penetration of technology into communication with the market or performing various administrative and simpler tasks will continue. However, “live” travel will remain irreplaceable as a highly emotional investment. Krešić and Mikulić (2020) believe that the full recovery of tourism will occur when there is no longer a danger of COVID-19 disease and when the balance between tourism supply and demand is re-established in the global tourism market.

There must be factors that motivate tourists to use wellness services and real attributes that attract them to such a facility in wellness tourism. Guided by this concept, a study was conducted in Malaysia based on which Azman and Chan (2010) wanted to investigate the motivation of wellness tourists in this area. They collected data through in-depth interviews and concluded that the motivation of wellness tourists mostly depends on individual needs and lifestyle, and then on the price and quality of services in wellness centres. They also concluded that the main motives of wellness tourists are: escape from everyday life, relaxation and reward after hard work and relief from stress, the physical appearance of the wellness centre, ambience and decoration, accessibility, treatment offer and professionalism of the staff.

Chen et al. (2008) conducted a study at a large wellness centre in Taiwan, including 506 visitors. The study showed that relaxation, searching for activities, Recreation and enjoying nature are the first four motivation factors. Among these motives, relaxation is the primary motivator. One research project by Mak and Wong (2007) shows the basic factors that motivate Hong Kong visitors to search for a spa experience. This survey received a total of 302 responses. Motivational factors: “relaxation and relief”, “escape”, “self-reward”, and “health and beauty” were the most important factors that motivate visitors to come to the wellness centre.

On the topic of motivating tourists in wellness tourism, research was conducted in Slovenia. More precisely, the motives for visiting service users in wellness centres of selected hotels in Slovenia were researched. The most important motives were activities free from effort (doing nothing), improving the quality of life and relaxation. Most wellness tourists are motivated to optimise their physical shape and mental health. Depending on their affinities, motives can be stress relief, relaxation, spiritual experience, staying in nature, self-development, meeting people of the same opinion and forming communities, emotional or creative motives and the like. (Smith & Puczko, 2009).

Therefore, the following research question guided the research:

RQ1. What would tourists prefer to visit as additional activities during the visit to the spa as a part of the tourist product?

RQ2. What options will guests support if spas need to make urgent changes to their work to ensure health conditions?

Methodology

The research about adapting the wellness offer in spas and offering alternative activities in Slovenian natural spas is a part of a survey “Research on energy, spas and energy tourism” conducted online from 04.05.2021–04.08.2021. The survey is based on a literature review, and questions are adjusted to the research aim. The questionnaire is divided into three sections: energy, spas, and power plants, and for this research, we used the section about spas. In this section, we were interested in how often participants visited spas in the past and to what extent they see various forms of the additional offer as something that makes sense for spas in the future. This section includes the questions “How often did you visit spas in 2019 or earlier, so generally before a pandemic” and “What kind of tourist offer would you like to visit in the offer of additional activities during your visit to the spa”, “What is your primary reason for visiting the spa?”. Participants were also asked to rate the level of support (I don’t support at all, I don’t support, neither support nor do not support, I support, I very much support) if spas need to make urgent changes to their work to ensure health conditions (“Price increase and thus reduction in the number of guests”, “Unchanged implementation of activities, but in compliance with the regulations of wearing a mask, maintaining distance, disinfection”, “Introduction of new/alternative activities and thus dispersion of visitors to several locations”, “The time limit for visits with booking”). The survey was anonymous, and participants were not required to answer all survey questions.

The convenience sample using snowball sampling was used for data collection via social media. The target population includes residents of Slovenia. Five hundred thirty-four participants responded to more than 80% of the survey. Participants who did not respond to 80% or more of the survey were removed from the dataset. Of those who responded, 130 identified males (31.60%) and 282 females (68.40%) from Slovenian municipalities such as Brežice, Ljubljana, etc. Most participants completed Bachelor's studies (56.70%), while the least completed primary schools (2.00%). The mean age of participants is 54 years (Table 1).

Table 1. Socio-demographic characteristics of participants

Variable	N	% (M; SD)
Gender  Male  Female Educational level  Primary school  High school  College  Bachelor’s Degree  Master’s or PhD Degree  Refused to answer Age	130 282 8 62 26 230 73 7 404	31.60 68.40 2.00 15.30 6.40 56.70 18.00 1.70 (54.00; 13.39)

Source: Authors’ calculations.

Descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation) and frequencies are used to concisely describe the data collected and explain the reasons for offering alternative activities in Slovenian natural spas. Independent samples t-test is conducted to determine whether there is a difference in the options guests would support if spas need to make urgent changes to their work to ensure health conditions between males and females. Chi-square test of independence was used to determine whether the primary reason for visiting the spa and the type of tourist product that tourists would like to visit in the offer of additional activities during the visit to the spa by Primary reason for visiting the spa are related. IBM SPSS version 23 was used for statistical analyses, and the significance level was set at α = 0.05.

Findings

Descriptive statistics

Most tourists visited spas in 2019 or earlier before a pandemic rarely (45.01%) or several times a year (32.59%), while the least tourists visited spas weekly or more (0.67%) (Figure 1).

Figure 1. How often did you visit spas in 2019 or earlier, before a pandemic? Source: Authors' calculations.

Wellness tourists usually have several reasons to visit the wellness centre, but one is primary. The primary reason for visiting the spa is relaxation, while the least important reason is healthy food. Other reasons for visiting the spa are physical activity, mental activities/education and medication or healing (Table 2). According to Rančić (2019), the vast majority of respondents (66.5%) single out relaxation as their primary reason for visiting a wellness centre, which coincides with the results of this research. Treatment is not the primary reason for going to the spa because modern spas with wellness centres are intended more for these types of services than classical treatment. There are special facilities or institutions.

Table 2. Descriptive statistics for the primary reason for visiting the spa

Variables	Rank
Relaxation Treatment Mental activities/education Physical activity Healthy food	1 2 3 4 5

Source: Authors’ calculations.

The results show that guests would support the Introduction of new/alternative activities and thus dispersion of visitors to several locations if spas need to make urgent changes to their work to ensure health conditions (M = 4.08; SD = 0.83), followed by the time limit for visits with booking (M = 3.47; SD = 1.14) and unchanged implementation of activities, but in compliance with the regulations of wearing a mask, maintaining distance, disinfection (M = 3.38; SD = 1.16), while the guests would support the least price increase and thus reduction in the number of guests (M = 2.51; SD = 1.07) (Table 3).

Table 3. Descriptive statistics for the options guests will support if spas need to make urgent changes to their work to ensure health conditions

Variables	N	M; SD
Price increase and thus reduction in the number of guests. Unchanged implementation of activities, but in compliance with the regulations of wearing a mask, maintaining distance, and disinfection. Introduction of new/alternative activities and thus dispersion of visitors to several locations. The time limit for visits with advance booking.	426 426 426 426	2.51; 1.07 3.38; 1.16 4.08; 0.83 3.47; 1.14

Source: Authors’ calculations.

One of the possibilities for reducing the number of simultaneous guests in the spa is introducing an additional offer. Respondents need to choose which type of tourist product they would prefer to visit as additional activities during a visit to the spa. The tourists would prefer to visit in the offer of additional activities during the visit to the spa Nature: natural parks, sea/river/lakeshore, followed by Recreation: hiking, cycling, outdoor relaxation techniques (yoga, meditation), forest selfness … , while tourists would prefer the least Entertainment: outdoor events and animations (Table 4).

Table 4. Descriptive statistics for the type of tourist offer tourists would prefer to visit as additional activities during the visit to the spa

Variables	Rank
Nature: natural parks, sea / river / lake shore …  Recreation: hiking, cycling, outdoor relaxation techniques (yoga, meditation), forest selfness …  Culture: museum, city, collection …  Events: lectures on healthy living, cooking courses for preparing healthy food …  Industry: a tour of nearby production plants (e.g. power plants, factories). Entertainment: outdoor events and animations	1 2 3 4 5 6

Source: Authors’ calculations.

Independent samples t-test results

An independent samples t-test was conducted to determine whether guests support introducing new/alternative activities and thus dispersion visitors to several locations if spas need to make urgent changes to their work to ensure health conditions differ between males and females. The results indicate a significant difference between males (M = 3.97; SD = 0.79) and females (M = 4.16; SD = 0.83); t(404) −2.17, p = 0.030 < 0.05 (Table 5).

Table 5. Independent samples t-test results

Variable	Gender				t	p
	Male (n = 127)		Female (n = 279)
	M	SD	M	SD
Introduction of new/alternative activities and thus dispersion of visitors to several locations.	3.97	0.79	4.16	0.83	−2.17	0.030
Price increase and thus reduction in the number of guests.	2.62	1.08	2.45	1.07	1.47	0.142
Unchanged implementation of activities, but in compliance with the regulations of wearing a mask, maintaining distance, disinfection.	3.48	1.05	3.36	1.21	0.92	0.357
The time limit for visits with advance booking.	3.48	1.05	3.49	1.18	−0.07	0.943

Source: Authors’ calculations.

The results show that there is no difference between males and females in Price increase and thus the reduction in the number of guests (p = 0.142), Unchanged implementation of activities, but in compliance with the regulations of wearing a mask, maintaining distance, disinfection, (p = 0.357), and The time limit for visits with advance booking (p = 0.943).

Chi-square test of independence results

Chi-square test of independence was conducted to determine whether the primary reason for visiting the spa and the type of tourist product that tourists would like to visit in the offer of additional activities during the visit to the spa by Primary reason for visiting the spa are related. The results are significant, χ2(20)    63.55, p < 0.001; Phi = 0.44. Therefore, we may conclude that the primary reason for visiting the spa and the type of tourist product that tourists would like to visit in the offer of additional activities during the visit to the spa by Primary reason for visiting the spa are related.

Based on the chi-square test of independence results and Figure 2, we can conclude the following:

• 44.00% of tourists whose primary reason for visiting the spa is physical activity would like to visit Nature: natural parks, sea/river/lakeshore … as the offer of additional activities during the visit to the spa.

• Most tourists (30.00%) who visit the spa because of healthy food would like to visit industry: a tour of nearby production plants (e.g. power plants, factories) as the offer additional activities during the visit to the spa.

• 26.00% of tourists whose primary reason for visiting the spa is relaxation would like to visit Nature: natural parks, sea/river/lakeshore … as the offer of additional activities during the visit to the spa.

• Most tourists who visit the spa because of mental activities/education (35.70%) would like to visit Nature: natural parks, sea/river/lakeshore … as the offer of additional activities during the visit to the spa.

• Tourists who visit the spa because of treatment (26.50%) would like to visit Nature: natural parks, sea/river/lakeshore … or industry: a tour of nearby production plants (e.g. power plants, factories) as the offer of additional activities during the visit to the spa.

Figure 2. Bar chart for The type of tourist offer that tourists would like to visit in the offer of additional activities during the visit to the spa by Primary reason for visiting the spa. Source: Authors’ calculations.

Discussion

According to Rančić (2019), 54.30% of respondents visited wellness centres several times a year, 37.40% of respondents visited wellness centres less frequently, and only 0.4% of respondents visited wellness centres 1–2 times a week. Given that the research data from this study are similar, visitors to Slovenian wellness centres have a relatively well-developed habit of using wellness services, which is not surprising given their standard, Western rhythm of life, but also a large number of such centres in a small area. It should be added that their health system is investing a lot of effort in spreading the wellness philosophy, especially through the mission carried out by the public health network of Slovenian spas (Rančić, 2019).

The survey results showed that quests would support introducing new/alternative activities and thus dispersion of visitors to several locations if spas need to make urgent changes to their work to ensure healthy conditions. Therefore, if spas need to make urgent changes to their work to ensure health conditions, guests will not support the most unchanged implementation of activities but comply with the regulations of wearing a mask, maintaining distance, disinfection. The unchanged implementation of activities, but in compliance with the regulations of wearing a mask, maintaining distance, and disinfection, is in the third place of changes to the spa’s work to ensure health conditions guests would support.

According to the independent samples t-test results, females would provide higher support to introducing new/alternative activities and thus dispersion of visitors to several locations if spas need to make urgent changes to their work to ensure health conditions than males. This can mean that females are more adaptive to new/alternative activities in tourism and changes in spas offered due to concern about health conditions. Furthermore, males do not differ from females in support of spas need to make urgent changes to their work to ensure health conditions regarding price increase and thus reduction in the number of guests, unchanged implementation of activities, but in compliance with the regulations of wearing a mask, maintaining distance, disinfection, and the time limit for visits with advance booking.

Since most tourists who visit the spa for healthy food would like to visit the industry, Slovenian natural spas should adapt their wellness offer and include a tour of nearby production plants (e.g. power plants, factories) as additional activities. But Slovenian natural spas should focus more on adapting their offer, including a visit to natural parks, sea/river/lakeshore … as the offer of additional activities during the visit to the spa. Most tourists whose primary reason for visiting the spa is physical activity, mental activities/education mentioned these activities as their favourite. Therefore, the tourists would prefer to visit nature (natural parks, sea/river/lakeshore … ) as they offer additional activities during the visit to the spa. Furthermore, tourists ranked visits to natural parks as the first type of tourist product, and they would prefer to visit as additional activities during the visit to the spa.

Conclusion

The paper aimed to suggest alternative activities and adapt the wellness offer during the COVID-19 pandemic in Slovenian natural spas. The survey results showed that guests would like to visit natural parks, sea/river/lakeshore, hike, or relax with yoga or mediation. Still, they would not agree with the price increase and the reduction in the number of guests. Therefore, Slovenian natural spas should adapt their wellness offer during the COVID-19 pandemic and include more relaxing activities to help guests enjoy spas and help them temporarily forget about the current problems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and adapt to new living conditions. However, adjusting the wellness offer in spas should ensure that the basic traditional principles of wellness are maintained and that guests are satisfied with the new offer.

Given that the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) is a global pandemic that has affected all spheres of life and is recommended to stay outdoors, the best recommendation for improving the offer of Slovenian natural spas is to offer activities in nature such as a visit to natural parks, river, … In addition to adhering to the recommended measures for preventing coronavirus (COVID-19), such as social distance, expanding the offer of natural spas by visiting nature is an adequate expansion of natural spas. Besides, the situation created in tourism due to the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) can and should be used to promote the resources and potential of Slovenian natural spas and to build their image as “healthy and safe destinations” that provide much more than “only” wellness offers.

Research has certain limitations. One limitation relates to the measuring instrument used in the research. The measuring instrument for certain questions is based on the Likert scale, i.e. evaluating a certain statement on a scale from 1 to 5. Therefore, the answers of the respondents are based on subjective assessment. Since the survey was anonymous, subjectivity was reduced, but there is certainly an influence of socially desirable responses and biases of respondents.

Furthermore, there is also the influence of cultural, sociological and economic differences in the research, so there are limitations in interpreting the results due to the different perceptions of certain services created by these differences. Some data only correspond to a rank calculated based on the respondents’ opinions, not permitting us to understand whether some opinions would be much more prevalent than others. Future research should include more variables to assess whether some opinions would be much more prevalent than others and obtain other relevant conclusions.

Acknowledgement

This research was funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, grant number 731117. The GeoFood project is supported through the ERANET Cofund GEOTHERMICA project (Project no. 731117), by the European Commission, The Research Council in Iceland (Rannis), Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), the Ministry of Infrastructure, and the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning, Republic of Slovenia.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme [grant number 731117].

Notes on contributors

Milica Rančić Demir

Milica Rančić Demir, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Tourism, University of Maribor (Slovenia). She received her doctorate in geosciences from the University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management (Serbia). Her main fields of interest are wellness tourism, hotel management, food and beverage management and quality management. She is the author and co-author in numerous research papers and conference proceedings. She has taken part in different domestic and international projects in the area of tourism, hotel management and food science.

Barbara Pavlakovič

Barbara Pavlakovič is an academic and a researcher at the University of Maribor, Faculty of Tourism, Slovenia. Her work and research fields cover various aspects of tourism, industrial tourism, communication and safety in tourism. She graduated in communication studies from the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, developed her public relations skills in several organisations as a PR practitioner and continued her career in academia. Currently, she is finishing her PhD study at the Faculty of Organisational Sciences, University of Maribor; her doctoral thesis addresses active industrial tourism concepts related to HR and safety and security. She participated in a nationally-funded ŠIPK project, »The story of industrial Metlika: Design of innovative tourism products: industrial tourism, revitalisation and sustainability«, Horizon 2020 and Geothermica funded GeoFood project, and a nationally-funded research project Tourism and Climate Change. Her published works include scientific articles about industrial tourism, HR, safety and security in tourism, books and book chapters about sustainability and renewable sources, and conference contributions about mentioned topics.

Nejc Pozvek

Nejc Pozvek is a teaching assistant and researcher at the University of Maribor, Faculty of Tourism, Slovenia. He covers the field of tourism geography and destination management and focuses in particular on aspects of sustainable development and (strategic) management and planning with the possibility of incorporating the degrowth paradigm. He graduated at the Universitiy of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts, Department of Geography. During his academic career he participated in many projects of which more important are nationally-funded Tourism 4.0 – enriched tourism experiences, Climate Change and Sustainable Tourism Development in Slovenia, H2020 and Geothermica funded GeoFood. He participated in tourism development strategy projects for Municipality of Brežice and Municipality of Sevnica, and is a member of the team creating Territorial Collective Brands according to the “Authentic from Slovenia” model.

Maja Turnšek

Maja Turnšek is Associate Professor & Vice Dean for Research at University of Maribor, Faculty of Tourism, Slovenia. Her background is in media and communication studies. She lectures on communication psychology and marketing in tourism. Her main research interests cover the political economy of new media, experience design in tourism and tourism and climate change.

Notes

* The submitted paper is an extended version of the paper presented at the SITCON 2021 conference