Wellness tourism service preferences and their linkages to motivational factors: a multiple case study
Daumantas Bočkus, Timo Tammi, Elli Vento, Raija Komppula
Abstract
Responding to the research gap in cross-cultural studies in wellness tourism this study aims to increase the understanding about the differences in wellness tourists’ service preferences in different source markets by investigating how service preferences are associated with motivational factors. Based on 1,562 online survey responses from wellness tourists residing in Finland, Russia (St. Petersburg area), and Lithuania, an exploratory factor analysis and seemingly unrelated regression analysis were performed to analyse the cross-cultural differences. The results revealed that swimming pools, saunas, massages and body care are dominant services for all nationality groups, while services related to Eastern traditions are the least important. However, there are significant differences regarding the importance of services such as beauty treatment, services related to medical wellness, spa and wellness packages among others. An analysis of the associations between service preferences and motivational factors and significant differences in the strength and direction of those associations revealed that wellness tourists from different source markets may be driven by different motivations for choosing the same services.