Measurement Model for Assessing Community Based Wellness Tourism Needs

Abstract

The concepts of involving the local community in offering tourism activities at commercial tourist destinations and community based tourism entirely developed by communities in rural areas are widely accepted and adopted in developing nations for even distribution of tourist flow and wealth towards the local community. The same has been widely studied in tourism research. On the other hand, the sense of well-being is on the rise, which eventually has an impact on the tourism industry, especially on tourist destination choices based on activities and services available at a tourist destination. Wellness tourism, though not new by the concept but relatively less explored in tourism research, is growing rapidly and is being redefined in recent years. Following the trend and positioning community based tourism activities to attract the wellness tourism market may bring more new opportunities for achieving sustainable success in community based tourism. This research aims to define community based wellness tourism and to develop and validate a measurement scale for understanding potential tourists' need towards community based wellness tourism. The scale was developed with six factors, viz., physical, emotional, spiritual, social, mental, and environmental wellness. The purposive sampling method was used to collect data from 386 residents of Bangkok city. The results of the empirical research reveal that the model is valid and reliable. The model can be used by hosting communities, researchers, and policy-makers involved in community based tourism to understand and assess the wellness needs of potential tourists and develop wellness tourism-related projects, services, and activities.