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Linking pleasure with health: the development of health resorts as venues for health promotion

University of British Columbia

Health benefits associated with vacation activities are increasingly important factors in the North American leisure market. Health promotion is often a goal of holiday activity in general, but some people want specific health benefits from their vacation. The health spa segment of the leisure industry has a long history of directly meeting peopl&s desires for health promoting or health restoring vacations. Industry analysts have recently noted the emergence of a growing and revitalized health resort industry that is accommodating a new consumer demand for multidimensional approaches to weliness. Expanded and enhanced development of the health resort business in Canada has the potential to provide social as well as economic benefit to Canadians from domestic and international markets. At this time a number of demographic, environmental, and cultural factors are supportive of a renewed health resort industry. This paper analyzes the health resort industry in Canada from a planning perspective and is structured in three parts: a review of the history and modern trends in the health resort industry, a survey of twenty key informants to document opportunities and constraints in the development of health resorts today, and an analysis of government policy and industry actions relevant to the growth of a network of health resorts in British Columbia.

Thesis/Dissertation

application/pdf

2009-02-26

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/5197

Planning

University of British Columbia

UBCV

DSpace