Customer Loyalty in Spa Tourism: A Case Study

Abstract

In today's business world, acquiring and retaining customers in the tourism industry is becoming increasingly challenging. High competition, constantly changing markets, and growing customer demands require constant adaptation to new trends and marketing innovations. It is crucial to cultivate customer loyalty, as it leads to repeat business and positive word-of-mouth promotion. Achieving this goal is an increasingly difficult task that requires innovative approaches to service marketing. Tourism includes very specific sub-sectors that are significantly different from the mainstream of the industry and serve not only well-being but also other needs. An example of a sub-sector that combines well-being and health is spa tourism. Existing studies suggest that factors influencing the loyalty of health spa visitors may vary depending on the region and cultural factors and may also change over time. Further research is therefore needed to precisely identify which factors are currently most important for promoting the loyalty of spa customers. This article presents a case study of increasing customer loyalty, with a special focus on the Czech Republic. The study identifies the current needs, preferences, and requirements of customers in the selected tourism industry. The article aims to complement a model of visitor loyalty for the needs of spa tourism and introduce marketing tools that currently influence customer loyalty in spa tourism. The complementation of the model is based on the generally accepted model of customer satisfaction in tourism. The proposed suggestions can inspire tourism businesses to fulfil the needs of health, active living, and well-being by effectively acquiring and retaining customers in a highly competitive environment. The study provides theoretical and managerial recommendations for increasing customer loyalty. The study is based on a questionnaire survey conducted in 2022 among spa visitors throughout the Czech Republic. The motivation was to identify key factors that support customer loyalty. The results show that specific treatment effects and procedures, information and personal experience, a pleasant environment and ambience of the spa contribute more to loyalty than satisfaction with accommodation or the offer of complementary services. The paper also provides a set of practical recommendations for setting up marketing programs and improving marketing communication for owners and managers of spa tourism.