City SPA Tourism and the Directions of its Evolution

Spa tourism is part of health tourism. Its basic purpose is to stay at the resort and use its facilities and methods of spa treatment in order maintain and improve health. Spa tourism is thus defined as traveling to spa resorts. The main purpose of such trips is to improve physical and mental well-being. Spas and the related services play an important role in ensuring socio-economic conditions while providing rest, recuperation, rehabilitation and prevention and therefore it is contributing to the health of citizens. On the other hand, they play an important role in the economy of cities and regions, stimulating economic development of the resorts, creating new jobs and activating local communities. Tourism which includes the trips to spa resorts for therapeutic purposes is one of the most important and fastest growing sectors of the world economy. The results of studies and research indicate that every year more and more Poles and foreign visitors use the spa resorts on an individual basis and on a commercial basis. Spa resorts in Europe constantly enrich and develop their offer with new services and products to reflect changing needs and preferences of customers. This trend should also be followed by Polish spa resorts aside the traditional methods of providing a wide range of spa and wellness services. One of the most important challenges facing the Polish health resort industry is to go beyond the services related only to spa and healing, and to focus on broadening their range of cultural and leisure-related services. Polish spa resorts moreover have a unique opportunity for development of more commercial and specialized services