Development and Verification of the Wellness Tourism Experience Scale

Abstract

Wellness tourism is a significant way to improve physical, psychological, and spiritual aspects. However, an appropriate scale for measuring the wellness tourism experience in academic research remains lacking. Most existing research had measured wellness tourism experience using full or part of the well-established tourism experience scales, ignoring the unique context of wellness tourism. Considering these issues, this paper first clarifies the essential connotations of the wellness tourism experience. Then, following the scale development process (literature review, content analysis, expert scoring, and two rounds of large-scale questionnaire surveys), this paper proposes the wellness tourism experience as a multidimensional construct comprising three dimensions, including “regain health,” “escape from stress” and “discover oneself.” This study provides a scientific and reliable measurement tool for further exploration of the antecedents and consequences of the wellness tourism experience.