Promotion and Marketing: Marketing Strategies, Italy, Regional Development
5.4 The Customers of the Thermal Resorts
The thermal industry presents quite heterogeneous features that allow for a simple division of the thermal enterprises in different typologies according to the criteria used, such as, for example, the type of mineral water used and the ways in which the water is administered; as a matter of fact, there are some types of mineral water that can be used for hydroponic therapy as well as aerosol therapy.
The person who benefi ts from thermal facilities is called curista, and goes to thermal baths almost exclusively to undertake certain therapies.
In most cases, the curista is a fairly old person, whose stay is quite long and is highly loyal to both the thermal baths and the surrounding structures and prefers half or full board.
The customers are mainly of Italian nationality, representing over 60 % of arrivals and stay.
Compared to previous years, the overall decline of tourists in Italy, which is a refl ection of the international fi nancial crisis, has also affected the thermal industry with a decline of 1.1 % in the arrivals and 1.3 % in the stay (Table 5.2 ).
If one examines the foreign demand, which represents altogether 3.1 % of the total, the visitors mainly come from Austria, Switzerland and France; among the reasons for choosing thermal resorts, there is the desire to relax, the possibility to take care of one’s own body while at the same time enjoying the natural beauty of the location, and the proximity to the city of origin. On average, tourists spend, per capita, 100 Euros for travel arrangements and about 76 Euros for accommodation for their thermal holiday. The data show good sales performances in the accommodation and extra accommodation businesses in the thermal resorts (Tables 5.3 and 5.4 ).
Table 5.2 Foreign tourists for type of location Place of tourist interest
2011 2012 Change (in percentage) Arrivals Stay Average stay Arrivals Stay Average stay Arrivals Stay City of historical and artistic interest 21,676,340 59,570,413 2.7 22,007,351 60,291,761 2.7 1.5 1.2 Marine locations 7,794,036 41,237,684 5.3 8,025,204 42,353,805 5.3 3.0 2.7 Lake resorts 4,308,371 21,611,983 5.0 4,451,912 22,685,957 5.1 3.3 5.0 Mountain resorts 3,976,581 19,496,863 4.9 4,246,504 20,584,521 4.8 6.8 5.6 Hill resorts and other areas of interest 1,939,710 8,888,548 4.6 1,970,409 9,044,260 4.6 1.6 1.8 Thermal resorts 1,482,355 5,448,889 3.7 1,498,594 5,517,463 3.7 1.1 1.3 Other resorts 6,283,416 20,219,682 3.2 6,538,601 20,117,221 3.1 4.1 −0.5 TOTAL 47,460,809 176,474,062 3.7 48,738,575 180,594,988 3.7 2.7 2.3 Source : Istat 2013
The users of thermal spa resorts base their decision on the advice of friends and family members, or on personal experience or the Internet, the latter used both for information and for purchasing packages. Sports, body care, hiking, shopping and tasting of typical local products are the activities made available to thermal resorts users.
The main users are the elderly (over 60 years), followed by young people aged between 18 and 24, and families with children. The users change during the year:
during the January-March period, couples and families are the main customers for this product. The web and the Internet are the main tools used for booking (4 tour- ists out of 10 have used the web to book their stay at the thermal spa resort).
Among the motivations that drive users to attend a thermal spa, there are major differences between Italian and foreign customers. The main reasons for choosing thermal spas and wellness resorts in Italy are: health and fi tness (46 %), spending a relaxing holiday (35 %) in a valuable natural environment (30 %), food and wine (21 %). During their stay, one out of two people visits a spa and wellness centre;
37 % play sports.
However, according to foreign tourists, spa destinations represent the ideal enhanced holiday, which combines relax with sports, the discovery of the territory and food and wine. As a matter of fact, thermal spas are also considered as ideal destinations for sports (1.6 %), which is the fi rst activity performed on site (47.8 %), the discovery of the territory (13.6 %) – and in fact they go hiking (27.1 %) – and to enjoy Italian food and wine (as motivation in 10.7 % of cases and as a tasting activity in 28.8 %).
To sum up, thermal spa destinations host on average 5.4 % of tourists who choose Italy as their holiday destination. Although these fi gures are quite small if compared to the two-digit numbers of other tourist products such as beach tourism (34.7 %) and cultural tourism (29.9 %), they are on the rise if compared with previous years
Table 5.3 Foreign travellers’ expenditure – time series
Year Currency earnings (in million Euros) Change in percentage
2008 3,090 −0.1
2009 28,856 −7.2
2010 29,257 +1.4
2011 30,891 +5.6
2012 32,056 +3.8
2013 33,064 +3.1
Jan-Feb 2014 3,239 +2.4
Source: Bank of AAVV Turismo internazionale in Italia (2013) Consultazione data: 04.13.2014
Table 5.4 Foreign travellers’ per capita daily expenditure
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
€ 93.67 € 91.76 € 93.87 € 94.38 € 97.78 € 102.77
Source: Elaboration on Bank of Italy AAVV Turismo internazionale in Italia (2013) Consultazione data: 04.13.2014
when this tourism accounted for about 4 % (in 2010 and 2011). This positive trend concerns both Italian and foreign tourists (mainly coming from Austria and Switzerland): if in 2010 and 2011, the proportion of Italian did not reach 5 %, in 2012 it reached 6 %; in the case of foreigners, it remained at a steady 3 %, and almost reached 5 % in 2012 (Table 5.5 ).
5.4.1 Customer Satisfaction
In order to properly manage the image of a place, it is fundamental to understand and analyze how satisfi ed the typical customer is. To this end, Isart has carried out a study to assess the average rating of users, following their stay.
Table 5.5 Tourists’ behaviour during a holiday in a thermal resort
Italian tourist Foreign tourist Total Why did I
choose it?
Ideal place to relax 41.00 41.30 41.10
Wellness, beauty farm, fi tness 37.20 31.00
But also for… Exclusive
location
Natural beauty of the place For its
proximity
Ideal place to practice a sport Desire to visit an unknown location Food and wine What did you
base your choice on?
Advice/recommendation of friends/family members
36.20 28.20 33.20
I had already been here/
personal experience
32.20 21.20 28.00
What did you do during your stay?
I went to a wellness centre 43.00 47.20 44.60
I played sports 40.60 47.80 43.40
I hiked 23.70 21.20 25.00
But also Local typical
products tasting Shopping I visited historic town centre I visited museums and/or exhibitions I bought typical products and/or local handcrafts
Source : Italian Tourism Observatory- Unioncamere data 2013
The survey was conducted separating Italian and foreign tourists’ ratings (Table 5.6 ).
On a scale of 1–10, Italian tourists give a score of 7.7 to the overall tourist offer, with peaks of high satisfaction for the accommodation facilities (7.8): tourist infor- mation provided inside accommodation facilities gets a rating of 8.1, whereas mea- sures for environmental protection, as well as the valorization of local identity, the hospitality and cleanliness get 8.
Among the positive ratings, environmental protection information to customers and the atmosphere linked to the local identity get a rating of 8.1 (Table 5.7 ).
Foreign tourists give the overall tourist offer a rating of 7.9. Among the best rated items, there are accommodation facilities (an average 8.1) and catering (8), whose strength is the quality of food and wine (8.4) and the environmental protection information for the customers (8.3).
Table 5.6 Average ratings for the 2012 stay Italian tourist
Foreign tourist Italian
tourist
European tourist
Non European
tourist Total Total
Overall tourist offer 7.7 7.9 7.7 7.9 7.8
Destinations/areas 7.7 7.9 7.7 7.9 7.8
Adoption of sustainable measures 8.1 8.3 8.6 8.3 8.2
Atmosphere connected to the environmental identity
8.1 8.1 7.9 8.1 8.1
Courtesy/hospitality of the people 7.9 8.3 7.8 8.3 8.1
Cleanliness 7.7 8.1 7.7 8.1 7.9
Access to the territory 7.8 7.9 8 7.9 7.9
Adherence to the expectations 7.7 7.9 7.4 7.8 7.8
Environmental protection 7.7 7.8 7.6 7.8 7.7
Tourist information 77.4 7.6 7 7.6 7.4
Etc.
Accommodation facilities 7.8 8.1 7.9 8.1 7.9
Available information in accommodation facilities
8.1 8.3 8.7 8.4 8.2
Measures of environmental sustainability
8 8.4 8.5 8.4 8.1
Valorisation of local identity 8 8.3 7.9 8.3 8.1
Promotion of typical products 7.7 7.9 7 7.9 7.7
Quality-price ratio 7.7 7.7 7.7 7.7 7.7
Accommodation price 7.5 7.8 7.4 7.7 7.6
Source : Italian Tourism Observatory- Unioncamere data 2013
Table 5.7 Average ratings for the 2012 stay Italian tourist
Foreign tourist Italian
tourist
European tourist
Non European
tourist Total Total
Catering 7.7 8.1 7.7 8 7.8
Food quality 8 8.5 7.8 8.3 8.2
Environmental protection information to customers
8.1 8.3 7.8 8.3 8.2
Availability of special menus 8 8.1 7.5 8.3 8.1
Variety of the offer 7.9 8.1 8.3 8.1 8
Promotion of typical products 7.7 8 8.3 8 7.8
Typicality of the offer 7.7 8 7.4 7.9 7.8
Food prices 7.3 7.6 7.2 7.5 7.5
Source: Italian Tourism Observatory – Unioncamere 2013