A New Paradigm in the Planning and Management of Quality Hotel Services: Health Tourism

Abstract

Currently hotel tourism is of major socio-economic relevance, comparable with any other economic activity, present worldwide and driven largely by the breakneck speed of technological advances. Tourism specialists state that the quality of services is critical for the sector’s competitiveness. Spain has long-standing experience in quality hotel services. However, changes in the industry and intense competition in this sector have prompted the search for new opportunities in it.

The purpose of European Parliament/Council Directive 2011/24/EU, of 9 March 2011, on the implementation of the rights of patients seeking healthcare in a Member State other than their own, is to ensure that patients receive safe, high quality healthcare, and has opened the door to new business opportunities in healthcare and hospitality branches in Europe.

In the health branch, some European regions have recognised the chance to offer medical services given their specialisation and/or for previous recognition, which can attract a certain patient type, and for them to become tourist destinations of so-called health tourism (healthcare tourism).

This paradigm shift has been identified by some hotel managers, who see this new circumstance a chance to revisit their hotel room offers by addressing the situation to a new type of customer whose stay should be planned differently from existing offers, as well as a new way of using surplus hotel rooms or at out-of-season times. Kind hospitality is a well-known very seasonal business. Obviously, such a change in the business approach has associated changes in production processes and their quality, and even in the management of all the processes that hotels offer customers.

This article reflects on the good practices and lessons learned, and on experience in planning and managing hospital beds, which can bring a fresh approach for planning hotel occupancies of high value for this new customer type, details of which must be considered to provide high quality services using a new approach.