Title: Rebranding of destination quality through wellness tourism

Authors: Monika Barnwal; Bushra Choudhary; Vijay Kumar; Abdul Qadir

Addresses: Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India ' Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India ' Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India ' Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India

Abstract: The image of a destination makes or breaks the tourist count where tourists visit to experience its location, culture and lifestyle. Rebranding a destination in times of COVID-19 when the tourism industry is suffering has become an utmost priority, with a need to find alternative ways to upgrade its quality. Wellness tourism has emerged as one of the tourism sectors that could enhance the trust in destinations. The improvement in destination quality through wellness tourism can bring new life to the destination and its resources by implementing responsive promotional strategies and offering various safe wellness treatments as touristic activities. The article studies the struggle of global tourist destinations from COVID-19 and how it affected its products and service quality. It deals with the question of how and what are the ways through which the destinations could gain their significance in the tourism market. The paper is a case study on South Korea, where collaboration among various stakeholders and the medical sector led to maintaining the tourism quality of the destination. The study is based on secondary data and proposes a theoretical framework of branding with wellness tourism for regaining the pull factor quality of COVID-19 affected destinations.

Keywords: rebranding; destination quality; wellness tourism; sustainability; tourist destination.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHEM.2022.130751

International Journal of Hospitality and Event Management, 2022 Vol.2 No.3/4, pp.247 - 260

Received: 14 May 2022
Accepted: 09 Jan 2023
Published online: 04 May 2023 *

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