Attitude towards alternative medicinal practices in wellness tourism market

Abstract

Purpose

Recently, wellness tourism has gained popularity in alternative medicinal practices. Alternative medicinal practices are mostly endemic and have evolved through generations, transmitted and propagated through formal and informal modes. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the possibility of developing alternative medicinal practices in the wellness tourism market in the context of Kalari practices – oldest martial art system of the world based at Kerala, India.

Design/methodology/approach

Study employed an exploratory sequential method consisting of in-depth interviews with practitioners and questionnaire survey with 356 tourists. Confirmatory factor analysis has been done to confirm the latent variables of attitude towards alternative medicinal practices in wellness market.

Findings

Study results indicate that there are five latent constructs consisting of physical, psychological, emotional, social and personal evolved around 26 indicators.

Practical implications

This study will introduce an innovative product line for customers as it will provide enhanced opportunities for wellness and will result in indigenous knowledge protection and marketing.

Social implications

The present study gives immense scope for appreciation of effectiveness of martial art practices across world and promotion of wellness tourism through alternative medicinal practices, which could be slightly modified and replicated by considering local specific medicinal practices.

Originality/value

This study makes the first attempt to investigate attitude towards alternative medicinal practices, especially martial art practices, in the context of wellness market.

Citation

Meera, S. and Vinodan, A. (2019), "Attitude towards alternative medicinal practices in wellness tourism market", Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights, Vol. 2 No. 3, pp. 278-295. https://doi.org/10.1108/JHTI-06-2018-0037