Wellness Tourism Destination Assessment Model: A Development Indicator in an Emerging Economy-Thailand

At present, the affluent, medical and wellness tourism industry in Thailand is facing challenges in global tourism competitiveness that includes assessment of the country's potential and readiness to become the leading in wellness tourism and sustainable restoration of world-class quality. This research developed indicators for assessing the potential of wellness tourism destinations, in which affluent, medical and wellness tourism is among the main target industries that are important to the economic development of Thailand. This research was preliminarily conducted by using systematic literature review. The results of the study reveal that potential wellness tourism destination assessment in the Thailand context consists of seven factors and 50 indicators. Based on the results, recommendations for future research are provided. In an empirical research, a questionnaire was used as the tool for data collection and component analysis confirmation. Then, the generated factors and indicators were used to develop innovative systems for assessing the potential of wellness tourism destinations and to be tested on stakeholders of the same in Thailand.