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medicine, rather than a curable form. By integrating physical activity, proper nutrition and lifestyle changes, overall wellness of body, mind and soul can be achieved. International medical care has become nearly synonymous with vacation travel to many state-of- the-art, world-class, and famous tourist destinations around the world. Formerly limited traditional medical destinations such as India, Thailand and Singapore have blossomed with growth in the 21st century with newer, high-tech, and world-class facilities located in destinations from the Ukraine, Turkey, and Jordan, to South Africa, the Mediterranean, Switzerland, South America, and new Asian destinations such as South Korea, Japan, and Malaysia. Medical wellness industry is stepping into the new millennium and offering services the contemporary client needs. Not just focusing on one aspect of wellness, spas and medical wellness facilities are putting an emphasis on overall improvement in quality of life that harmonizes all the elements of body and soul in an international setting. (Neon, F. 2008) .

Medical Wellness Spa

Medical wellness spas exist throughout the world with each location using its individual natural resources and culture to influence its treatments. For example, in countries, such as Austria, Hungary and Italy, the use of thermal springs are used to alleviate particular ailments and also relieve stress. Similarly, Thalassotherapy, the medical use of seawater, is practiced in destinations of the Mediterranean and Ireland. This type of therapy is beneficial for weight loss and relief of joint pain and circulation problems. In Asian countries, such as Thailand and Sri Lanka, yoga, meditation and massage are heavily integrated in medical wellness treatments. These countries take an overall holistic approach by creating a balance between the mental, physical and spiritual. Ayurveda, another ancient approach, is widely used in India and in certain parts of Europe uses massage and nutrition to improve wellness. In most Middle Eastern and Asian countries, the integration of spirituality and religion in overall wellness is not seen as an extra, but as a vital part of the experience. As spas and the medical wellness industry expands, globalization and hybridization of ideals from both ends of the hemisphere merge to create diverse wellness facilities here and abroad. For example, countries in the Caribbean, such as Costa Rica provide hospitals that specialize in orthopedic and general surgeries, but also provide wellness retreats and spas that target both the tourist and the patient.

The Caribbean is only one of many regions around the globe that has caught

hold of the trend and now markets to both clients. With scenic, natural resources as its backdrop, countries are not only able to market their exceptional healthcare and hospitals, but also their medical wellness facilities. As the medical tourism industry gains popularity, it is expected that health tourism will be positively affected. With globalization and hybridization of practices, the medical wellness industry is stepping into the new millennium and offering services the contemporary client needs. Not just focusing on one aspect of wellness, spas and medical wellness facilities are putting an emphasis on overall improvement in quality of life that harmonizes all the elements of body and soul in an international setting (Sutton, P. 2009) .

World Trends in Health and Wellness Tourism

It is important to note these ongoing trends gleaned by Spa Finder, the largest travel wholesaler of spa vacations in the world, with the largest audience of spa consumers.Spas are becoming more and more relevant to today's traveler, as more and more people turn to spas to improve their looks and well-being. Medical spas will provide the prescription for health and wellness. Cosmetic treatments were the rage in 2003, but in 2004, baby boomers will use medical spas for truly medical purposes namely preventative health treatments and regimens, nutrition and fitness, and health and wellness education. The 'Destination Day Spa' will become a new spa

facility category. Moving beyond the typical day experience, destination day spas offer a holistic mind/body/spirit experience similar to experiences normally associated with destination spas, minus accommodations. One-day mini retreats will include education programs, fitness programs, and healthy meals, in addition to spa/beauty treatments. Spa experience will become more mainstream in the corporate world. Mixing business with spa pleasure, businesses will engage the use of spas to build relationships, motivate employees, and manage employee health. Innovative businesses, including insurance providers, will underwrite regular spa visit to promote employee health and productivity and to lower medical costs. The spa experience will become more affordable and inclusive, thanks to the continued explosion of affordable spas geared to middle income earners seeking professional treatments and wellness programs. International spa tours will replace international spa treatments. Rather than seeking specific treatments from specific facilities, the international traveler will seek to sample a variety of spa experiences within the same destination. Spa cuisine will break out of the spa and into our dining rooms, thanks to popular spa cuisine cookbooks and recipes. High-end spas will enlist celebrity chefs, expand menus, employ innovative branded diet programs, and accommodate special diets. Spas will become the primary consideration for many travellers. In recent years the fastest growing segment of the hospitality industry was hotels with spas. Indications are that spas with hotels will become an even bigger

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factor in consumer travelling decisions. Rather than being an amenity offered at hotels or resorts, spas will be the deciding factor or the primary draw. Spas will increasingly cater to pets, offer kennels and pet treatments and programs. Spas will continue to attract men and offer male-focused activities like golf, outdoor adventure, male cosmetic programs, and high-octane fitness programs. Men will use spas in record numbers and more spa facilities across the spectrum will offer equal facilities for men and women. A strong family orientation will prevail. Teenage girls used spas in record numbers in 2003 for beauty treatments and the glamour of a luxurious spa experience. It is predicted that spas will cater to even younger visitors, including boys. These young spa-goers will come with their families seeking health and wellness programs. Spas will cater to them by offering more family-oriented activities, spas-for-kids, and or kids-only spa program (Ferry, D. 2009) .

Critical Understanding of Health and Wellness Tourism

The mounting interest, both academic and commercial, in health-related tourism suggests that this trend has implications for tourist experiences and tourism development more broadly. The need remains, however, for more critical analyses of this 'niche' market. The emergence of health and wellness tourism will be investigated in the light of three broad, yet interrelated social and political economic influences: (i) the withdrawal of government

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involvement in the provision of health services and the ethic of self-care; (ii) the commodification and corporatization of health care products and services; and (iii) the embodiment of tourism. By introducing brief cases of health and wellness tourism policy, it is argued that this trend exemplifies not only a rise in the commercial viability and significance of private, health-related travel experiences, but also the particular emphasis upon embodied experiences in that they are increasingly positioned as health promotion opportunities. Thus, this effort to augment the 'gaze' by promoting bodily experiences signifies implicitly and explicitly, health and wellness through illness prevention strategies including stress reduction, enhanced family quality time, and physical fitness and must be considered part of the continued commodification process as is fostered by tourism development more broadly. People are travelling out of the country and even to places within their own country to seek both modern and alternative health services. Places like Singapore, Thailand and India, famous for all surgeries such as orthopaedics, heart, cosmetic, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Costa Rica and South Africa, cosmetic and dental, use modern technologies and procedures while offering world class treatment for less money. For the health tourist, a variety of procedures and treatments are available, meeting every health and wellness need from the most critical the most desired. Whether its aging Baby Boomers seeking medical spa treatments or cosmetic surgery or a person in critical need of an organ transplant, for the health tourist, the world is their oyster. In some

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instances, even medical insurance policy is being revised to cover some health tourism expenses. Wellness, on the other hand, is seen as more of a preventative form of medicine, rather than a curable form. By integrating physical activity, proper nutrition and lifestyle changes, overall wellness of body, mind and soul can be achieved (Mair, H. 2007) .

Health and Wellness Tourism Average in the Philippines

Health and wellness tourism posted high value sales growth in 2010, which was the result of high growth in inbound arrivals and domestic tourism flows. This benefited medical tourism and the spas the most. The hosting of major medical tourism events in the Philippines led to 20% value growth in medical tourism, while the strengthening of the partnership between the spa industry association, the government and operators in other health and wellness tourism categories led to 15% value growth in spas. Furthermore, growth in both categories was boosted by increased promotions and marketing activities. This consequently raised the total value of health and wellness tourism by 17% in 2010, much of which was directly attributable to the significant improvement value sales for hotel/resort spas. Health and wellness tourism is expected to increase in constant value at a CAGR of 14% over the forecast period. The lower average price for spa services due to the expected expansion other spas which offer their services for much lower rates

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and the expected stiffer competition among hotel/resort spas and destination spas are expected to limit value growth during the forecast period (Milley, R. 2010) .

Wellness Tourism: the Future in Health

Americans and other international travelers are flocking to health retreats to enjoy the benefits of wellness tourism offered by exotic, high-tech, and effective facilities around the globe that offer affordable executive health checkups, medical spas, antiaging and beauty treatments, detoxification and health retreats that focus on wellness and preventive care. Health and wellness tourism is especially popular in Europe. Placid Way, a Coloradoqbased online resource for foreign medical travel and health tourism, is a key force in this growing market. PlacidWay is a fast growing medical tourism resource that offers in-depth profiles of medical facilities found around the globe including accredited and world-renowned hospitals and clinics located throughout Asia, Latin America, South Africa, and Europe. PlacidWay continues to research and carefully select medical healthcare facilities and physicians to add to their growing network of resources for consumers searching for affordable yet quality healthcare and services. Daniela Krienbhl, Sales Manager of Medical Health at Grand Resort Bad Ragaz says, "The diversity of various medical disciplines allows us to undertake a

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thorough, holistic evaluation of every individual. The future of health tourism is still unknown, but as practices become more advanced and the hybridization and globalization of treatments from throughout the world continues to increase, the future of a booming industry looks bright. Moreover, through education it is anticipated that health tourism and medical tourism will overlap more significantly (Wang, D. 2009) .

Wellness Standards

The wellness initiative is underpinned by a strategic partnership between Switzerland Tourism and the Swiss Hotel Association. The Swiss Hotel Association has developed detailed specifications for the wellness sector, introducing two quality grades. All participating wellness hotels must achieve a minimum 3-star standard and all must quality for W1: Wellness Hotel status. The two categories of wellness are:W1: Wellness Hotels. These hotels must offer a good range of wellness facilities including swimming pool, saunas, treatment rooms and a free program of activities indoors and outdoors.W2: Top Wellness Hotels. These 4 to 5-star hotels fulfill additional requirements in terms of infrastructure and the variety of services provided. Wellness in these hotels celebrates style. In 2008, there were 80 wellness hotels recognized in Switzerland under these standards of wellness with 58 participating in the

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marketing campaign, of which 60 percent are in the top range. Interestingly, whilst the number of overnights in Swiss hotels has increased by percent since 1997, growth in overnights in the wellness hotels has been 32 percent. In Slovenia, the Slovenian Tourist Board has prioritized investment in spa hotels alongside the development of holidays that promote the enjoyment of the outdoors. Similar strategies are now omnipresent in Austria, Finland, and to a lesser extent, in other European countries especially those with a traditional spa product, such as Hungary and Slovakia.In every case, there is a clear acceptance of the biophile effect. This highlights the beneficial health impact of exercising in a high quality natural environment where the stimulation of clean air, good views, peace and tranquility significantly enhances the feeling of well-being. Increasingly, tourists are seeking to convert their everyday lifestyle activities into their holiday experience. As a result, they are seeking destinations that provide them with a palette of opportunity to pursue their leisure activities, while at the same time having access to spas, natural treatments, relaxation and quality accommodation with good locally-produced food and drink. The motivation has increased to find destinations that can deliver a high quality holistic experience based on well-being (Crook, Y. 2008) .

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Innovation New Technology of Medical Tourism

The graying of populations in many of the more advanced parts of the world, along with shorter hospital stays have created multiple new tourism health, wellness and recovery opportunities around the world. Often called medical tourism, this form of travel has existed since the beginning of written records. People in the developed nations may travel to less developed nations that offer top-flight medical facilities as a way to combine health care and a vacation. Others from less medically advanced regions or countries may travel to more medically advanced locales to seek treatment not available at home. Some nations such as: Brazil, India Israel, Malaysia, and Thailand have developed niche market medical tourism centers. Furthermore, the level of medical care given in a nation may not be related to that nations economy. For example, medical-centers in developing nations often offer private health care services that use the most up-to-date health care methods and technologies. Many of these clinics offer well educated doctors trained in the best North American and European medical centers. There is no one formula to help a community decide if medical tourism is correct for it. Some communities have interconnected their local hospitals with other tourism facilities to offer medical tourism packages. Others simply promote good medical prices, good weather conditions, or excellent recuperation facilities. Medical tourism can be regional or international, based on long-range needs or short-range time frames. One of the interesting parts of the health and

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wellness tourism market is that if thought out properly almost any community can benefit from at least a part of this growing trend. The current economic downturn means that tourism industries will need to seek new and innovative tourism products and medical tourism may be one such product. Governments control of medicine may be another reason why people will seek medical help while combining travel and health (Eden, S. 2009) .

New Equipment Facilities and in Health and Wellness

Facilities all over the world are also growing in popularity, especially with those such as Terme Selce, a high-tech facility that offers physical therapy, weightloss programs, restorative and rehabilitative care, stress management, osteoporosis, anti-rheumatic program, and sports programs including prevention, diagnostics and therapies. Miljenka Pavlakovi of Terme Selce says, "Terme Selce utilizes innovative methods and the newest technologies to provide the ultimate in physical therapy and methodologies. For the last twenty years, we have worked on developing unique and effective methods to create programs that ensure quick recovery and increased treatment results."The popularity of crossing borders for medical health needs has never been more apparent. Says Pramod Goel, founder and CEO of PlacidWay, "People from all over the world are traveling to these exotic destinations to seek the best kind of experience. Medical travel offers the best of affordable

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ultimate vacation destinations combined with superlative, expert and certified care in a variety of medical fields. PlacidWay is dedicated and devoted to providing consumers with reliable and up-to-date information regarding such destinations (Dason, C. 2007).

Interactive Health

Interactive health is definitely an emerging marketplace. We are all building a know-how sharing basis, observing, and measuring our actions. We are designing experiences within this field, experimenting with them and risking when we begin. Each and every time we see more initiatives of relevance. As lots of, if we are wellbeing pros, the pharmaceutical sector belong, we belong to a hospital or clinic, or are mere users of wellness, let us enter the resources weve by way of social networks. Interactive Wellbeing is acquiring a major increase because of mobile gadgets and social networks. The best combination of engineering, innovation and time are transforming the actual interactions in between individuals and healthcare trade. Every day we use a lot more smartphones, tablets along with other mobile gadgets. What exactly is driving the advancement of new applications on welfare. At the same time, we find it less complicated to shop and ask for substantial quantities of information in the cloud. And talks and talks on health and welfare, social networks are turning into much more participatory and frequent. In short, the interactive well being is mainly the patient, the

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consumer and day-to-day participation in welfare and health. For those who know a number of the social media web sites dedicated to wellness the following is wiki committed to collecting the most effective hyperlinks: Pharma and Healthcare Social Media Wiki. This interaction is helping to enhance and broaden communication involving individuals and specialists. If were providers of well being in our advertising tactic we now have to consider the new patient. People who are accustomed to technology resources which have been at your fingertips, access to healthcare information and facts and share it via social media (Neilve, S. 2007) .

General Santos City Tourism General Santos City is proud to be the Tuna Capital of the Philippines. Aside from tunas, the city has also other things to be proud of. The tourist spots and festivals of General Santos City make it a great destination for tourists. A tourist attraction in General Santos City is a social gathering festival called Kalilangan sa Heneral Santos. Kalilangan is from the word Kalilang meaning commemoration or celebration according to the Maguindanaon dialect. The people of General Santos City gather socially for this festival where they exchange amenities among native leaders, ally, elders, and subordinates.

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The festival is a pageantry of various colorful ethnic rites, traditions, and rituals such as religious ceremonies, marriage celebrations, anniversaries, enthronement of royal dignitaries, funerals, thanksgiving, and other social activities. The Kalaja Karsts Area is a wonderful destination for tourists in General Santos City. The area is about 15 kilometers from General Santos Citys northeast side at Barangay Conel. The name Kalaha Karsts Area is derived from the word Kalaha, which means frying pot due to the formation of the karsts made millions of years ago. Waterfalls and caves are abundant in this area. Tourists can explore the Kalaja Cave in General Santos City. The cave has a pool inside that is about three meters deep and 22 meters wide. Bunga Spring is found in the center of the Kalaha Karsts Area in General Santos City. The place has a campsite for tourists and stargazing is a great night activity. Another tourist destination in General Santos City is the Malakong Gorge just about three-and-a-half kilometers away from Kalaja Cave. This is an excellent place for boulder and rock climbing for novices and beginners. Camping for tourists are also allowed. Just a 30-minute drive from the Kalaha Karsts Area is the Nopol Hills. It is General Santos Citys highest camping ground and gives a good panoramic

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view of Sarangani Bay and the neighboring towns. Hiking in Nopol Hills in the afternoon will give you a good view of the sunset at the bay. Since tuna fishing is a major industry, General Santos City has its Tuna Festival every September as part of the citys charter celebration. The festival is a three-day celebration in General Santos City. It is a thanksgiving festival for the bounty of the sea especially the tuna and tuna-like species. Various tuna cuisine and other culinary competitions can be witnessed. Street dancing and fluvial parades are the main attractions of the festival. General Santos City is outside the typhoon belt of the Philippines. You can expect good weather condition throughout the year. Tourists will really enjoy their visit to General Santos City. The sites and celebrations bring local and foreign tourists closer to nature.