Eco-Art Therapy Retreats: A New Venue for Enriching Wellness Tourism Experiences in Egypt

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Assistant professor at tourism studies department, faculty of tourism and hotels, Alexandria University, Egypt

2 Tourism studies department, faculty of tourism and hotels, Alexandria university

Abstract

The current study presents an overview of eco-art therapy, the significance of incorporating it in Egyptian retreats and its potential for enriching wellness tourism experiences. It outlines the importance of diversifying wellness experiences to cater to the post-pandemic tourists’ needs and preferences. Additionally, it highlights the crucial role of both tourism service providers and art therapists in creating innovative wellness tourism offerings. The study findings show that though standalone eco-art therapy retreats are still not prominent in the Egyptian wellness tourism market, they represent untapped niche tourism experiences that have the potential to achieve overall wellbeing for post-pandemic tourists’ who seek creative, environmentally focused, transformative wellness tourism experiences, especially middle-aged working females. The study also acknowledges some limitations and calls for future research to investigate tourists’ perceptions of eco-art therapy wellness experiences and evaluate tourists’ satisfaction with the Egyptian retreat tourism offerings for a better understanding of retreats’ future demand.

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