A experiência, os discursos e o valor dos turistas termais

Abstract

From participant observation and in-depth interviews, this work deepens in the motivations, conducts, values, evaluations, etc. of thermal tourists in Spain and Portugal. In-depth interviews and anthropological approaches, not only gather useful information as questionnaires, like what thermal balnearies has the informant visited or how many times, but also subtle information about likes, dislikes, values, images; complex evaluations that go beyond the scope of a closed questionnaire and that are really useful prior to any sociological enquiry and marketing campaign.

Thermal resorts are very special places, where leisure and tourism, mix up, or at least, share space with disease and therapy. There are some baths and thermal towns, as Baños de Montemayor in Extremadura (Spain), still very conditioned by Senior Citizen programmes (centralized by the Institute of Elder and Social Services –IMSERSO- through a specific thermal programme. This programme prioritises by this order, income level, degree of need of a thermal treatment (respiratory and rheumatologic, first), age and other variables as pertaining to a large family.

Cultour+ Strategic Partnership funded by Erasmus programme, is a project focused in cultural tourism and European Cultural Routes, centring in particular in “Historical Thermal Towns and Sites”. Partners in the six countries composing Cultour+ (Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Poland and Bulgaria) are researching on thermal tourism, doing diagnosis of concrete case studies and coaching projects dealing with thermal towns. It is very important for any project devoted to thermal tourism, to understand the problematic of the places and the mentalities and values’ systems of users.

Social anthropology, with adaptive qualitative methodology, can significantly add value to thermal tourism research, analysing words, observing practices and thinking on values behind them.

Results will characterize the different typologies of users, discourses and values.