Turismo del benessere e offerta agrituristica: l’agri-Spa come nuovo modello di business

Wellness tourism provides the visitor with a range of activities and/ or treatments which are aimed at developing, maintaining and improv- ing the body-mind-spirit; it covers the broadest scope of engagement: ranging from weekend hotel-Spa (salus per aquam) breaks that include massage treatments, to intensive month-long yoga and spiritual retreats. The proliferation of wellness centres, holistic retreats, Spas, spiritual pil- grimages, complementary and alternative therapies is nowadays unprec- edented. Nevertheless, the analysis of the economics and management of the wellness sector is scarce. This work aims to fill this gap, analys- ing in details a special type of emergent segment of wellness tourism in Italy: the agri-Spa. Our paper investigates this phenomenon providing an interesting picture of the agri-Spa business in Italy. Our arguments are supported by an empirical analysis based on data coming from a sample of 1572 firms operating in 2010 in Italy.