A qualitative research for sustainability applications in wellness tourism and a model proposal: Afyon province case study

Sustainability? concept, which is becoming more important day by day all over the world, was developed as a result of the increasing number of adverse effects in the developing areas. This concept requires to take environmental and social impact of development into the consideration as well as economic impact. This study describes the concept of sustainability, addresses the history of the concept and its relationship with the tourism sector, and introduces the principles of sustainable wellness tourism with a sustainable wellness hotels model proposal for Afyon province. After that, concrete proposals regarding the future trends and market development in the field of wellness tourism will be submitted.Environmental and social problems arising in the last 20 years in coastal tourism will become evident in the areas of alternative tourism during the diversification of tourism, if necessary measures are not taken. In this study, it can be seen that it is necessary to identify the criteria for sustainable management at hotels-level before potential sustainability problems appear in Afyon Province, which is under development in health and thermal tourism areas and having the expected increasing capacity in the coming period. With the determination of these criteria, it will be possible to develop new proposals and implementation model regarding wellness establishments which are currently installed or planned to be set up in the future. In this way, an effective tool will be obtained which enables the operations of Afyon wellness hotels in more sustainable way.Key Words: Sustainability, Sustainable Tourism, Wellness Tourism, Health Tourism