The Impact of Health and Wellness Tourism in the Regional Economy of Estrela UNESCO Global Geopark, Portugal
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Dear Authors,
Congratulations! It is a very interesting and relevant topic.
The article is very well structured, with clear and well-connected ideas.
The references used are current and relevant, taking into account the theme and territory under study.
My suggestion for improvement is for the Methodology part. The authors should indicate other studies that have used a similar methodology, to validate this methodological option. The methodology does not have a very strong structure, it is just analysis of pre-existing statistical data.
The presentation of results is very complete.
In the conclusions, the authors must mention the main limitations of the study.
Authors should review the formatting of references, there are some cases where the year of publication is marked in bold and in others not.
Author Response
Dear Reviewer,
The authors are very grateful for your comments and suggestions.
The methodology used in this research is not a direct adaptation of any methodology used for the analysis of regional economy data. Knowing that the direct impacts of tourism can be measured through Accommodation and Leisure and Entertainment Services (Vellas, 2011), we sought, in the first instance, to obtain data from the respective establishments. As it was not possible to obtain data in this way, we opted to obtain secondary data from government, statistical and business data sources. For this reason, we selected the available data that best fit the categories defined above. As it consists of an analysis of data, obtained from secondary sources, we have chosen to remove "a quantitative analysis" from the title.
We also added the main limitations of the study in the Conclusions and revised the formatting of the references according to the journal's rules.
Best regards,
The Authors
Reviewer 2 Report
The paper is interesting but more professional paper interesting for people who are working in health tourism industry, than relevant for scientists.
The chapter 2. is in fact not a literature review (as is the title), it is more description of the site. So, in depth literature review is necessary.
The chapter 3. is an interesting presentation of statistical data from secondary sources, not a quantitative research.
Methodology for quantitative research should be seriously improved in order to be scientifically appropriate.
This paper presents the very good starting point for future quantitative research.
Author Response
Dear Reviewer,
The authors are very grateful for your comments and suggestions.
The basic work for this article is the result of an academic work.
Regarding your comment, we have separated the description of the territory from the literature review, thus highlighting the study area. At the same time, we have strengthened the literature review section.
We took note of your third advice. As the methodology consists of an analysis of data, obtained from secondary sources, we have chosen to remove "a quantitative analysis" from the title of the article.
Best regards,
The Authors
Reviewer 3 Report
Dear Authors,
The article, entitled "Health and wellness tourism in the regional economy of the Estrela UNESCO World Geopark: a quantitative analysis," aims to examine the importance that health and wellness tourism may have for the Estrela UNESCO World Geopark in its impact on the regional economy.
The article was well and solidly prepared, but needs some minor corrections.
After reading the article, I have the following comments and suggestions for improvement:
Title
The title of the paper should be modified. It lacks a reference to the research area (country).
1 Introduction.
No information is presented: What is the current state of research on this topic? Why did the authors take up this topic?
The article does not pose specific research questions.
2 Literature review
This part needs no changes, it is solidly prepared. The area of research is presented in great detail
3. Materials and methods
I suggest changing the title of the chapter according to the guidelines of the journal.
Describe the study area in more detail, characterize it in terms of natural and socioeconomic aspects.
Why was it adopted for the study?
Describe in detail the research method used.
4. Result.
The results are presented and described in a good way, and are very interesting and important for the development of health and wellness tourism.
However, I suggest to shorten this part, the presented research results are too shcegular. The tables can be moved to the end of the article as appendices.
Technical errors that need to be corrected:
[Table 6] is illegible - suggests correcting Please improve the quality of
Correct the literature according to the rules of the journal
In conclusion, I recommend this article for publication in the journal Sustainability after making minor changes.
Sincerely,
Author Response
Dear Reviewer,
The authors are very grateful for your comments and suggestions.
The country where the territory studied is located has been added to the title of the article.
1. In the Introduction, we highlighted the novelty of this research and created a research question.
2. Following the advice of another reviewer, we have chosen to separate the research area from the literature review, giving it even more prominence.
3. The title of the chapter was changed according to the guidelines of the journal.
3.1. In Portugal, it is not possible to obtain primary data for this type of analysis, for reasons of statistical confidentiality, so the only alternative is to use secondary data, for which we had a special license for research purposes.
3.2. A brief socio-economic characterization of Serra da Estrela has been added in the previous title, as suggested by your review.
4. The tables have been reformatted according to the journal's rules, making them more readable and fitting better into the text, as suggested by you. For this reason, we do not consider it necessary to place them at the end of the article as appendices.
All tables have been reformatted (including Table 6) to make them more readable and bibliographic references have been corrected according to journal rules.
Best regards,
The Authors
Reviewer 4 Report
I thank the authors for having the opportunity to read and evaluate their manuscript.
This is undeniably interesting in the current context of the changes generated by the Covid-19 pandemic that has engulfed the entire planet.
The study deepens the details and captures both its advantages and limitations.
Author Response
Dear Reviewer,
The Authors are very grateful for your comments and suggestions.
As suggested by the Academic Editor, we carried out an in-depth literature review with the aim of giving the paper a real content validity. Eight new references were added, and their content cross-referenced with the pre-existing text. At the same time, we made a more incisive approach in the conclusions, dividing them into theoretical, managerial, and social ones. We have also delved into the limitations of the study and defined more future lines of research.
Best regards,
The Authors
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report
This paper is very interesting for the people from health industry, from Estrela, because they can find basic data about the health tourism in the paper. Suggestion is to publish paper in the journal, more professional, that would improve visibility of the presented topic to locals (Estrela).
The paper, even after relatively small improvement, is not relevant for publishing. There is no specific hypothesis which is analysed and tested, no quantitative or qualitative method is applied. The paper is just a good description about the situation in Estrela regarding health tourism.
Author Response
Dear Reviewer,
The Authors thank you a lot for your time and your appreciation of the article. We are sure that your comments helped to improve the result.
Please allow us to reflect as follows:
(i) The researched area has a low population density and limited economic opportunities. In this context, the article is not only relevant for the local population. Being part of a UNESCO Global Geopark, this case study seeks to demonstrate the potential contribution of Health and Wellness Tourism to
the sustainability of the tourist offer, which is why economic-based indicators were used; the use of thermal water and thermal practices depend on the mineral-medical resource: thermal water;
(ii) The objectives of the article are stated (lines 59-64);
(iii) Your encouragement has made it possible to improve the bibliographic review, adding 8 new references and enriching the state of the art;
(iv) The article presents the number of jobs supported by Health and Wellness Tourism in the region, their evolution over time and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; the hotel capacity in use; the preference for product categories related to Health and Wellness Tourism and their variation by age group.
Best regards,
The Authors
