The Role of a Cluster in Creating the Competitive Spa and Wellness Tourism Products on the Global Market in a Time of Crisis

In a time when the world is faced with the global COVID-19 pandemic, tourism, as an important vehicle in regional economic development and growth, has been one of the most affected sectors. For an efficient and effective social and economic recovery, it is necessary to focus on small and medium sized enterprises (hereinafter SMEs) that play a leading role in most economies, especially in developing countries, and on a cluster, as a way to achieve sustainable economic development based on generation and efficient coordination of interaction between the government, SMEs, and academia, directly contributing to employment creation and poverty reduction, creativity, and innovation. Due to the small number of studies that address the problem of understanding the role of a cluster in the regions’ spa and wellness tourism development and growth, this research paper aims to propose a spa and wellness tourism cluster model and to consider how it can stimulate creating the competitive spa and wellness tourism products, and contributes to the regional development, networking, and internationalization of SMEs in the spa and wellness tourism industry.