Developmental Perspective of Wellness Tourism of Republic of Croatia in the Post-Covid-19 Period - a Theoretical Framework

The pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus reflected significantly on the world economy and particularly countries in which tourism is developed strongly. Based on the current pandemic situation and consequences that reflected the world tourism industry, this paper aims to analyse the implications on Croatian wellness tourism. The authors used an epistemological approach in order to form a conceptual model whose starting point is from the constructivist approach, which emphasises the researchers’ ability to construct new knowledge with the use of a conceptual research methodology which includes reviews of the current theoretical and empirical findings in wellness tourism and development in the post-19 period in Croatia. The conceptual model tried to provide a theoretical development framework that stimulates and enables a new construct. This study aims to define the impact of a pandemic caused by COVID-19 on the tourism and hospitality industry and present strategies that will limit its consequences, especially in wellness tourism. Based on the findings, developmental guidelines are presented to improve current Croatian wellness tourists’ offers and future development in the post-COVID-19.