Decent or dirty work? Revealing the complexities of employment in wellness tourism

Lockstone-Binney, Leonie and Nimri, Rawan and Baum, Tom (2025) Decent or dirty work? Revealing the complexities of employment in wellness tourism. Tourism Recreation Research. ISSN 0250-8281 (In Press)

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Abstract

Wellness tourism represents a growing international trend for health-conscious consumers seeking to improve their physical and mental wellbeing. It is also a multi-billion-dollar industry that supports workers and communities. Despite this, wellness tourism work can be viewed as a more extreme form of tourism work due to its gendered, sexualised and emotionally intensive nature. Of significance to the current study, the lived working experiences of those delivering wellness tourism is an under-researched topic, lacking in theoretically grounded explanations. Following a narrative review of the limited extant literature, informed by the lenses of dirty work and dignity at work, this paper proposes a conceptual model for transitioning wellness tourism work from dirty to decent as a means of realising Sustainable Development Goal 8, Decent Work and Economic Growth. Contested areas, compatibilities, and research opportunities are explored along the way to providing a roadmap for this workforce, illustrating how to assign a sense of dignity using a tri-level agenda across macro, meso and micro levels. We conclude by proposing future research and practical directions that aim to ensure that wellness tourism work offers decent work for all.

ORCID iDs

Baum, Tom ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5918-847X

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• Item metadata

  Item type:	Article
  ID code:	92331
  Dates:	Date Event 1 March 2025 Published 1 March 2025 Accepted
  Subjects:	?? HP100 ??
  Department:	Strathclyde Business School > Work, Organisation and Employment
  Depositing user:	Pure Administrator
  Date deposited:	13 Mar 2025 16:37
  Last modified:	13 Mar 2025 16:37
  URI:	https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/id/eprint/92331