Analysis on the Development of Lushan (Xingzi) Hot Spring Health Tourism Product

Abstract. Through the development of more than 60 years， the hot spring tourism industry in China will confront with a situation of "innovative competition， standard development， and secondary upgrade". In this paper， from the perspective of product integrated marketing theory， by taking Lushan （Xingzi） hot spring as an example， the authors carry out an analysis on some problems in the development of Xingzi hot spring tourism products， propose the framework and model of the integrated development of hot spring health tourism products， and also provide some suggestions for the design of Xingzi hot spring health tourism routes.

Key words： Product Integration， Health Preservation by Hot Spring； Route Design

1. Introduction

Since the arrival of the 21st century， the vacation tour age that is oriented at health and leisure has soundlessly arrived in the world. As a famous Chinese saying goes， hot spring water， like slippery jade， is very proper for you to enjoy for a while.

Lushan hot spring is located in the Hot Spring Town of Xingzi County of JiuJiang that is in the south of Lushan. Hot spring water， which is colorless， odorless， and clear to transparent， features a low degree of mineralization， weak alkali， and high fluorine， and is medical mineral water including silicon， fluorine， hydrogen sulfide， and radon and can be comparable with the hot spring of Pyrenees Mountains that are very well-known in Europe. As the national strategy of vigorously developing Poyang Lake Ecological Economy Development Zone is advocated， it is necessary for Xingzi Hot Spring to seize the opportunity of the state to provide supports to ecological health tourism， so as to make an enhancement to Xingzi hot spring tourism industry.

2.Current Situation and Problems of Xingzi Hot Spring Tourism Development

2.1Current Situation of Xingzi Hot Spring Tourism Development

In 2003， a tourism development strategy was established again in Xingzi County. That is， the tourism development idea of making every effort to constructing the "leisure tourism corridor centering on hundreds of meters from Lushan" based on the development of hot spring. In 2010， Hot spring Resort was named as one of the provincial resort areas. The tourist reception volume reached 5.32 million person-times in 2010 from 450，000 person-times in 2002； the comprehensive income from tourism increased to 2.009 billion RMB in 2010 from 17.4 million RMB in 2002； the proportion of the hot spring tourism had accounted for more than 60% of the tourism industry.

2.2 Main Problems of Hot Spring Tourism Products Development

2.2.1 Identical Product Development Projects and Increasing Competitions

After the development of eight years， a large number of hot spring enterprises have been concentrated in Xingzi Hot Spring， and therefore the industrial clustering effect has been obvious to all. However， the majority of these enterprises are based on the development model of leisure and vacation oriented hot spring resorts， and their hot spring tourism products mainly include three types of projects： （1） health care and preservation project， in which relevant items such as massage， manipulation and beauty care are provided for consumers on the basis of the traditional hot spring baths； （2） leisure and entertainment project， in which health and fitness entertainment sports facilities are constructed on the basis of large outdoor hot spring， including golf， tennis court， badminton courts， and water entertainment facilities， etc； （3） meeting-based training project. Because of the homogeneity competitions， the price for an entrance ticket of Xingzi Hot Spring is stable in 120 RMB at present and the price for a standard room is specified at 400 RMB. Therefore， hot spring enterprises can prevent falling in the traps of price competition only if product transformation and upgrading of products can be realized.

2.2.2 Backward Product Development Idea and Insufficient Market Segments

At present， the development idea of Xingzi Hot Spring tourism products is still in a backward state. On the one hand， high importance is only attached to the mass market； ignorance is given to the market segments； the understanding of the market demands of tourists and the consumption characteristics of different groups of tourists is in an insufficient state. On the other hand， Xingzi Hot Spring tourism products tend to the "noble group" and are oriented at high-end market in the sources of tourists. For example， reception facilities of four-star standards or above and golf course are used as supporting projects， which need great investment and may meet with a great risk.

2.2.3 Insufficiently-exploited Local Cultural Intension in Product Development and Absence of Brand Personality

The developers of hot spring only stay in the concept of hot spring， but give a cold shoulder to the exploration on the intensions of local culture and hot spring. There are plagiarisms in the aspects of landscapes， architecture styles and hot spring products projects designs， which are in shortage of the characteristics of local culture， thus giving rise to the absence of local cultural intension in tourism products and the indistinct personalities of the local tourism enterprises.

3.Development Framework of Hot Spring Health Tourism Products from the Perspective of Product Integrated Marketing

The integration of tourism products refer to a process， in which new types of tourism products and benefits will be produced through resource allocation， optimized combination and product transformation and upgrading on the basis of the existing tourism products. In accordance with the overall concept of tourism products and the characteristics of dividing the functions of hot spring tourism destinations， hot spring tourism products can be classified into five levels for development as shown in figure 1 below， and a different integrated marketing strategies can be put into implementation in a different product cycle. At present， the integration development of Xingzi hot spring tourism products is still in the stage o growth. According to above theoretical analysis， the main integration types of Xingzi hot spring tourism can be concluded from the aspects in the following.

3.1 Brand integration

The proposal of the brand concept "Great Lushan" is beneficial not only to breaking the shortcomings of the division in administrative regions and straightening out the management system problems accumulated in a long term， but also to integrating all sorts of tourism resources of the entire Lushan， for the purposes of realizing an unified management and also making an enhancement to the overall strength of Lushan in an all-round way. A great number of scenic spots such as Hot Spring， Guanyin Bridge and Xiufeng of Xingzi County are located in the south of Lushan. Xingzi Hot Spring has broken through the fixed development model of the traditional hot spring tourism products by relying on the integration of the local tourism resources， making hot spring bath culture and modern life integrated as a dynamic whole. Therefore， a new brand can be packaged and promoted with the name of "Lushan Hot Spring Resort".

3.2 Tourist Routes Integration

Xingzi， as a powerful tourism county in Jiangxi province， is benefited from the great development of hot spring project. Lushan tourist attractions are mainly distributed in two places （south Lanshan and top Lanshan） of Xingzi County. Under the concept of "Great Lushan"， the tourism products of the two places can be recommended to the mutual tourists， and simultaneously tourist routes can be designed again， so as to open up a one-route tour combining both south Lanshan and top Lanshan attractions. In addition， there are ten tourist attractions with their own unique characteristics， such as Xiufeng， Guanyin Bridge， Taiyi resort， Bailu Academy， Ancient Nankang City， hot spring， the Peach Garden， and Poyang Lake. All these tourist attractions can be integrated with tour routes of other tourist attractions， for the purpose of creating a series of high-quality tourist routes that are not only complementary in advantages and also own special charming.