Eureka! Institutional Repository

The concepts of beauty and wellness had always been popular among the Greek people. More specifically, since the thermal springs of the ancient times up until the Turkish baths in Ottoman-ruled Greece, an excursion to such places of grooming, healing and relaxation also served as a means of socializing that highlighted the personality and prestige of each individual while offering relief from the worries of everyday life. In our time, the aforementioned goals are fulfilled by spas and they constitute an important industry which brings substantial business and state revenue and is an outlet for young Greek people that are dealing with the consequences of the economic crisis. Nevertheless, the industry suffers from negative stereotypes regarding not only the spa’s functioning and purpose, but also the staff themselves. This thesis studies all these issues and aims to explore in depth, the issues of organization and management of spa in Greece. More specifically, it is focused on finding some minimum criteria and capabilities that should have a spa manager , the prospects of the sector and possible solutions for the best management of the spa. For these purposes, along with a theoretical introduction, the thesis also includes qualitative research in the form of interviews. This study aims, first of all, to make an overview of the way concepts of spa and wellness have evolved over the years and accordingly how the role of the spa manager has evolved. Based on concepts and bibliographic review, the study will focus on identifying a few features of the spa and spa managers. To sum up, the research will focus on the features currently available to the spa managers in the regions of Halkidiki and Thessaloniki with the ultimate objective of comparing the spa manager's abilities to the responsibilities he / she has to deal with daily and whether there is the appropriate academic background and knowledge of administration and management and the facilities to bring them to fruition. The results of the research showed that spa managers are aware of all these issues and they keep opinions which are approaching a lot, the findings of the bibliographic research.Furthermore, it was assessed that the personality of the spa manager, the organization and protocol of the space play a key role. Finally, special mention was made of the possibilities of spa in Greece and it was emphasized that more adequate training for the staff is needed