Wellness tourism and memorable visitor experiences in Istanbul’s historical baths: evidence from TripAdvisor reviews

Wellness tourism is among the fastest-growing niche markets, emphasising health and well-being. Within this context, Turkish baths, with their deep-rooted history in Anatolia, represent an important element of wellness-oriented travel. This study aims to analyse the experiences of foreign visitors who used historical baths in Istanbul through online reviews. Using a qualitative design, the study applies thematic content analysis to TripAdvisor reviews of selected historical baths in Istanbul. The findings reveal that visitor experiences are clustered under eight main themes: relational, hedonic, intellectual, renewal and escape, perceived value, authenticity, and cultural ritual. Among these, relational experience and cultural ritual experience emerge as the most dominant dimensions shaping overall visitor perceptions. Visitors evaluated the baths positively in terms of relaxation, authenticity, stress reduction, and mental rejuvenation. However, criticisms related to cleanliness, maintenance, and customer service were largely concentrated on a single bath. The study fills a gap in the literature as one of the few research efforts exploring foreign visitors’ experiences in Istanbul’s historical baths, thus contributing to the growing body of tourism research. Based on the findings, recommendations are proposed for bath operators to enhance visitor satisfaction through improvements in hygiene, service quality, staff training, and experience design.