The study examines the spectrum of the thermal and wellness clusters related to water-based health tourism in Hungary. The research is looking for an answer regarding the effects of the organization in clusters from the point of view economic, social and cultural in the thermal baths sector. In this sense, literary research and processing were carried out, and mixed-type professional interviews were conducted. Bearing in mind the unexplored dimensions of thermal clusters in Hungary, the research highlights three areas of action: proactivity, economic incorporation and innovation. The results of these three key defined potentials and the discovery of innovation reserves are the ones that will be addressed primarily in the future. These steps boost health tourism and associated activities. The clusters operating in the field, primarily Pannon Thermal Cluster—PANTERM, have hidden reserves and untapped potentials within the operational frames of the cluster organization. The discovery of the potential in the clusters may drive innovation.

The paper aims to examine the demand for rural tourism, targeting the design of offers following the period of the pandemic. The topic of the present study, is the examination of the holiday habits of the Hungarian population focusing on rural tourism. Following the theoretical background regarding rural tourism, rural tourism destination and tourism motivation, the primary research investigates the holiday habits of various age groups and the differences between these, the frequency of traveling and planned overstays, and the optional programs as recreational and gastronomic activities, their willingness to spend for the offers that form an integral part of the rural tourism. The survey method was chosen and the respondents were assigned via a random sample. The collected data was processed via IBM SPSS 25 program, in which unary and binary operations, correlation analysis was done. The study highlights that there is a high demand for rural tourism in the countryside in the post-pandemic period, is a general need for recreation irrespective of age, educational background, or residence. The respondents would participate in a genuine rural program irrespective of age, educational background, or residence. It was also proven that there is a significant difference between the travelling frequency of the various groups, according to which, the middle-aged respondents travel most frequently to the countryside, followed by the seniors and the youth.

Due to the complexity of health tourism and due to the excellent thermal, mineral, and medicinal water qualities of Hungary and Romania, as water is one of the four ancient elements determined by Aristotle, such treasures play an important role not only in the field of economy, but also in social life. As one of the oldest forms of tourism is spa-tourism, the present research focuses on this branch of health tourism, which, in its offers, has as its main focus on thermal and medicinal waters in Hungary and Romania. Thanks to the favorable geological conditions of the two neighboring countries, the attraction-based system of health tourism is built on a multi-element model. Based on this, the paper aims at discussing the system of water-based health tourism based on the four ancient elements. These four elements are water, fire, earth, and air. Making use of Lee’s European Health and Wellness Model Services, we have created a four-element water-based health tourism system. The modeling of the system consists of a survey of tourism in the selected spa/wellness facilities. In case of successful testing, the model should be incorporated in the terminology of health tourism in both countries.