European Journal of Service Management

The aim of the paper is to identify and explain the relation between spa services distribution and spa specialization of Lubelskie (Nałęczów), Podlaskie (Augustów), Świętokrzyskie (Busko-Zdrój and Solec- Zdrój) and Warmińsko-Mazurskie (Gołdap) spa communes. Time series analysis techniques, Spearman rank correlation analysis and linear regression analysis were used. Spa services distribution was measured by the share of non-commercial spa inpatient number in total spa inpatient number, whereas spa specialization was measured by the share of nights spent in spa establishments in total nights spent. Statistical data came from the Central Statistical Office of Poland Local Data Bank and the unpublished data collection obtained from the Statistical Office in Kraków. In the case of Nałęczów analysed relationship is functional, where a rise in number of nights spent in connection with the growth of spa specialization and the increase in spa service distribution – a risky combination of trends, due to increasing dependence on the state distribution channel.