Beyond the Wellness Tourism Data

By Cary Collier – Founder/Principal at Blu Spas Inc.

Wellness Tourism Data And What It Means For Your Spa.

 

At Blu Spas, we’ve been posting a lot of statistics about the emerging economic growth of Wellness Tourism on our social media platforms.

The economic numbers are impressive. Here are a few that we’ve  been sharing: *

  • Wellness Tourism is predicted to grow almost 10% annually over the next five years — nearly twice the rate of global tourism overall.
  • Global Wellness Industry Grows 74% Over Last Four Years: from $1.9 Trillion to $3.4 Trillion
  • Estimated Global Market Size for the Spa Industry – $94 billion
  • Wellness lifestyle real estate – $100 billion
  • Wellness Tourism – $494 billion

For a moment, let’s ignore the data and think about the bigger picture.

The Wellness Industry is experiencing a huge cultural shift by creating environments and entire communities where people succeed in body, mind, and spirit.  Businesses in this industry are positioned well for profit.

At Blu Spas, we want to give you 3 best practices that your spa can do now to better prepare for this wellness growth.

1) Focus on Today’s Performance to Ensure Tomorrow’s Success

There is a great article from Lily Lin, Author of “Interviewing Successful Hotel Managers”,  where she shares this quote from Victor Clavell, the Area Vice President of Asia Pacific from the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.

Mr. Clavell has been responsible for the management of 21 properties, operating over a billion dollars of revenue and working on 18 various projects in China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Japan.

When Dr. Lin asked what the future held for him, he replied:

“I never worry about what’s next. I worry about what I am doing at the moment. Success is not in the future; it is in today. If we focus on tomorrow, we will fail today. So, worry about today and make it the best day you can.”

– Victor Clavell -Vice President at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, Asia Pacific

Focus on taking care of your clients today by creating exceptional service, offering premium natural products and giving them memorable experiences. Your customers  will, in turn, share their experiences with others and grow your business.

2) Be Relevant to the Market

One of the shortcomings of many spas is the mismatch between the facility design and their market’s demand.

Some of the key factors to consider on this topic include:

  • understanding the property’s guest profile/guest mix and expectations
  • favorable pricing strategies
  • average stay
  • overall location economics and capture rates for the spa.

Careful consideration of these issues can help to avoid over-sizing of the spa and the inclusion of features or treatment room designs unlikely to be highly utilized by the spa guests resulting in inefficient use of space and potential revenue.

Simply said – do the numbers first, identify your market, then discuss spa design.

3) Offer Authentic Experiences 

While working in the Four Seasons Resort Bali, we were constantly inspired by the legendary culture, spirituality, landscape and ancient Asian design principles in our spa design and planning.

It’s important as spa designers to take what is already inherent to the area and make it work with the project.  At Blu Spas, we have the experience for orchestrating design details and finding the hidden gems that make a spa distinctive.

One of the design mantras of our company for almost twenty years is,

“Create sensory sanctuaries that are in harmony with the culture and location.

Cary Collier – Blu Spas Inc. ” 

Millennials are especially mindful to experiencing organic space and authentic cultures as they drive the new trend of spa and wellness consumers. It would be wise to make sure authentic experiences are inherent in your spa business.

CONCLUSION

Spas serve a noble purpose. Spas provide a haven of peace, a place to take time for yourself and be cared for, and to simply make people feel good.  The economic numbers show an increasing wellness movement is booming and that’s a good thing for both body and business.

If you are interested in how Blu Spas can show you how to maximize profitability in the growing wellness tourism industry, contact us today.  We would love to talk about your wellness project or next spa design.

*Sources: