Are you old enough to recall the excitement over the debut of the first Blackberry and its speedy texting system at the dawn of the new millennium? It was quite the revolutionary and addictive feature, so much so that today we may be taking a short messaging service (SMS) like this for granted as our minds are constantly distracted by one of many quotidian ways that we use on our mobile phones.
This article reviews important keynotes to protect wellness and hospitality investments after a decade of significant market and industry change. The recent U.S. tax cuts in 2018, have given many households and companies, a sense of relief from taxation with an improved economic outlook and sense of stability. This has ignited a swell in travel, business, and consumer spending. This article reveals how recalibrating investment outlines, management and strategic planning can increase the life-cycle and sustainability of the business, and how to prepare for the increasing speed of change in the years to come.
Spa and Wellness program structures fall into a wide range of performance categories and operating models. For hotels, there are multiple applications that include combinations of relaxation, well-being and treatment-based sessions. While some of the newest and popular trends include features centered on health and lifestyle; there are often wide gaps between drive, delivery, and financial return. Having an acute understanding of how spa and wellness features intersect with perceived value and profitability percentages, conveys important impacts on asset performance, momentum and risk. Spa and Wellness structures that deliver long-term value and execute well are shaped commonly by three things successful integration, economic performance and a core company mission. It's common to see activities like yoga, mindfulness meditation and forest bathing in the wellness fold. However, understanding how these activities contribute to the total revenue ratios of the property is key to increasing RevPAR and fostering a preeminent and thorough return on investment. It's also pertinent to understand the demographics, customer profile and central selling points of the hotel or resort.
Spa directors are in a funk. Many see declining bookings and just about all see diminished buzz but face reality: the pendulum has swung and the spa that had been so in maybe 10 years ago now is plummeting towards obsolescence.
Looking through a Google News roundup of stories about wellness hotels and I am overwhelmed. There's an avalanche of such accommodations, with new ones springing up everywhere from Ibiza to France, Hong Kong to Yangon.
Hospitality has always been a business based on caring for people, but that sense of caring has taken on new meaning as the industry becomes increasingly entwined with health and wellbeing. The global wellness economy, which includes sectors such as wellness tourism, spas, healthy eating, fitness and beauty, was worth $3.7 trillion in 2015, according to the Global Wellness Institute. Meanwhile, wellness tourism revenues grew by 14% worldwide from 2013 to 2015 — more than twice as fast as overall tourism spending.
In today's dynamic life, technology leads to huge changes in lifestyle and habits. Many traditional retail markets, are shaken and fighting for survivals. Businesses that are not solely online, need to change their mind sets and business models, and re-invent themselves to stay in the game, to continuously, attract new and returning customers.
We are living in a time centered around people, purpose and progress. While the need to remain adaptable and manage one's daily schedule endures. Lifestyles are evolving led by a multitude of new social, political and professional changes. This has created a substantial and prevalent focus on being happy, and living with passion, energy and a sense of personal well-being. The natural outcome of these changes generates a profound shift in thinking. As more people become increasingly self-aware, this impacts a number of things, including personal values and life goals. Until recent years, the trickle of change has been steady and slow. Today, we are living in a time when people are seeking personal growth and transformation more than ever before. According to a study by Marketdata Enterprises "Source: ISPA 2016 U.S. Spa Study Implementing services that inspire people to take a profound personal journey, amasses a wide range of advantages for the individual and the property. Be it through active meditation, astrology, grief counseling, sleep aids and analysis, or esoteric, creative and deep spiritual healing. People seeking wellness are looking for exceptional prospects to improve their lives. Having the ability to access new techniques and treatments enrich not only the quality of their stay but can improve their entire lives. There's no question the request for advancing services is here. However, this pursuit requires commitment, grit and the agility to explore new possibilities.
In May of 2017 a distinguished group of doctors and government officials met at a medical tourism summit in Ithaca, Greece. The objective of the summit was to begin paving the road toward a long awaited unified health tourism engine for Greece. "Health Tourism: Engine of the National Economy's Growth" did not simply address the vast potential for expanding Greece's domestic tourism offering year-round, the conference introduced the beginning roadmap for a "new pillar" for the long-term recovery of the Greek economy. This report delves into a rare economic anomaly, a situation where one of the world's most mature hospitality and tourism destinations can grow geometrically into the 21st century.
The headline had me in an instant: "Wellness as Status Symbol: A Top Consumer Trend for 2017." Absolutely true but so many resorts and hotels continue to miss out on this trend.
This article reviews the impact and importance of integrating these systematisations to help stimulate and streamline the functionality and profitability of hotel and resort spa operations. Retooling the focus from manually centered services and embracing advancements in new technologies to support sustainable profitability and continued growth.
The bad news for spa managers and operators starts with this slap in the face: you don't know your competition.
The year is ending on a high note, with most people checking off their lists for the achieved and not so well-done objectives set in January. On top of a majority's list is in aspects of lifestyle, from eating healthy to staying fit. This is where the health and wellness tourism come in, a market estimated to grow to over $675 billion by end of 2017.
Technology and automation are making exponential headway touching nearly all sectors of hospitality, including spa and wellness. This article reviews the impact and importance of integrating these systematisations to help stimulate and streamline the functionality and profitability of hotel and resort spa operations. Retooling the focus from manually centered services and embracing advancements in new technologies to support sustainable profitability and continued growth.
Relaxation and a sense of wellbeing are at the heart of the spa and wellness market. Hence, it's no wonder that hotels, resorts, and spas have begun to reorganize their operations around wellness. The benefits, in the form of a stronger bottom line and appeal to demand segments, extend not only to guests but to hoteliers and hospitality companies, as well.
As health eating takes the world by storm, many people are adopting strict or esoteric diets that are becoming commonplace in any urban area. Vegetarians, vegans, paleo, raw diet – all must be appeased. As a staunch meat-lover, I can't fully grasp those who stave off cow and lamb entirely. But if I had to, I could give up red meat and poultry, but never fish.
Fitness Centers have become the new 'gold' in the hospitality industry, with a recently published Hospitality Report Nigeria by Jumia Travel showing the Gym as one of the most sought after amenities by customers booking a hotel stay. The growing trend from home based fitness programs to local fitness memberships, now includes the need for travelers to keep fit even when on their trips, be it leisure or business. In this regard, most hotels have adopted to the trend and incorporated gym/fitness facilities in their properties, while those with existing ones have gone a notch higher to renovate in a bid to create a better impression.
The numbers from the American Hotel and Lodging Association are sobering. Many of us in the resort and hotel spa sector have come to think we are in an endless cycle of growth. The reality is starkly different and uglier. AHLA reports that today just 5% of hotels have on-site spas that include dedicated treatment rooms. That is down from 17% in 2012.
This year has to count as a transitional year in US hospitality. We can now see the end of the boom and that's not to say bad times are ahead but that guaranteed good times look to be coming to an end. What that means is that those who succeed will have to work harder - and smarter - to claim their wins. Authenticity, commitment, passion and hard, focused work will be drivers of 2017 success. And the fast track to those successes is knowing what is going to be hot before everybody has gotten the memo. Here are the three mega trends I believe will be transformative to many resorts in the year ahead.
I remember my early post-college days working for a Fortune 50 firm where there was limited regard for one's health. Meetings held in a haze of tobacco smoke; cholesterol and calories were mere words undeserving of their accounting ledger; and trans-fats weren't even known let alone demonized.