The "Health & Wellness" sector could well be the answer to post-COVID redevelopment needs and looks set tobe one of the new vectors of growth and profits for hospitality destinations. EHL Advisory Services and HWS have combined their know-how to offer support in the development of impactful health and wellness solutions.
Healthcare costs have ballooned over the past 50 years, with US health care costs taking up a 17.1 percent share of the US Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Today, Healthcare in the US is about a $3.4 Trillion industry. "Medical costs are the tapeworm of American economic competitiveness," says Warren Buffet, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.1 In comparison, corporate taxes are only about 1.9 percent of the US GDP, and other developed countries such as Germany, Japan, and Britain share less than 12 percent of their GDP on healthcare.1 General Motors is a health and benefits company with an auto company attached (Buffet, W.).
The benefits of a medical clinic located within a resort or hotel property are well founded. With an aging society and with travel and tourism set to increase post COVID-19, partnering with an onsite medical clinic franchise could strongly benefit a hotel. There are numerous lodging and medical clinic joint models that currently exist and thrive.
This article provides an overview of the underlying factors that are driving the growth in the spa-and-wellness hospitality sector. HVS has been tracking demand and growth patterns within this sector over the years, resulting in the creation of the dedicated HVS Spa & Wellness Division in 2016 to focus on long-view investment considerations and detailed performance propositions. In this article, we take a deep dive into this rapidly advancing industry and identify what distinguishes an immersive and transformational spa-and-wellness experience from a traditional hotel or resort spa facility. This article also reviews key success factors and potential challenges related to these types of developments.
The massive convergence of social, financial, and personal changes we have experienced in recent months can be overwhelming. This article provides a breakdown of underlying dynamics I expect will impact the future of hospitality, hotels, resorts and mixed-use spa and wellness facility demands in the months and years ahead.
In 2004, Spa Directors from some of the most well-known facilities across the Hawaiian Islands met in Oahu to form a collaborative organization now known as the Hawaii Spa Association (www.hawaiispaassociation.com ). The Hawaii Spa Association (or Hi-Spa for short) is a non-profit entity created to elevate awareness of Hawaii's significant role in the World Leisure and Wellness Market.
The hospitality industry is facing the greatest challenge in our lifetime as hotels around the world have been closed, international borders restricted, and flights cancelled in response to the novel coronavirus pandemic. There is no question that travel will return, but it won't be easy and the hospitality landscape is likely to be forever changed by current events.
People in vast numbers are more in tune with their mind and bodies than ever before, but not necessarily in harmony. This has spawned huge growth of interest in online tutorials, on-demand classes and podcasts that teach us how to be better at caring for our well-being. Self-care, a phrase that has gained traction in the wellness mega-trend, gives us permission to be healthy. Two simple but powerful words.
While many properties are still trying to figure out the best way to ensure the physical safety of their guests, we can't ignore that this pandemic has hit people's wellbeing hard. Travel has always been a 'cure for what ails you', but if you haven't noticed - people are changing. Values are evolving. Over the last 15-20 years, we have experienced a massive paradigm shift, and we now stand in the aftermath of it.
Sooner or later, COVID-19 will be a thing of the past. However, as the crisis will pass, many things will have changed. New ways of working, new consumption patterns, a new way of interacting with people, and most certainly, cleanliness standards as new ways of measuring the attractiveness of hotels will become the norm.
One truth…there is very little we can confidently predict at this point. Yet in my career, I have seen and led teams through some very difficult periods and the one thing I can confidently predict is that we will endure and thrive and the data backs that prediction up. In 2018 the International Spa Association reported that total spa revenues in the US grew 48.7% since the end of the Great Recession to $18.3 billion.
Starting as a peculiarity in the 1970s in the Netherlands, the use of cannabis for medicinal or recreational purposes has gained immense momentum across the globe in recent times. Thus far, 4 countries and 11 U.S. states have officially legalised cannabis for recreational use and more than 40 countries and some 30 U.S. states for medical use. Furthermore, the recent legalisation of cannabis in Canada (in 2018) and in the U.S. State of Colorado (in 2014) for recreational purposes has been widely publicised and commented upon.
The wellness tourism is now a $639 billion industry. This begins to point us in the direction of traveler & guest desires, but the word wellness can lead to restrictive thinking. What comes to mind when I say wellness? Did you get images of yoga, smoothies, or maybe essential oils floating into your head?
In 2007, CBRE introduced Trends® in the Hotel Spa Industry in response to the spa industry's rapid expansion within hotels and resorts and its relevance to hotels' bottom lines. For the second time in the history of the publication, spa revenue increased at a higher rate than rooms revenue and total operating revenue. During 2018, the 159 hotels in our survey sample of achieved a 3.7 percent growth in RevPAR, which led to a 3.8 percent rise in total operating revenue. Concurrently, spa department revenue increased by 4.8 percent. With RevPAR forecast to increase less than 1.5 percent through 2021, the Spa Department represents an opportunity for hotel owners. Wellness is a growing desire in the minds of guests, and hotels can capitalize on this trend.
The following research and insights are compiled by Jeremy McCarthy, Group Director of Spa & Wellness at Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group. The brand leads the luxury hospitality sector in integrating wellness into the guest experience, continuously creating offerings that nurture the mind, body and soul.
Social media has changed the game in resort marketing, but it remains a confusing and misunderstood medium. Words like Followers and Engagement get thrown around, but how does one go about making real connections with their target demographic?
Driven by the interests of an increasingly older and unhealthy population, healthcare has been at the center of political debates in the United States for over a decade. The current conventional healthcare model is broadly recognized as failing and is compelling people to take on responsibility for their wellbeing through alternative solutions.
Value adds always become expectations. Such is the course for hospitality and if you aren't constantly evolving your brand then it will become stale. And in an overstuffed hotel marketplace, you need bold new directions to differentiate your product and drive rate.
"Wellness" sounds trendy, but the concept has always been inherent to the hospitality industry its beginning is arguably rooted in historic spa locations where mineral-rich waters were used for medicinal baths. Belief in the restorative powers of such waters actually dates to prehistoric times. This curious fact underscores another fact — interest in the concept of wellness is not a modern fad. And, it's a bankable product and service offering, as exemplified by recent statistics:
Wellness is the word in today's hospitality as experts throw around immense numbers - the market size is said to be over $4 trillion! - and so in 2019 there is a stampede into wellness that is unlike anything we have seen before.