Spa, Health and Wellness Services in Hotels | By Bendegul Okumus – Hospitality Net

This article aims to analyze current practices, future trends, and issues in hotel spa health and wellness services, briefly discussing possible development solutions for the next decade from the perspective of supply and demand.

This short article also expands the particular current viewpoint by examining the effect of the pandemic on the global applications of spa, health, and wellness services in the hospitality and tourism industry. Better service is always possible with a sound analysis of the sector plus a deeper understanding associated with customer requests.

The need for spa, health and fitness services goes back centuries, becoming a valuable part of daily life in some cultures. Egyptian and Babylonian architecture shows evidence of hot springs and baths as early as 3000 BC. Later, ancient Greeks, Native Americans, Alaskans, and Pacific Islanders viewed spa and traditional wellbeing as balancing activities for health, while Middle Eastern and East Asian cultures used these traditional methods to treat diseases, applying natural treatments plus therapies such as Turkish baths , caves, stones, mud baths , hot springs (Japan), tai chi (China), massage, and many other traditional methods.

Yet, with the particular development of pharmaceutical and medical sciences, wellness and health and fitness practices such as healthy eating, Ayurveda, traditional Indian and Chinese medicine, music therapy, homeopathy, osteopathy, hydrotherapy, naturopathy, and numerous more began to lose their importance, especially in Western ethnicities. Although conventional spa and wellness practices are preserved in several cultures by passing them down from generation to generation, health spa culture, with its therapeutic and preventative values, has been particularly transformed into a beauty, massage, plus body care industry leveraged by hotels and hot tub centers all over the world.

However, day spa and well being services have begun to be in demand again for their own therapeutic advantages, thus begging the following questions: Why have people started to focus on health and wellness solutions again? Are advanced medical treatments and applications not enough for mental and physical wellness plus well-being?

Great confusion and uncertainty accompanied COVID-19, resulting in mass deaths, strict quarantine measures, changes in work plus schooling systems, job losses, insufficiency associated with health treatment services, and socioeconomic instabilities in many countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported 510, 270, 667 confirmed cases and 6, 233, 526 confirmed deaths worldwide within April 2022. Despite its devastating effects, the outbreak has created several opportunities with regard to the massage and health sector, along with the wellness travel and leisure and food industry, generating opportunities regarding service industry and clients looking intended for new trends and providers.

Recent academic studies have revealed the significant negative effects of COVID-19 on mental plus physical health. Therefore , the tourism, spa, and health and wellness industry should examine whether proposed wellness and health care concepts are effective in alleviating the particular psychological and physical effects of COVID-19.

For example , hot suspension springs and thermal centers, which constitute an important part associated with spa travel, have an unique healing effect. However , because the supply plus demand system has changed inside recent years, the marketing and functionality of heat centers, specially in their use of mineral waters, should be reviewed simply by the resort and health spa sector to get potential customers, including seniors, people with chronic illnesses, those who avoid 3S vocations, religious groups, solo travelers, and the particular middle-aged working class. The pandemic has created great opportunities pertaining to spa and wellness centers to reposition their and also activities, services, and products by analyzing the current functions plus improvement potential.

An examination of worldwide spa and wellness centers and resorts reveals great differences between the US and other regions regarding service plus product diversity arise. While spa and wellness resorts/centers in the US offer spa packages, soothing treatments, all-inclusive accommodations, classes, lectures, fitness facilities, and meals catering in order to wide-ranging budgets, more interesting and traditional service concepts are available globally. Nowadays, many hotels in different regions are participating in new spa plus wellness styles, improving the particular service range with conventional and local spa programs.

While some hotels add color treatment to their hot tub programs to lower blood pressure and boost the immune system, others provide wellness-themed hotel rooms, custom app-based well-being challenges, saltwater bath therapies, local and ethnic foods and beverages, infrared saunas, trendy fitness equipment, medical spas plus baths using underground volcanic waters, cosmetic surgery trips, thalassotherapy centers, holistic centers meant for life-work balance, meditation retreats, and pilgrimages for spiritual well-being. Since local resources and traditional methods are quite rich, the spa and wellness solutions in a lot of regions, including China, India, East plus South Asia, Turkey, and northern Europe, have made substantial advancements within this business.

For example, China offers emerged as a strong player in the global overall wellness economy. According to the 2019 Global Wellness Summit, “Traditional chinese medicine has reached 183 nations and regions worldwide, expecting an estimated $50 billion global market . ” Moreover, the particular country has risen through eleventh in order to third in health plus wellness tourism, bringing $31. 7 billion dollars in revenue and providing 70. 2 million along with accommodations.

The particular diversity of global day spa and perfectly services has revealed the concepts associated with spa and wellness travel and leisure and health condition destination because unique travel segments. Based on the 2018 Worldwide Wellness Economy Monitor report, there was a 57% increase in wellness trips between 2015 plus 2017 in emerging markets such as Asia-Pacific, Latin America-Caribbean, Middle East-North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa.

On the other hand, Asian countries continues to be the particular number one growth sector in massage, health, plus wellness tourism in the last five years, along with annual profits reaching 258 million with a 33% increase within travel. In terms of outbound tourists, Europeans currently lead the way inside travelers from North America with the highest number of visitors (291. 8 million in 2017) and the greatest spending ($241. 7 billion in 2017). The numbers reported inside 2017 are usually slightly different for inbound tourists; the United States is in the top spot along with 176. 5 million trips and $226. 0 billion dollars spent, followed by Germany (66. 1 million trips, 65. 7 billion spent) plus China (70. 2 mil trips, 31. 7 billion dollars spent).

2021 Global Wellness Economy Monitor also published the global wellness economy data stating that “New Global Wellbeing Institute research–the most in-depth in its history–reveals that the wellbeing market grew to a record $4. 9 trillion in 2019 and then fell to $4. 4 trillion in the particular pandemic year of 2020. But with a consumer “values shift” underway, the future of the wellness market is incredibly bright, predicted to grow 10% annually through 2025. ” These figures show that spa, health, plus wellness tourism has become increasingly popular not only in established tourism destinations but furthermore in emerging markets around the world.

The current perspective should be developed by evaluating existing and new worldwide trends within the spa plus wellness marketplace. Some developing countries are starting to move beyond conventional spas by leveraging their particular natural sources and traditional healing procedures. They use very simple advertising budgets, which includes new deals on partner websites, brochures, familiarity trips, and promotional campaigns whilst updating the particular regional media and substantial tourism board partners about their providers. Their unique selling propositions offer wellbeing and relaxation for health spa and health and fitness clients.

For example, the Dead Sea, with the extremely high salt content, bordered simply by the West Bank, Jordan, and Israel offers recovery for people suffering from various illnesses, ranging from psoriasis to cystic fibrosis . The Baden-Baden region associated with Germany offers hydrotherapy and aromatherapy. Indian offers yoga, meditation, plus Ayurveda practices. Southeast Asia focuses on spiritual travel and leisure as well as healthcare tourism. Japan offers very hot springs and traditional religious practices. Sri Lanka promotes Ayurvedic strengths , beautiful natural settings, and spiritual heritage. China offers conventional Chinese medicine, herbal medication, qigong , meditation, plus martial arts. South and Far east Asian countries like South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines offer more traditional healing techniques such since traditional Chinese medicine, Ayurveda, Tibetan medicine, and other integrative approaches.

The Latin American plus Caribbean areas, along with Mexico, Brazil, Chile, and Argentina, rank high in the particular thermal/mineral suspension systems category and for beauty enhancement treatments. Destinations like Costa Rica and Belize are famous for their jungle/eco-spas . The Middle East-North The african continent region encourages hammam culture, along with the benefits of thalassotherapy, balneotherapy, and hydrotherapy. Sub-Saharan Cameras offers thermal/mineral springs, mindfulness safaris, yoga exercise in the wilderness, body treatments inside the bush, and traditional wellness remedies such as drumming meditation , calabash massage and izinyawo foot baths.

Turkey , Greece, plus East European countries promote their geothermal facilities like hot springs, mineral waters, Turkish, Greek, and Roman baths, balneotherapy, mud baths, caves, and phytotherapy in their spa plus wellness services. Many this kind of services are provided by luxury hotels and resorts, which are increasing the particular volume of customers going to wellness locations. Some resorts and hotels also offer professionally designed therapy and activity programs led by health and health and fitness professionals (e. g., Canyon Ranch in Arizona, One& Only Desaru Coast in Malaysia, The Retreat at Blue Lagoon in Iceland, and Marina Bay Sands in Singapore) drawing on various concepts through worldwide.

Travel restrictions are usually being slowly lifted by governments, so many people will need spiritually and physically restorative journeys in order to overcome the challenges of the pandemic. Quality hot tub programs, intense fitness training camps, therapeutic massage, meditation, yoga exercises, and relaxing retreats filled with creative day spa services plus healthy meals and drinks are essential designed for many resort clients who need to restore their bodily and psychological health and well-being. Consequently , it is better if hoteliers implement innovative wellness solutions alongside conventional services during this critical period.