Newsletter

Hotels leading the trend

The most apparent trend in wellness tourism is the healthy hotel boom. IIHG launched EVEN, a mid-range wellness focused hotel brand, to help guests maintain their healthy lifestyle while traveling. The hotel focuses on healthy eating, fitness accessibility, and functional and comfortable rooms (refer to October 2013 newsletter). Wellness in-room design such as MGM Grand Las Vegas ‘Stay Well’ rooms are packed with 18 healthy design features including sleep/wake cycle optimized lighting to anti-bacteria surfaces.

 

Spa represents a core business within wellness tourism accounting for 16% international wellness tourism expenditures, equivalent to a $71.6 billion market. Hotels and resorts that have not invested in a large capacity spa should consider upgrading or expanding. Fusion Maia Danang is a prime example of a resort fully taking advantage of the wellness trend with its inclusive spa offerings and the Natural Living program promoting daily practice of healthy living.

 

Potential for Vietnam

Vietnam is poised to tap into the wellness tourism market with its beautiful natural landscapes, stretch of unspoiled coastline, and a history of traditional healing system. SpaFinder’s 2014 Trend mentioned Vietnam as one of the ‘Top 10 Surprising Spa & Wellness Destinations’. International travelers are seeking authentic, hyper-local experiences and desiring more exotic, off-the-beaten path destinations. They are interested in immersing in more unique, local, indigenous cultural experiences.

 

Wellness Vietnam recently organized a yoga retreat for a group of twenty Americans. The participants averaged 55yrs+ in age and joined the retreat not only for the yoga practice but also the chance to experience the country that they’ve only read in history books and television. They also were attracted to the varied activities offered in the itinerary which included visits to local villages, cultural and religious attractions, snorkeling and swimming and a healing experience at the mineral mud and hot springs.

 

The yoga retreat is a testimony to Vietnam as an attractive wellness destination. The wellness infrastructure is still lacking compared to Thailand and Bali but it offers a huge opportunity for hotel/resort and travel and tourism service providers to develop new products and services to meet the demand of this growing segment of global tourism.

 

 

[1] ‘The Global Wellness Tourism Economy’, Global Wellness Institute 2013

 

[2] Top 10 Global Spa and Wellness Trends Forecast’, Spa Finder 2014.