Global wellness is turning into big business within the lodging industry. While wellness is still bubbling below the surface of industry conversation, it’s already become big business. And hoteliers ignoring this opportunity are missing out on grabbing some of the big bucks being generated by this explosive trend.
“The wellness industry is certainly something that has grown, and we have seen a huge groundswell of people traveling for wellness, surgery, recuperation, and even to run a marathon,” explained Larry Traxler, SVP Global Design, Hilton Hotels & Resorts.
Look at these startling facts, according to the most recent numbers from the Global Wellness Institute:
- The global wellness industry is a $3.7 trillion market.
- Global wellness tourism revenues grew from $494.1 billion in 2013 to $563.2 billion in 2015 – or 14%. A growth rate more than twice as fast as overall tourism expenditures (6.9%).
- World travelers made 691 million wellness trips in 2015, 104.4 million more than in 2013.
- The global spa market grew from $94 billion in 2013 to $98.6 billion in 2015.
- World spa locations jumped from 105,591 in 2013 to 121,595 in 2015.
- Since 2013, the spa industry added 16,000 spas, more than 230,000 workers (to reach 2.1 million), and $3.5 billion in revenue.
It’s no surprise hotel companies are looking for ways to maximize opportunity in this segment with brands such as InterContinental Hotel Group’s EVEN Hotels, and Miraval Resorts, which was recently purchased by Hyatt Corporation. This points to big potential here.
Growing focus on this category means hoteliers should look to compete with wellness related offerings. While Traxler says Hilton is not looking to create a wellness focused brand such as IHG’s EVEN, he does think there is opportunity to take guestroom space in selected rooms to activate the wellness aspect of them because they run higher occupancy and command premium rates.
Plus, their looking to expanding to expand fitness center size at hotels, with daylight elements, while placing them in new locations that include outdoor space too for yoga and functional fitness.
Hoteliers can get their rooms ready for this opportunity without having to buy all new furniture. In fact, existing pieces can be reengineered at a savings of up to 80% compared to buying new.
Existing pieces can be reconfigured or entirely reinvented. The Refinishing Touch has myriad solutions that create factory fresh looking pieces by changing color, adding stone, laminate or glass elements, and changing the hardware, to name a few options. Then that saved money can be invested into your wellness initiatives.
“I do not think it is a fad a trend,” said Fern Kanter, managing director/ EVP, CHM Warnick, a leading hospitality asset management company overseeing $15 billion in real estate.
Get ahead of the competition now and focus on wellness.
Learn more about how The Refinishing Touch can help you reconfigure your hotel rooms. Call Today for more information!
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