On the other hand, progressive health
and wellness consumers are increasingly
influential in redefining food culture
and are a window on to the future of
health and wellness as health, wellness
and sustainability are starting to
converge at the most progressive food
retail and food service outlets and while
the food and beverage industry plays a
vital role in meeting the expectations
of these evolved consumer demands,
activating health and wellness at retail
and in food service means more than
mere execution; it involves “strategic
choices”.
WELLNESS & HEALTH:
HOSPITALITY V/S HEALTHCARE
In the past two decades, most
consumers and companies were
looking to solve primarily baseline
health and wellness conditions or
find new approaches to them and
those approaches fell into one of two
sections. The first section was health
condition management, and consumers
were looking for food and beverage
products that would help them treat
or prevent specific conditions. The
second section was about weight
management. At the time, consumers
were very much in a reactive mode
to their approach. However, today, as
our lifestyles evolved with an increase
in health and wellness consciousness,
consumers are very much proactive—
and even progressive—in their
approach to health and wellness
which has open avenues for not only
hotels or wellness /fitness centres
but everything that encompasses our
life. Wellness isn’t about only physical
well-being, wellness is the state of
optimal well-being and starts with
self-care. It’s not simply the absence
of illness, but an improved quality of
life resulting from enhanced physical,
social, mental, emotional, spiritual and
environmental health.
Integrative Wellness is the next
big thing to talk about and there
has been a shift from medicine vs.
wellness to truly integrative healthcare
opportunity and experience. It’s a
new outlook to merge traditional
medicine and wellness to clinical
wellness. For the healthcare industry
it’s a shift from disease management
to a prevention-focused mind-set
while integrating Medical centre +
wellness/complementary/integrative
centre to promote physical and mental
health transformed by good wellness
behaviours like diet, exercise and
mindfulness. Besides this, in China,
Norway and Singapore doctors are
being remunerated and recognized
for preventing disease. As a global
trend, wellness will also incorporate
medicine, for instance Mandarin
Oriental Bodrum has a partnership
with the Mayo Clinic for its Healthy
Living Program that started early this
year in 2016 to promote an integrative
wellness concept.
HOTEL & WELLNESS
OPERATIONS:
MEETING THE EXPECTATIONS
Hotels today are becoming commercial
lifestyle centers appealing equally
to non-resident guests to come
and experience at the premise be it
relaxation, fitness, wellness, shopping
or any other social engagement
activity. Wellness encompasses all
aspects of self-well-being and being
happy. Hotels are 24/7 operations
with a wide scope and array of services
to offer not only to resident guests
but also to those who will close by the
community, neighborhood or social
zone. Hotels would now include and
focus on services and options that
ease the quality of life of those around
them.
Wellness enthusiasts on the other hand,
like most travelers or wellness seekers,
are looking to do more with less. This
means greater outcomes despite
shorter stays, which may be delivered
through supplemental and add-on
programs that maximize results within
a limited timeframe. This also means
that travellers are looking to access
destination spas or wellness centers
closer to home, so as to maximize
limited travel time. With this shift in
consumer behavior and preferences,
hotels are strategizing their business
models from outside thinking to inside
producing i.e. moving away from
thinking of what their clients want, to
now inventing what they want and in
so doing, inventing the business model
of tomorrow.
Given the unique offerings of health
and wellness in hospitality segment,
which clearly differentiate it from
traditional hotels and resorts, it stands
to reason that the critical success
factors necessary for the development
of an authentic wellness platter for the
discerning wellness enthusiast, some
suggestions and recommendations are
as follows:
All key facilities (product) and
components (service attributes) must
be included in order for programming
to be successful. Shortcuts cannot
be made if the true intent is to
develop a competitive, internationally
benchmarked, revenue generating
wellness space in a hotel/resort.
Authenticity is the key to success.
The entire infrastructure must be
designed with human scale in mind.
Guests must be able to intuitively and
comfortably flow from one area to the
next with ample space (both indoor
and outdoor, if possible) for relaxation
and private reflection. Taking from
the sustainability perspective, more
and more, hospitality projects are
employing triple bottom line strategies
and environmentally conscious
building practices wherever possible.
Energy conservation, locally sourced
materials and talent, and attention
to carbon footprint are some of the
more commonly recognized and
employed considerations, though new
sustainability efforts, designs, and
technologies are constantly entering
the marketplace.
ILHA 65