Category Archives: Wellness Tourism

The Indian government is looking to raise trained manpower to meet the growing needs of the wellness tourismsector, which is fast-growing and recession-free, an official said yesterday.

“Lack of skilled manpower is a major challenge faced by the wellness tourism sector. Untrained manpower would adversely affect quality of services offered to the tourists, the sector being recession-free with 20 percent growth rate over last year,” said Girish Shankar, additional secretary in the tourism ministry.

“Proper strategies and policies for human resource development will have an effect on the industry,” Shankar said at the fifth annual wellness conference organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
Synergy should be struck between medical and wellness tourism, said Shankar.
“For many tourists, India is the favourite destination for medical tourism owing to the quality of healthcare. If wellness tourism gets synergised it will further increase the inflow of tourists. With ayurveda, yoga, panchkarma and rejuvenation therapies … some traditional systems of medical treatment will attract more tourists.”
In order to increase awareness about wellness tourism and to bring together various stakeholders on one platform, the tourism ministry is organising a Global Spa and Wellness Summit (GSWS) in October, he added.
“This summit will bring together leaders and visionaries to positively impact and shape the future of the global spa and wellness industries across the globe,” Shankar added.

source: http://www.canindia.com / CanIndia / Home> Health> India / August 06th, 2013

Dr. Laszlo Puczko of Tourism Observatory

The Tourism Observatory for Health, Wellness and Spa proudly announces the first ever Global Spa & Wellness Tourism study. This path-making report was prepared in cooperation with Danubius Hotels Group and enjoyed endorsement from over 50 global companies (e.g., Mandarin Oriental, Thermarium) and national and international organizations (e.g., PATA, ETC, and Hungarian Bath Association).

The GSWTM 2013 collected information from 50+ countries and from 420+ spa and wellness facilities. The key objective was to identify the role tourism and tourists play at various spa and wellness facilities worldwide.

The Report provides industry insights for operators, managers, investors and advisors. Data and information gathered is introduced and discussed in the Report in two major sections:

– By regions (Africa, The Americas, Asia, Australia/NZ, and Europe)

– By spa and wellness facility types

We believe that it is essential to highlight: spa and wellness facilities can come in numerous ways and types. The demand for these establishments is rather varied, too!

Not only facility typology was taken into consideration, but GSWTM also introduces data and information by three major demand segments – local customers, domestic tourists, and international tourists. No operator or investor should assume that “tourists” or “customers” can be uniform. The characteristics of the three major demand segments can and do differ greatly.

The GSWTM 2013 Report provides intelligence regarding the following key themes:

– What is the structure of traveling for health (facilities and services)?

– Market Position of Facilities

– Facility (types) Becoming Popular?

– Services Becoming Popular?

– Business Trend Forecasts for 2013 (number of customer and first-time customers, average revenue per customer, number of treatments sold per visit)

– Business Trend Changes for 2012/2011 (number of customer and first time customers, average revenue per customer, number of treatments sold per visit)

– Typology and Motivation of Customers

– Popular Services & Treatments

– Main Sender Countries (where tourists come from)

– Qualification of Spa and Wellness Staff

– Local and International Marketing Cooperations

– Signature Treatments & Product Packaging

The Tourism Observatory for Health, Wellness and Spa (TOHWS) was created in the spring of 2012 by globally-renowned advisors and researchers. TOHWS provides a platform for industry, investors and academics. To TOHWS, travel for health means travel for total health – medical, wellness, well-being, holistic, spiritual, spa, or medical wellness travel. This holistic approach to health makes TOHWS the only global initiative looking at every aspect of the spectrum.

TOHWS experts have been involved in over 100 industry and academic projects in the field of health and travel during the last 20 years. It has written professional books and articles and participated in international and global projects, as well as very local research and development projects, and spoke at over 50 professional and academic conferences worldwide in the last 3 years.

source: http://www.eturbonews.com / eTN Global Travel Industry News / June 19th, 2013