The first roundtable conference of Global Wellness Tourism Congress took place in London in April. This event was an invite-only one and leaders from several countries took part in it and top executives of leading healthcare and travel organizations such as global healthcare group, Bupa and World Travel and Tourism Council. GWTC plans to conduct another two roundtables in Washington DC and New York this year. Some of the countries that took part in the event consisted of Spain, England, Greece, Portuguese, Finland, Switzerland and Morocco.
GWTE Report
According to the report called Global Wellness Tourism Economy (GWTE) released last October, the wellness travel is presently a $439 billion industry and is expected to further grow by about fifty percent by the year 2017.
Tourism authorities in most countries have been quick to see the opportunity this sector has and are trying their best to highlight wellness offerings of their countries.
Strategies for Wellness Travel Industry
During the event, all the participants consented that consumers as well as tourism bodies need more education on usefulness of wellness tourism and the options it provides.
Proper language and vocabulary also needs to be developed so that different interest groups can be addressed properly.
How to market wellness tourism
There are several aspects to be kept in mind while promoting wellness tourism and some of them are as follows:
- It is not important to highlight the term wellness tourism since many people already have some form of wellness tour where they go to a spa or take part in fitness classes. Wellness tourism is an industry term that may not work with consumers.
- Everyone who took part in the event was of the same view that telling consumers that they need to select healthier tourist destination as it is a good choice, most of the time backfires.
- Industry leaders also need to put in the effort to communicate the message to people that wellness tourism is an affordable form of travel option.
- Advantage of wellness tourism is that it is not a seasonal tour option and revenue stream remains constant throughout the year. Accordingly, the promotional plan is to be developed to highlight this feature.
- National governments need to find out the unique wellness options their country provides and promote it as their unique selling point to consumers.
Summary:
Global wellness tourism market is growing rapidly and tourism authorities in all the countries are taking steps to capture a share of the flourishing industry.