I had the opportunity to conduct a 2-day-long Wellness Masterclass at Namami Health and A Wellness Sanctuary on 25th-26th April’23. This amazing event was marked by high-level attendance, knowledge-building,and great idea-swapping.
It gives me immense pleasure to pen a few words about exciting things that unfolded during the event. My objectiveis to help seasoned businesses and budding startups unearth opportunities in this vast wellness market.
The wellness masterclass was fully booked within a few days of its promotional launch. It further established the tremendous potential of the $4.9 trillion global wellness economy. People are looking for suitable investment opportunities.
Interactive participation and support created a great event
My heartfelt thanks and gratitude to Namami Health and Wellness Resort for their support making this event a great success.I can’t thank enough the delegates, experts, professionals, entrepreneurs, and investors from India and abroad who traveled a long way to take part in the event.
My special thanks to Vasili Gergedava, Erekle Khurtsidzeand Ekaterine Neparidze from Georgia, Kamal Hassan Muhamed from Yemen, Irina Isaleeva from Russia, and Shaji Shams from Dubai.
Their keenness to tap study the emerging wellness market kept the momentum of the event high.Their different backgrounds, culture,and unique experiences fostered creativity, collaboration, and innovation. It was lovely to listen and be listened to.
Namami Health and A Wellness Sanctuary – A Sight to Behold
This 5-starred Health and Wellness Resort with its wellness vibes set the stage right. Located just 21 km from Cochin International Airport, the resort is easily reachable in a 30-40-minute drive.
The resort’s picturesque natural setting, its design, and architecture seamlessly blended with the surroundingthick greenery creating a serene and harmonious environment for wellness.
The climate was bright and pleasant despite the prevailing summer. Guests enjoyed a wonderful stayin the resort’s facilities. The resort’s relaxing and soothing ambiance didn’t allow fatigue to set in despite the long sessions. Exploring the resort is an experience in itself as I have detailed in my Namami Health and A Wellness Sanctuary Review.
A focused approach unlocked the vast potential of wellness business
Whenever I do a medical tourism or wellness tourism masterclass, I make sure it fulfills a specific objective. This holds the attention of my audience, and my presentations become easy to grasp.
From my vast experience in medical tourism, wellness, and healthcare consultancy, I curate my masterclass sessions with newer findings and their business potential. The audience gains new insightsinto the business landscape based on emerging trends. Throughout my presentation and infographics, I provide actionable strategies for businesses to succeed in this burgeoning industry.
In this masterclass, the following topics were covered.
- The Essence of Wellness
- Wellness Dimensions
- Emerging Wellness Trends and its influence on the global wellness market
- Exploring the multi-faceted Wellness Industry -Opportunities, Challenges, and How to Grow?
- Shifting Travel Intent and the Growth of Wellness Tourism
- Journey Mapping of Wellness Tourists and Their Touchpoints
- Innovations in Wellness Programs – Seamless and result-oriented
- Wellness Real Estate and the Role of Biophilic Design
- Standing Out in Wellness Tourism Business – Promotion, Marketing, and Reputation Building
- Acquiring Customers and Patients in Wellness Tourism
- Wellness Tourism Facilitating Efficient Matchmaking
- Immersive Wellness Experiences in Wellness Resorts
Mix and match of wellness is key to a successful business
Wellness is multidimensional. A unidimensional approach to wellness business will only limit the possibilities in this vast market. I explained howa smart mix and match of several wellness aspects can make wellness offerings attractive and stand outfrom others.
Wellness is not a one-size-fits-all approach, and businesses must tailor their offerings to meet the unique needs and preferences of customers.
It could be a mix of services including yoga, meditation, nutrition, spa, adventurous activities, advanced therapies, and even medical treatments. What you mix, how you mix, and for whom is the key. My masterclass presentations were loaded with such strategies.
The delegates listened with rapt attention and their reciprocation was simply wonderful. Felt enthusiastic while answering their queries and providing new solutions.
In my masterclass, I always emphasize unique and personalized experiences that create delightful moments for customers. Businessesneed to focus more on this to have an edge over others.It is more important in the medical tourism and wellness businesses where the stake is very high, and customers’ expectations know no limit.
Wellness resorts – A strong pillar of the wellness tourism business
Have you heard of travel burnout or travel fatigue? People come from vacation tiredand perhaps need another vacation to get recharged. What’s the point of traveling?
Thankfully, even after crisscrossing the world covering 65+ countries, I never experienced it. Too much travel or hectic destination hopping doesn’t allow you to enjoy as you would have loved to.
There has been a dramatic shift in travel intent.Travelers are keen on new and authentic experiences. They are craving for relaxation and rejuvenation. Post-vacation, they want to be a better version of themselves in all respects. This explains why wellness tourism is growing faster than conventional tourism. This also explains the rapid growth of the wellness resort business.
Wellness travelers are discerning travelers with heightened awareness about well-being and their lifestyle choices. They always opt for specific destinations that can help in achieving their health and wellness goals.
Wellness resorts remain their first choice. These resorts are looked upon asspecial destinations where one can expect their specific well-being issues to be addressed and bring a transformation in their outlook on life. I talked about this highly promising trend in the wellness tourism business.
Wellness resorts also come under the huge umbrella of Wellness Real Estate, which is posting an enviable growth rate for the last few years. When all businesses suffered severe setbacks during the pandemic, wellness real estate posted the highest growth rate!
Wellness resorts cater to wellness travelers’ needs in multifarious ways. They take a holistic approach to rejuvenate your mind, body, and soul. Therefore, the built environment including the wellness resort design and architecture play a great role in the wellness experiences of guests.
Sensory engagement is a vital aspect of wellness. If your senses are not in tune with the surroundings, even the best services and therapies will not be that effective. Human beings are wired to nature but urbanization has snatched itaway badly.
If you ask, what wellness travelers seek most? The answer is more exposure to nature. Needless to mention the therapeutic benefits of nature. Wellness resorts with lots of biophilic elements complement the guests’ wellness experience with unrestricted sensory engagements.
I had one special presentation on Biophilic architecture and the audience loved it. It revealed so many interesting aspects that can be applied in our homes and workplaces!
The lovely nature-wrapped landscape and the minimalistic biophilic design of Namami Health and A Wellness Sanctuary complemented my views. It set the harmonious tone that prevailed in the entire masterclass.
An excellent business networking platform
I love networking. And I believe, your social network is your net worth. A business cannot go alone. I express my deep satisfaction that my Wellness Tourism Masterclass provided an excellent networking platform. Networking broadens your vision and gives you power.
I found delegates happily connecting with fellow professionals during high tea and lunch. They shared ideas and explored potential collaborations in short sessions during intermittent breaks. I could hold 121 meetings with many of them in that short time.I feel that the masterclass fostered a sense of community and collaboration that is essential in the wellness industry. You will always feel sharing your views after a learning session.
Innovative startup ideas were born
Masterclasses are not meant to sit and listen but to come forward and question the concepts presented. I felt elated to see different groups of participants coming up with great wellness startup concepts, from ideation to pitch. The audience not only tapped their creativity but also displayed great teamwork in startup ideation. Hope to see some wellness startups soon see the light of day.
Wellness customer journey mapping and wellness business marketing
Love this topic and can go on with endless presentations. Medical tourism and wellness businesses deal with varied types of customers. Unless you are thorough with the customer’s journey and their experience at various touchpoints, a major part of your marketing efforts gets wasted.
What are you marketing and for whom? Who are your wellness customers or patients? What is the source?What are their said and unsaid needs? What are they searching for? A wellness customer or a patienthas to go through many touchpoints some of which are likely to remain hidden or unnoticed.
With one single undesirable encounter at any touchpoint, you lose your customer. My job was to bring forward those unobvious touchpoints that are never factored in but matter a lot in customer acquisition.
I could sense the feeling of surprise from the participants as I presented the touchpoint journey map. The audience could step into the customer’s shoes and resonate with my explanation. They acknowledged how these touchpoint experiences have a big impact on conversions.
Wellness Activities added more value
Wellness activities in between sessions made the masterclass more engaging. It was a different kind of learning but relevant to our present-day lifestyle. We can take care of our well-being just by doing simple things. For that, you don’t need to go anywhere or spend anything.
80% of global jobs are sitting jobs. And we are too exposed to blue screens. We don’t keep track of how our well-being is getting compromised by our daily activities. What we miss is the opportunity of others!
The audience enjoyed participating in guided sitting workouts and Trataka yoga by wellness experts of Namami. In the end, I guided a 15-minute mindfulness session, which was highly appreciated.
People understood the benefits of wellness services and were able to assess their long-term impact. This aspect of the masterclass added significant value underscoring the importance of high-quality and result-oriented services in wellness.
Namami’s outstanding hospitality, a star of the event
Lastly, I must put a few words of praise for Namami’s outstanding hospitality. Their warm welcome and consistent caring efforts to make guests feel at home and make this event a huge success surpassed our expectations. To me, they are the ‘stars’ of the event. Whatever the guests wanted, they fulfilled it happily.
Their exceptional service and attention to detail enhanced the masterclass experience. Guests enjoyed the lavish spread of breakfast, lunch, dinner, and coffee sessions.
At the end of the event, participants had a wonderful time exploring the resort’s natural landscape. Some hit the gym while a few took Ayurvedic treatments after a preliminary diagnostic check-up. Some were happy plunging in the pool or relaxing by the poolside.
I believe masterclasses allow you to build practical skills, insights, and strategies beyond texts. The high level of interaction that happens for hours creates a robust learning platform for everybody, including myself. Hardly, you get to interact with so many experts under one roof, and that sows the seeds for startups.
It was another pleasurable moment for me to hand out certificates, mementos, and awards to participants. Love their satisfied expression. Soon I will post videos of different sessions of the masterclass. Stay tuned. Share your opinions about wellness business opportunities. Feel free to post topic suggestions for my next masterclass. Till then, take care of your well-being.
