What is wellness? If you are a half glass full person then it is a tool to help you live a healthier, happier, longer life. If you are a glass half empty person then it is a branding ploy to get you to pay twice as much for something that may or may not have any real impact on your health and longevity.
Regardless of where you stand, McKinsey estimates that wellness is a $1.5 trillion market with a lot of room to run. You may not believe in it, but you certainly cannot ignore it. McKinsey breaks down the market into six segments ranging from fitness to sleep.
With the growing trend towards healthy living, more industries are trying to incorporate wellness into their offerings, including hotels, real estate, F&B, and tourism. Hotel companies, in particular, have been flirting with adding wellness and medical services to their offerings for years, but COVID-19 supercharged that intent, and now wellness is on the map to stay.
For hotels, wellness is a new channel to boost guest spend and create product differentiation, especially for resort hotels. Resort guests are relaxed, they eat better, sleep better, and have more time to exercise. But the challenge hoteliers face is shrinking the broad concept of wellness into a tangible offer and delivering it to guests in a profitable, sustainable way.
There are typically three models when it comes to offering medical or wellness within hospitality. The first is to bundle existing amenities like spa, fitness, and F&B and repackaging it under wellness. The second is to rent space to a doctor or clinic specialising in wellness or aesthetics. This is often the easiest route because it fills space and generates rental income with almost no effort. The third is developing a bespoke wellness program and making it a signature feature of the property or brand. That’s the heavy lift.
There are other models and variations on these three themes, but it all boils down to intent. Is the goal to develop a wellness product that is strategic and sustainable or short term and opportunistic?
The bigger hotel companies like Accor are investing in bespoke, branded, scalable solutions, working with partners, and deploying digital technologies that keep guests connected on and off the property. The smaller hotel groups tend to explore wellness services and themes they can weave into the guest experience. Individual properties may choose a highly specialised path focused on doing one thing and doing it well.
Regardless of their path, hospitality companies are actively looking to blend health into their amenities portfolio and will eventually need to settle on a strategic path forward. One that ideally fits the brand, business and guest mix.
