melanie smith: spa tourism
TRANSCRIPT
Spa Tourism
Dr Melanie Smith, BKF University of Applied Sciences,Budapest, Hungary
Email: [email protected]
Global and Placeless or Local and Specific?
Global
• Facilities such as spas and wellness hotels
• Rituals such as saunas and massage• Beauty treatments• Surgical medical tourism• Outdoor recreation, sports and
fitness• (Most) spa cuisine
Local
• Unique resources (e.g. Dead Sea, Blue Lagoon)
• Regional initiatives (e.g. Alpine wellness, Nordic Wellbeing, Baltic Health Tourism)
• Signature treatments using local indigenous traditions and ingredients (e.g. local herbs, rituals)
• Authentic ‘home’ of globalising practices (e.g. Thai massage, Ayurveda, yoga)
Brief Overview of Spas in Serbia• 250 natural springs and 100
wells with thermal water are situated in the territory of Serbia, along with natural mineral gases and medicinal mud.
• There are over fifty thermal resorts in Serbia.
• Spa therapies include consuming medical water or taking medical, therapeutic baths.(Source of map: Milivojevic, Krunic &. Martinovic, 2005)
Spa Trends in Hungary
• 2010 was the first year when the number of wellness guests was significantly higher than the number of traditional spa hotel guests
• 6-8 more new indoor spas were finished in 2010
• In January 2011 the Szechenyi Development Plan, was launched. The first priority of this plan is developing the spa and wellness industry focusing on effectiveness, modernization, innovation and complexity.
• Vinotherapy (or wine therapy) starts to develop in spas
• Cultural nights in spas are becoming more popular
• Parties in spas for young people
Spa Trends in Slovenia (Lebe, 2013)
• Slovenia has 20 thermal sources that are commercially used by thermal spas. Until 1990, 80% of guests were coming automatically as direct referrals (insurance company contact). After that, thermal spas had to find the major part of their business on the free market.
• Between 1995 and 2010 all Slovenian spas added wellness programmes to their classical health spa (and thus medicine based) offer. Consequently new segments of guests joined the traditional convalescent ones. BUT they did not mix well!
• Today all Slovenian thermal spas have a segmented offer. The vast majority of guests (60 up to 100 %) are wellness guests.
• Example: Olimia Thermal Spa has established a spatially separated offer for youth, young families and sport teams: a popular aqua-park, placed far enough from the core spa facilities not to interfere acoustically with guests who wish to relax in peace and quiet.
Characteristics of Gen Y• Age range is somewhere between 1979
and 1994.• Unique in their approach to using digital
media. • Prefer to spend rather than save money.• Emotional and novelty value important
combined with brand value. • Highly socially-oriented, word-of-mouth
marketing is valued over that of advertisers.
• The night-time economy and ‘open all hours’ culture are important
• Hedonistic and live for the moment, always looking for the ‘next big thing’ in terms of experiences.
The Experience Economy
• Customers are becoming increasingly sophisticated and discerning. They look for products and services which involve their senses and grant holistic, unique and memorable experiences (Schmitt, 1999; Ferrari, 2006).
• Spas ideally need to be unique, authentic, multi-sensory, theatrical, even spectacular in order to truly engage the increasingly sophisticated spa consumer.
• The physical environment determines the construction of ‘atmospherics’ (Kotler, 1973) that immerse the consumer in experiences (Shostack, 1977; Firat et al., 1995).
• In spas, this can include design, use of light, colour, smells and music (Marguiles, 2013).
• Unique architecture, amazing views, unusual experiences, rituals, stories, special events.
• Spas can be places of fantasy, fun, healing, relaxation and recuperation.
Snake massage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK3sVw3dsL4&feature=related
Northern Israel
Relaxing massage
Cure various diseases
Stifness, fatigue, cramp
Non-venomous snakes
Balkan Wellbeing Project• Funded by the Hungarian government for two years• Outcomes include primary data collection, several Workshops
and 16 publications• 11 countries from the Balkan region:
– Albania, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Turkey
• Research so far includes:– Secondary data collection including academic sources and
QoL, Life Satisfaction, Happiness and Wellbeing Reports– Primary data in the form of a Delphi Study– Primary data in the form of a questionnaire (11,000
respondents)
Statement Agree Disagree Un-decided
The Balkans provide mainly sun, sea and sand tourism.
There is not much potential for health and wellbeing
tourism development.
2 20
The Balkans mainly offer good opportunities for spa and
wellness tourism for leisure tourists.
15 2 3
The Balkans mainly specialise in thermal medical spas
and rehabilitation for social tourists (e.g. government-
funded).
12 4 5
The Balkans has good potential for health, wellness and
spa tourism but the infrastructure and services need
some development and improvements.
27 2
Top 5 Unique Selling Propositions
Landscapes/nature
Good climate and sun
Natural and herbal remedies
Thermal baths/balneology
Mountains and forests
Healthy food and wine
Possible New Products
• Medical
• Rehabilitation
Spas
• Forest therapy / 'hammam'
• Mountain resorts
• Eco-villages
• Outdoor recreation
Nature-based
• Mountain retreats
• Monasteries
Spiritual
• Healthy food
• Detox programmes
Nutrition
• 4 Elements and 5 Senses
• Medical mud
• Local fruits
Treatments
Suggested Main Focus of Future Product Development
Local fruit-based treatments
4 elements & 5 senses
Medical spas
Forest therapy/hammams
Healthy food
Outdoor recreation
Eco-villages
Bulga
ria
Greec
e
Roman
ia
Turke
y
Alban
ia
Mac
edon
ia
Croat
ia
Slove
nia
Mon
tene
gro
Serbi
a
Bosni
a an
d Her
zego
vina
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
70.0%
80.0%
90.0%
100.0%
Using natural healing resources/learnedUsing natural healing resources/doneUsing spas/steam/hammam /learnedUsing spas/steam/hammam /done
Using
natu
ral h
ealin
g re
sour
ces
Using
spas
/ste
am/h
amm
am
Spend
ing ti
me
in m
ount
ains
Spend
ing ti
me
by la
kes
and
river
s
Spend
ing ti
me
in woo
ds a
nd fo
rest
s
Spend
ing ti
me
by th
e se
a
Taking
trad
itiona
l (he
rbal)
rem
edies
Partic
ipatin
g in
relig
ious
activ
ities
Partic
ipatin
g in
non-
relig
ious
spirit
ual a
ctivi
ties
Cookin
g an
d ea
ting
tradit
ional
food
Dancin
g (tr
aditio
nal/f
olk)
Singing
, play
ing o
r list
ening
to tr
aditio
nal m
usic
Keepin
g clo
se re
lation
ship
with fa
mily
and
frien
ds
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
70.00%
80.00%
90.00%
100.00%
15-29
30-39
40-49
50-59
60-99
Total
Some Final Thoughts....• Spas of the future may be
more and more about wellness (prevention not cure)
• Spas should be segmented to cater for different user groups (and ideally separated)
• Creating new and unusual spa experiences is essential
• Spas for young people are more about leisure and fun than health
• Maybe young people are not that interested in spas now (but what about later...??)