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Health & Wellness Positioning Strategy
1. Market Context
1.1 Health & Wellness Tourism Definition
A health resort [spa] is a place where people engage in activities intended to improve or maintain their health. The concept of a health resortdescribes a place and a product; it is a place that provides rest and recreation facilities for overnight guests. The product consists of goods and services aimed at the maintenance or improvement of a guests physical or mental health. The true meaning of the word spa is mineral waters known for the curative powers. Today in European health resorts, water treatments are frequently administered usually under the supervision of a specifically trained spa doctor as part of a spa programme. Health tourism and wellness tourism are very different products. A client with various medical conditions would travel to experience therapies that will help to make them well - or to improve their health. Whereas, a person who seeks a wellness travel experience, is generally healthy to start with, and seeks therapies to maintain his or her well being. Ultimately, it is through professionally delivered health and wellness programmes that people learn to be happy in life, find and maintain a sense or attitude of well-being or find personal fulfilment, meaning and purpose in life. Combining the consumers quest for health and wellness with travel, leisure, and fun (products of the travel industry) is, simply stated, spa health and wellness tourism.
. Market Context
Fun seekers
Fun seekers love to get away with the girls or guys. Taking a spa break is a secondary consideration to the enjoyment they derive from being with friends, whether thats through playing a round of golf, enjoying a good meal or hitting the town for some night-life or shopping. Fun seekers are unlikely to be experts in spa therapies and treatments but view spa breaks as just another activity to enjoy on a fun filled, activity laden weekend with friends or significant others. The image of the destination as a fun filled get away with lots to do and plenty to see is of primary importance to fun seeking spa goers.
. Market Context
Occasional pamperers
Sometimes the pace of life gets too much whether its the demands of family life, work life, commuting or a combination of all three. Taking time out for a spot of pampering is one way to escape daily hassles whilst also rewarding oneself for all the hard hours put in. Because they are worth it, the treatments enjoyed are luxurious the fact that they look and feel great after is just another added bonus! The quality of treatments they receive is important but so are the surroundings in which they are enjoyed. Occasional pamperers are more likely to select a resort or destination whose reputation for excellence and pampering fits their requirements.
Relaxers
To relax, sometimes all thats needed is fifteen minutes alone, a tranquil walk through the park or to curling up reading a favourite book. Their primary need is to take time out where they can be free of the pressures of everyday life. Visiting a spa allows relaxers to take time out, gives them a chance to reflect, to reconnect and to emerge with a renewed sense of purpose. The treatments enjoyed are important but taking time out is the necessity!
. Market Context
Serenity Seekers
To serenity seekers the health and wellness movement is a way of life and not simply an occasional break from an otherwise frantic lifestyle. Highly self aware, they are in touch with their physical, emotional and mental well being. They seek serenity, understanding and self-acceptance. Likely to practice meditation, yoga, tai chi and other contemplative exercises serenity seekers philosophy extends to all aspects of their lives. They are most likely to be attracted to resorts or destinations who espouse their values and who understand that health and wellness is a philosophy for living and not just an occasional add on.
Beauty Queens
Sometimes characterised as ladies who lunch or more recently Ryder Cup wives, health and wellness for Beauty Queens is all about looking good. Exfoliated, manicured, wrapped and waxed, they could grace the pages of any magazine cover. Looking good is a key part of who they are and when selecting a holiday destination abroad its essential they have access to the same comprehensive services they enjoy at home.
. Market Context
Help Seekers
Whether wanting to look better physically, feel better mentally or change some aspect of their lives, Help Seekers are looking for change in their lives. Treatments they seek range from cosmetic surgery, help for the clinically obese or just advice on how to deal with health issues e.g. smoking or medical concerns. Selecting a destination is primarily driven by the reputation of the resort or clinic, although locations that have established a centre of excellence such as Scottsdale in Arizona enjoy a halo effect for the locations brand.
In order to understand how the sector can best meet the unique needs of each consumer segment, the following perceptual map of each segments need states has been developed.
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. Market Context
1.4 What Ireland has to offer the Health & Wellness visitor
The exponential growth in spas in Ireland over the last five years has been unmissable. Everywhere you look, from big cities to the most remote rural spot, there seems to be a spa opening. In 00 alone, over 0 facilities opened, offering different types of spa experiences. Much of this growth is represented in the hotel or resort spa sector, where the trend is for properties to add on a wellness or spa facility as an additional service to their clients. The growth is not only in response to changing consumer expectations but is also playing a key role in educating Irish consumers with regard to spa experiences. Within a short period of time, Irelands health and wellness industry has grown from offering a few select, dedicated health farms and spas, to offering a significant choice to the consumer. These include: Destination Spa or purpose built facility. Its sole purpose is to offer a comprehensive, full service wellness spa experience for overnight or day guests; Dedicated full service spa in a hotel or resort, which offers a dedicated and comprehensive full service wellness spa experience separate to their hotel business; Other hotel spas housed in - star hotels with small but well appointed spas offering spa services and pampering packages; Specialised retreats and health farms, which differ from a spa and offer specialised services including holistic treatments and experiences. The following perceptual map has been developed to show Irelands product offers.
. Market Context
. Brand Proposition
Our primary efforts will be focused on educating the primary target segments regarding the product that is available in Ireland and supporting the burgeoning spa-culture that has developed in our primary target markets. Beauty Queens should only be targeted for premium campaigns, probably focussing on spas that offer a minimum dedicated spa facility standard.
Table 2
British market - numbers & revenue
000 00 ,0 , , , ,00 00 , ,0 , , ,0 00 , , , , ,00 00 , , , , ,0 00 ,0 , , , ,0 0/0 % CHANGE + % - % - % + % + %
0
According to Mintel and McCann Erickson TGI profiling, at least . million UK people would be interested in a Spa holiday abroad. International wellness tourists profiled suggests the target is predominantly -yr female, urban, married and working. Value for money will be a key driver. In 00, there were low numbers of outbound spa holidays sold but operators suggest this number will grow at -% p.a. (Mintel). Ireland would be competing against long-haul exotic spa locations e.g. Far East, Indian ocean and also Eastern Europe where there is great value for money in cheap flights and hotel costs. The latent market in the UK is significant with escape a key wellness driver for the segment. There is also a strong beauty driver that is currently being serviced by the day-spa market in the UK but which offers potential for the Irish market.
4.3 US Market
The United States is the nd largest tourism generating country for the island of Ireland and accounts for % of total visits. Visitors from the United States account for % of total revenue to the island of Ireland. The US visitor spends 0% more than the average visitor per trip and in 00 they spent per trip. The size of the United States market to the island of Ireland. The number of visitors from the United States remained static in 00 after strong growth of +% in 00, with preliminary figures for 00 showing a further increase of %. The value of visits from the United States market is substantial, but in 00 the revenue generated decreased by -%. This is strongly connected to the poor exchange rate in 00 which saw the value of the dollar drop by % to 0.. Holiday visitors decreased by -% in 00 this was after strong growth of +% in 00.
Table 3
US market - numbers & revenue
000 00 0 0 00 00 0 00 00 0 00 0/0 % CHANGE 0% - % - % - % - %
Today travellers are experienced, more quality conscious, independent and harder to please (Mintel 0) In the US, wellness holidays are sanitised by a motivation for self-improvement and/or self-betterment. Consumers want activity-based, results orientated programmes. They want to actively do things to bring about a state of wellness e.g. early morning walks, yoga etc. They want rapid transformation to move from one state (tired, stressed) to a better state of wellbeing (renewal, rejuvenation). It is estimated that in 0 wellness holidays are decided by females and the level of expected service from these customers is very high. According to the 00 ISPA Spa Industry Study and Consumer Trends Report Consumers experiment more when at spas on vacation and expect a broader array of authentic, indigenous as well as health and wellness oriented services. Ireland will need to compete with the increasing sophistication of US offerings that are, after all, on this markets door-step.
Table 4
Preferred destinations for US and Canadian spa goers for future spa vacations Destinations United States Mexico/Caribbean Europe Canada Asia Other Not Planning a Spa Vacation
* Hartman Group 00
Total Visits (000s) Holiday Visits (000s) Promotable Visitors (000s)* Revenue (M) Revenue (M)
The emerging trend in German wellness is to return to more intuitive, natural remedies which is good news for Ireland. The concept of wellness is very well established in Germany where, since the 00s, taking the water has been popular resulting in spa use that is part of everyday German culture. For many, spa use is believed to be a right, not a privilege e.g. up until the mid 0s, workers had the right to visit a spa resort paid for by the Government. In , Germany, along with many other European countries, reformed their social health laws. This resulted in an initial decrease in customers to spa resorts. The German National Tourist Board established Wellness in Germany as a theme for its international marketing strategies. This has resulted in rapid growth of wellness tourism and Germany now has the highest share of the European spa market and is the premier market for wellness tourism.
There are . million German spa users who holiday abroad and significant numbers of potential wellness tourists are willing to holiday outside the country. International travel for wellness holidays is largely to neighbouring countries. Germany borders the no. and no. markets (Austria and France). It is also very close to the emerging Eastern European destinations e.g. Hungary and Bulgaria. Destinations such as Thailand and Indonesia have been successful in attracting long-haul tourists to their spas and wellness centres. And significantly, % of potential wellness tourists rate weather/climate as the most important factor for choosing a vacation destination. This will pose a challenge for Ireland. Sources - Mintel Global Report, August 2004 and Defining the Irish Wellness Tourism Opportunity, research carried out by McCann Erickson and Amarach on behalf of Filte Ireland
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5.1 Categorisation
Increasing consumer awareness of health and wellness issues, coupled with the growing range of facilities and spa experiences available to todays consumer, have presented an interesting challenge for both the industry and the consumer. Following extensive research, Filte Ireland has responded by working with an industry working group and a categorisation expert to develop a categorisation system for the Health and Wellness sector. When the categories have been agreed, all facilities will be inspected and assigned a category. Following that, promotional material, will be produced to showcase Irelands portfolio of Spa and Wellness offerings by category. With the categorisation system in place, the Industry will be in a position, for the first time, to assess the product currently available and identify obvious gaps. It will essentially become a product audit. The system will enable existing and prospective customers to better navigate the variety of health and wellness offerings available, make informed choices and find the products that best match their needs. It will assist operators in identifying potential new products based on consumer need-states. It will benefit the Industry by providing definitions and setting boundaries including minimum standards for each category. And it will also drive standards by providing potential new operators with standards to which they must adhere.
We plan to do this by: Adapting the positioning recommendations as detailed in section , to attract spa and wellness tourists in our primary markets; Incorporating Irelands spa and wellness experience in all destination marketing, thereby making it an integral part of the Irish holiday experience; Bundling the spa and wellness experience with other complementary products to offer a complete holiday experience. Customers will be offered different combined products depending on the market and target audience. These combined offers will include: A luxury proposition US and Italian markets combining spa and golf or spa and food; An outdoor actives proposition focussed on the German, US and Scandinavian markets combining wellness holidays and walking. Short breaks focussed on the UK and other short break markets combining spa and shopping or spa and sightseeing.
Relevant Contacts
Failte Ireland Health and Wellness Marketing Officer Imelda Rey, Tel: 0 00, Email: imelda.rey@failteireland.ie Head of Product Marketing John Rafferty, Tel: 0 00, Email: john.raffer ty@failteireland.ie Regional Contacts Failte Ireland South East Failte Ireland Midlands East Failte Ireland North West Failte Ireland West Failte Ireland South West Shannon Development Dublin Tourism
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