Wellness and Thermal Concepts are Shaping the Global Tourism Developments

We are living in a world where wellness concepts are being developed every day and conveying messages of a higher quality of life to guests. The increasing elderly population, as well as the sensitivity and awareness of the younger population towards healthy living, is opening up a new business opportunity for hotel investors.

What is wellness? Although the concept and term of wellness cannot be fully translated, it is often translated into Turkish as "well-being" or "health". In the definitions of the World Health Organization, it means not only not being sick or weak but also expressing a complete harmony of the individual in terms of physical, mental, and social aspects. Nowadays, people with increased awareness choose facilities that offer these services to improve their quality of life during their holidays.

The GWI (Global Wellness Institute) estimates that healthy living tourism will grow annually by an average of 7.5% until 2022, which is expected to be much faster than the annual 6.4% growth forecast for global tourism in general.

So, how can the accommodation industry creatively and effectively integrate with the healthy living movement?

Optimization of Thermal Concept and SPA

One of the biggest concerns for hotel investors, heating and energy costs, can be reduced by well-designed thermal hotel investments in regions with thermal water sources, making it a real blessing for hotels with a wellness concept.

We have started to adopt the SPA (health in water) concept, which has started to stand out in Europe, in all our hotels over the years. The inspiration and starting point of SPA culture were actually healthy living therapies such as thermal waters, mineral waters, balneotherapy, thalassotherapy, mud baths, salt baths.

At first, SPAs, which started to operate in hotels as an additional income department of luxury hotels, have now taken their place in almost every segment of hotels by combining with massage salons. In these hotels, the SPA area is designed as a service that the guest can benefit from as an additional service, rather than being the primary factor in the facilities.

Thermal Hotel and Wellness concept - an alternative investment model

The rising trend of healthy living has led to the development of a different holiday concept that provides this service. For those who choose this type of holiday, maintaining or improving their health is the main motivation for travel. While health tourism represents only 11% of the total health tourism market, it is estimated that with the right investments and promotion, this rate will increase to 25% in the coming years.

The difference between a Thermal Hotel and a Spa Hotel...

A spa hotel is a general term for facilities built in areas where underground thermal waters are found and can be used in supportive treatments due to the minerals they contain.

The main difference between thermal hotels and spas is that investors who adopt this concept and model can create facilities that blend modern hotel concepts with the logic of a spa to provide maximum experience for their guests.

Advantages of the investment

Today, as we mentioned above, people from all walks of life who are aware of healthy living are looking to experience these experiences. In many regions of Turkey where natural thermal water is found, facilities with this concept are being opened, but they are not given enough importance. Investing in this direction will enable hotel investors to have profitable businesses in the long run. By partnering with experienced hotel management firms, high-value facilities with brand value will result in a quick return on investment (ROI).