Global Spa Summit Research Finds Potentially Explosive, $106 Billion Wellness Tourism Market Held Back by Conceptual Confusion and Weak Promotional Models New York, NY (PRWEB) September 08, 2011—The Global Spa Summit (GSS) today released key findings from its research initiative “Wellness Tourism and Medical Tourism: Where Do Spas Fit?” – the most comprehensive investigation of the wellness tourism and medical tourism industries to date. The 100-plus-page report contains: an overview of existing definitions, industry data, and organizational and promotional models underway worldwide; twelve national case studies; results from a survey of 200+ industry stakeholders; and recommendations for governments and businesses going forward. The full report can be found here. Key Findings:

• Governments should develop and promote medical tourism and wellness tourism separately.
• Wellness tourism represents by far the best “fit” for the spa industry, and already generates twice the global revenues of the more-established medical tourism market ($106 bil. vs. $50 bil. USD).*
• Persistent terminology confusion, combined with weak or generic promotion, is significantly holding back these emerging travel categories.

 Key Roadblock: Conceptual Confusion  Wellness tourism’s and medical tourism’s growth are being stymied by inconsistent, confusing terminology and conceptual intermingling. The survey of 200+ executives reveals a dramatic lack of consensus around definitions/concepts, even among industry players.

• 25% of executive respondents left the request for open-ended definitions of “medical,” “wellness” and “health” tourism blank, or answered “don’t know.”
• 66% couldn’t provide a “health tourism” definition, or responded, “don’t know,” revealing confusion around this term is especially acute.
• 89% report medical tourism and wellness tourism are used/defined inconsistently around the world.
• 95% argued inconsistent definitions are causing consumer confusion, and that a common language needs be established.

Recommendations:

• Clear, consistent definitions need to be established globally. Usage of “health tourism” should be avoided, because the term “health” is associated both with the medical arena and complementary medicine/spas.
• Suggested “core” definitions: a “medical tourist” travels “because they’re generally ill, or seeking cosmetic/dental surgical procedures/enhancements,” while a “wellness tourist” travels because they’re “seeking integrated wellness/preventative approaches to improve their health/quality of life.”
• Governments and private entities should not intermingle these tourisms at the language, organizational or marketing level.

Key Roadblock: Weak or Generic Promotion  Combining case study data (a global cross-section of national approaches: Austria, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Morocco, Philippines, South Africa, Thailand), with the survey results, reveals that governmental promotion of these tourisms is often non-existent, inconsistent or “unbranded.”

• Only 29% of respondents (globally) report their tourism organizations are actively promoting medical tourism, 35% for wellness tourism. (Only 17% report both domestic and international tourists are being targeted.)
• North America lags Europe and Asia: Only 11% of U.S. and Canadian respondents report medical tourism is being promoted, 19% for wellness tourism.
• 57% of European executives report wellness tourism is being promoted, 41% for medical tourism.
• 57% of Asian executives report their country promotes medical tourism, 50% that they promote wellness tourism.
• Arguably no country studied has developed a strong, unique national brand image for either medical or wellness tourism, even perceived market leaders.

Recommendations:

• Medical tourism marketers need to capitalize on/promote their true medical specialties.
• Wellness tourism marketers need to communicate their wealth of indigenous, natural-asset-based wellness/healing traditions, as branding will become increasingly important as markets become more competitive.
• Domestic, intra-regional and international medical and wellness tourists all need to be uniquely targeted.

*SRI International, “Spas and the Global Wellness Market,” 2010