The rise of health and wellness tourism

Klaus Labuttis, president Health Tours Europe, examines the growth of wellness tourism and argues that your clients don’t have to go all the way to Asia to find what they’re looking for.

Europe is a destination to understand culture and civilisations; places of exquisite taste, form and lifestyle. To experience Europe with its beautiful museums, cultural sites and monuments has become, though, more difficult. Mass tourism has led to overcrowded destinations with often annoying and hindering obstacles. No wonder that the steepest growth rate in international travel belongs to the luxury segment, serving more exclusive niche markets. For European travel destinations a new niche market has opened up in the form of ‘forgotten’ European spa towns and their ability to provide excellent medical wellness and medical spa.

But this niche market is now turning mainstream In the 4.2 trillion USD strong worldwide wellness industry of 2017, wellness tourism had a share of 639 billion USD. The expected growth rate of travelling for health and wellness is expected to be at 7.5% annually. A substantial amount of wellness tourism is directed towards South-East Asia, where guests are pampered in beautiful resorts with an array of different techniques and practices. Exotic destinations have their special appeal and a well-deserved place in wellness and health travel, but for those seeking sophisticated and elegance, the Grand Spas of Europe are the perfect background.

Medical wellness
Medical wellness is part of this wellness boom as a more serious form of wellness, where programmes are doctor-supervised and have a specific therapeutic aim. These aims can be to recover after surgeries, strokes or heart attacks, to relief pain and stiffness, and to soften symptoms of age and lifestyle diseases. The most important source for medical wellness is water and the science around it, is called balneology. Healing mineral waters are different from normal spring water. They possess very specific amounts of minerals that in their composition have a proven positive effect for the human body. An abundance of healing water springs is only found in Europe, especially in the Czech Republic and Germany. Therefore, the tradition to use these waters in a multitude of application is most developed in these countries. Common applications are the mineral water drinking cure, inhalations, and bathing. In addition, these springs produce natural carbon dioxide gas that is used as dry carbon dioxide bath or gas injections to decrease pain and loosen stiffness. Peloid used for wraps and compresses is mud found around the springs and through modifications used to treat muscular, gynaecological, and respiratory system disorders.

Karlovy Vary (Carlsbad) and Marianske Lazne (Marienbad) in the Czech Republic, just an hour by car away from the Prague International Airport, enchant with their aristocratic town settings, parks, and colonnades. The healing power of mineral springs is found in abundance here and was used by the Aristocracy of 19^th century Europe to heal their ailments. Karlovy Vary is known for their warm to hot mineral springs helping with diabetes, digestive, and metabolic disorders. Marianske Lazne is famous for its cold hypotonic waters used for oncologic, kidney, urinary tract, and respiratory diseases. The Spa Towns of Carlsbad and Marienbad have a long tradition of famous visitors. Thomas Edison noting ‘Marienbad is the most beautiful place on earth’.

Wellness and spa hotels of these towns are focusing in their own facilities on the well-being of their guests. They are called in Europe ‘Sanatorium’ due to their focus on the wellbeing of the guest and ensuring a healing atmosphere. A jewel in this aristocratic ensemble of old-style wellness and spa hotels in the Czech Republic is the Nove Lazne in Marianske Lazne. Housed in a beautiful imperial building, guests receive a mineral bath treatment in the original bath chamber of King Edward VII from England. The water comes directly from an underground valve into the iron bath. A special and royal experience.

High end individual programmes
When it comes to detox and weight loss programmes, the market for ‘burnt out’ executives looking for relief has risen sharply. We are talking detox from lifestyle diseases, like overeating, overdrinking, or overworking. The number of clinics, that offer the high-end business clientele an intensive and short programme to change direction has risen steadily throughout Europe. In Germany the Villa Stephanie is such a clinic, considered by many as the best in Europe. It allows its high-end guests for their reprogramming to happen with precise medical wellness procedures, fitness, and meals, and rewards them with perfect service and pure beauty.

Villa Stephanie is part of the Brenner Wellness & Spa Hotel, a jewel in the Oettker Collection, offering weight loss, detox, and re-balance programs. The 10-day signature programme, called ‘Kings Way’, is medical wellness newly defined.

Vision
The demographic change in our society will impact more and more the travel industry. Millions of active, well-off baby boomers are ready to spend their money on travelling and wellness tourism. The heighten trend to consider wellbeing as part of their lifestyle and age-related needs will also lead to a steep increase in health travel. Especially for an affluent older clientele visiting exotic places is more difficult than to explore the richness of Europe. This applies as well to the wellness and medical wellness travel market. European Spa towns provide the beautiful scenery that travellers desire and give the additional bonus of allowing healing and recuperation.