Spa and Wellness Destinations | ITB Experts Forum Wellness 2016

Spa and Wellness Destionations: Where does it go from here?

Destinations are where people want to be. A destination is a relatively small geographic area where the majority of guests spend the majority of their time and their money deriving the majority of their satisfaction.

For the UN World Tourism Organisation the design, development and management of destinations is one of the most important aspects of sustainable tourism growth over the next decade.

This means that destinations must be seen and function as a managerial entity. The visitor experience of a destination is supplied and shaped by many different providers. It is a multilayered experience. It is determined by the interactions between the visitor and all the individuals and organisations they encounter within a destination.

All obvious comments. Tourism experiences are the sum of the many parts. Our guests’ satisfaction is impacted by events that extend beyond the reach of a hotel, a spa or a wellness clinic. Indeed, in many instances less than 20% of the guest experience takes place within those environments that are with the direct control of one operator…. 80% is determined by everything else they encounter in the destination as a whole.

This has clear implications for the way destinations must be organised and managed. It is essential to think about the destination as an integrated whole. A successful destination is a place that understands and organises itself to deliver ‘happiness’ in the full sense of the word to all guests: addressing the needs of the mind, body and soul across all its services, experiences and products.

This presentation will explore how some destinations succeed in this goal and examines the reasons for their success. It will use case studies from around the world, highlighting their critical success factors and illustrating with numerous visual examples of best practice. These finding will be applied to the development of well-being destinations in the future

This is a synthesis that will reveal the findings of more than a decade of international destination development and management benchmarking undertaken by Terry Stevens.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Professor Dr Terry Stevens is the MD of the international, award winning, tourism consultancy, Stevens & Associates. He has worked around the world on destination development in 50 countries for a wide range of international, national and city economic (including the UN World Tourism Organisation, UNESCO and the World Bank) as well as tourism development organisations and many Global private sector companies. He is a leading thinker in aspects of wellness tourism as a key component of successful destination development. He has recently undertaken a review of leading spa destinations and has pioneered benchmarking studies examining the critical success factors in destination development. He has been a keynote speaker and contributor to several of the Global Wellness Summits and organized and chaired the 2015 Global Wellness Country Forum in

Wales. Terry is a regular keynote speaker at Global Conferences and has been Vice Chairman of the Wales Tourist Board. He has recently been appointed to the part-time post of Professor in Strategic Communications at the School of Management at Swansea University.

You can download the power-point presentation „Spa and Wellness Destionations: Where does it go from here?” here: http://www.itb-kongress.de/media/itbk/itbk_dl_de/itbk_dl_de_itbkongress/itbk_archiv_2016/wellness/Spa_And_Wellness_Destinations-Were_Does_It_Go_From_Here_Stevens.pdf


WELLNESS-HOTELS & RESORTS
The Wellness-Hotels & Resorts cooperation is the number one choice for holiday-makers when searching for ‘wellness in a hotel’ and has been at the top of the German speaking wellness hotel industry since 1997. Since the original pioneers joined, carefully selected and mostly owner-operated German wellness hotels, as well as international partners in the 4 and 5 star sectors, are part of the cooperation.
Independent tourism experts check the member hotels prior to entry and then at regular intervals in all areas. The Wellness-Hotels & Resorts’ quality seal is awarded by TÜV Rheinland and is the most comprehensive audit carried out within the wellness industry.
With personality and experience, Wellness-Hotels & Resorts’ guests are welcomed by hotel owners and their fully qualified staff, who have expertise in a wide range of wellness aspects. Spacious spa areas, professional wellness treatments and leisure facilities as well as the wellness healthy cuisine make your stay an adventure for the senses.
All member hotels in Germany, Austria and Italy are located in natural surroundings – in the mountains, in the countryside or on the coast. Information on the hotels can be found on the website www.wellnesshotels-resorts.com or in the Wellness-Hotels & Resorts’ catalogue, which can be ordered at the office.
http://www.wellnesshotels-resorts.de