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Meantime, please enjoy some recent articles covering the wider wellness tourism sector.

Testing the Medical Tourism Waters in Slovakia

Mud Pool at Irma Health Spa

European Health Tourism Brands Serves Up Double Dose of Hospitality

Buxton Crescent Hotel, England

Tourism Development in Bosnia-Herzegovina 

A View of Mostar
Courtesy State Department

Growing European Health Tourism Brand Serves Up a Double Dose of Hospitality

Ensana, a hospitality operator focusing on medical tourism, is aiming to nearly double in size over the next three years while increasing its service offerings.

The company began life in 2019, when Hungary's Danubius Hotels Group divided its city hotels and its medical spa facilities into two separate brands. Both are under the ownership umbrella of CP Holdings Ltd, a multinational investment company based in the UK.

Given the highly-fragmented nature of Europe’s medical spas, most of which are local and independently-owned and operated, the Ensana brand quickly became the largest medical spa operator on the continent. The company now manages 27 properties in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and the United Kingdom, many of which are located in Europe’s most historic spa towns.

For those not familiar with the concept of medical spas, they combine hotels and health facilities. Unlike the wellness hotel concept, which focuses more on relaxation and lifestyle programming (fitness classes, massages, saunas, etc.), medical spas have doctors on staff who provide treatments at on-site clinics over periods of one to four weeks.

Thermia Palace Hotel Piešťany, Slovakia

Petra Lelovska, Ensana vice president, provides some context: “A medical spa blends hospitality and medical treatment together. Doctors provide services, while guests are treated to the hospitality services they would expect at a typical hotel. In other words, we are a hotel brand focused on health.”

Traditionally, medical spas existed to help clients suffering from specific health issues. For more than a century, ailing patients have flocked to the medical spas of Eastern and Central Europe, which harness the healing properties of natural elements to treat a range of health conditions relating to muscles, bones, organs, metabolism and skin. Still today, Frank Halmos, Ensana chief executive officer, explains, “Medical spa operators use a combination of natural resources like thermal waters and mineral-rich mud with expert medical knowledge to offer treatments supporting the health of guests.”

Ensana Gives Medical Tourism a Shot in the Arm

For decades, most guests to these hospitality/medical hybrids would book two to four-week annual stays at a facility located in-country. That way, the multi-week visit could be covered by state insurance. However, as state budgets have tightened, the insurance reimbursement process has become less reliable, and medical spas are increasingly focusing on self-paying guests to keep things going. In the past, the rate of insurance reimbursed clients (usually domestic) versus free-payers was 80-20; now that ratio has been reversed. As a result, notes Halmos, “It’s not a long-term business for Ensana to accept insurance. So, we are focusing on the free market, looking to grow international business as we acquire more upper and upper upscale properties.” 

Halmos says the strategy is adding properties in countries where Ensana already operates, and then expanding to nearby countries with strong medical healing traditions, such as Austria, Germany and The Balkans (Greece and Bulgaria are high on the list). The company is also eyeing locations in further-flung places like Georgia, Kazakhstan and Egypt.

In 2020, Ensana opened the Buxton Crescent Health Spa Hotel. The historic building had languished for decades and it took 17 years to transform it.

Buxton  Crescent Health Spa Hotel

Halmos says that by the second or third quarter of 2023, he expects at least two new Ensana-branded properties to be open. By 2025, he says, the brand could have up to 45 facilities. According to Lelovska, the growth will come “mainly through hotel management contracts. We want to operate and not to buy—to be asset light and work with a portfolio of investors.”

Challenges and Changes

Ensana is also looking to grow its programming. As state insurance coverage gets phased down, the medical tourism market is facing the challenge of finding new, and in many cases, younger clients, who currently are looking more at developing healthy lifestyle practices rather than curing a particular condition. Some of these potential clients, particularly those from the North American market, may not even understand the European concept of a medical spa. Therefore, says Halmos, “The challenge for growth is increasing consumer awareness of what we offer–the proven health benefits of combining natural resources with medical knowledge.”

Due to demographic changes and the increased demand for preventive health programs, Ensana is expanding its offerings. “New health enhancement options will include lifestyle programming around issues such as weight loss, healthy eating, and de-stressing," Lelovska says.

The additions will blur some of the lines between what in North America is considered holistic wellness tourism (a term not highly esteemed in the European health spa community) and pure medical tourism. “We are looking to add more programming that allows for shorter stays, which will appeal to clients seeking more of a leisure focus for enhancing their health,” says Lelovska. The new concept will be unveiled next year at the Ensana on Margaret Island in Budapest and the Thermia Palace Spa Hotel located in Piešťany, Slovakia. After that, the plan is to offer similar “health enhancement” options at Ensana locations in Marienbad, Czech Republic and Buxton, England.

This article originally appeared in the December 9 edition of Hospitality Insights.

The Hot Springs Movement in the United States Gains Steam

The ancient Greeks did it. So did the ancient and not-so-ancient Romans, Japanese, and Chinese. Heck, even some of the founding fathers of the United States did it too. But despite its illustrious past, the idea of taking the waters has never really caught on in the United States, until now. Hot springs could be on the verge of a major wellness moment.

For centuries, many European and Asian cultures have viewed mineral-fed hot springs as a source of health, wellness, and healing. But according to the Global Wellness Institute, the sector is quite underdeveloped in North America, due to a lack of a historic bathing culture that is prevalent elsewhere. The times are changing, however, as more Americans are looking to nature for its power to calm and rejuvenate, especially in these COVID times.

In the United States, hot springs are seen in recreational terms rather than as a wellness endeavor, according to Vicky Nash, a tourism consultant who is dedicated to professionalizing the hot springs industry. Thanks to the efforts of Nash and a former U.S. senator, among others, hot springs are suddenly being reframed as wellness destinations across the country.

MOM-AND-POP OPERATIONS IN TRANSITION

According to Nash, about 28 states have hot springs in one form or another, although the majority are in the West and Southwest. Many of these waters are on public land, and a few are contained within fancy resort complexes. But for the most part, hot springs facilities are rustic mom-and-pop operations, solely offering a soak in the forms of mineral bathing and swimming. Some are a little more tricked-out, with extras like massage rooms and dining outlets.

Many of these smaller operations, long in need of a facelift, are in the process of changing hands. According to Nash, “A lot of the smaller hot springs facilities were established in the 1970s. Now those owners are selling, and new owners, including investment groups, are coming in with an interest of revamping them and getting them up to speed” for the growing wellness market.

Natural Hot Springs in Idaho

That’s why many facilities, shuttered for years, are reopening, some with multimillion dollar investments. For example, a Phoenix-based couple, Mike and Cindy Watts, purchased the ailing Arizona Castle Hot Springs in 2014. The original facility was built at the end of the 19th century, but it was abandoned during the 1970s. Earlier this year, it reopened as a luxury healing center for the well-heeled. Some of the bungalows, complete with private outdoor tubs, list at $1,600 per night.

Mark Begich is another person betting on the business. The Alaskan businessman purchased Carson Hot Springs in the late 1990s. His company refurbished the property’s historic buildings, located just a few miles from Nevada’s state capitol. Also added were a restaurant and brewpub, making the facility more of a destination versus a pass-through. He, along with a group of investors, also owns Jemez Hot Springs and Cañon Del Rio Inn and Spa in Jemez Springs, New Mexico.

BUILDING A NETWORK

Begich, by the by, is not just your run-of-the-mill developer. He heads up Northern Compass Group, a business and strategic communications consultancy. And he happens to be a former U.S. senator (D-Alaska). After leaving the swamp in 2014, he jumped back into the hot springs arena. First, he purchased those New Mexico properties and now, he’s become the force behind the development of the brand-new (as of October 2019) Hot Springs Association.

Begich pointed out, “In rural areas, local-level mom-and-pop businesses are critical to the economy. In remote areas, developing these facilities brings in money from outside the community and creates jobs.” But for the most part, they have been left to their own devices  By creating an association, individual operators will experience strength in numbers.

“There are so many layers of the business, but no one is coordinating information,” said Begich. Having an association to bring together hot springs operators across the United States “means these small businesses can pool resources, joining together to have purchasing and marketing power.”

Schawna Thoma is vice president of Begich’s Northern Compass Group. “Most hot springs are family-run, and people often feel isolated or intimidated about reaching out. We will serve as a network for these people, and offer tools and serve as an information resource.” The organization will allow small properties to band together to build awareness, while also doing less sexy things, like helping to negotiate water rights, share new technology, and develop affordable insurance programs. It will also start tracking visitor numbers and economic impact.

LAYING THE GROUNDWORK FOR GROWTH

The latter, said Begich, will be of immense help to operators seeking loans. “Right now, hot springs are difficult to finance,” according to Begich, “because the classification is difficult. That’s why the data is critical; it’s for financiers to understand the business.” That understanding may lead to a simpler lending process.

Vicky Nash is another person bringing together resources for the hot springs community. She helped develop the Colorado Historic Hot Springs Loop, which links five hot springs destinations in the western part of the state. During its five years in existence, each of the five communities has experienced an increase in tourism.She also launched the Hot Springs Connection in 2019. It was the first conference in the United States dedicated solely to the needs of hot springs operators. 

Now that the industry has its own trade association, its own annual conference, and, to a certain degree, a new generation of owners, hot springs are destined to become the next hot thing in wellness tourism.

Good Vibrations: Sound Healing Makes Waves in the Wellness Industry

   If you have been noticing more spas offering treatments that incorporate Tibetan singing bowls, tuning forks, or gongs, you aren’t alone. Sound therapies are starting to make waves in the spa industry.

In the ultra-competitive world of luxury wellness travel, companies need to do more than just offer gorgeous views, great-tasting food, and aromatic gardens. They need to think about sound too.

Increasingly, properties including Hyatt’s Miraval Arizona are employing sound therapy to pull in wellness-oriented customers. The idea is that people’s ears offer a path to relaxation and healing every bit as powerful as eyeballs, nostrils, and fingertips. And companies are citing ancient wisdom known to groups as disparate as Australia’s aborigines (think didgeridoos), Tibetan monks (think singing bowls), and Native Americans (flutes, drums, and rains sticks) as part of healing practices.

“Sound can signal the body to release its own tension and negativity, dropping the brainwave into a meditative state quickly and effectively,” said Pamela Lancaster, a widely regarded guru in the field and “master healer” at Miraval Arizona.

What Miraval Arizona and others are realizing is that sound is a powerful tool in reducing clients’ stress levels, improving their moods, and alleviating pain. And given the hectic, anxiety-ridden world of 2020, more and more travelers are seeking out such restorative treatments.

WHAT’S IN A SOUND?

Proponents of sound therapy call it “vibrational medicine,” arguing that certain systems in our bodies vibrate at different frequencies. If these frequencies get disrupted by ailments like emotional distress or illness, our well-being could be affected.

While efforts to heal through sound therapy is as old as ancient Egypt, scientists have only recently begun to explore its efficacy. The wellness community, however, has been providing sound therapies for more than a decade, with some treatments growing more and more into standard offers.

The offerings include massages that are synchronized to music, listening to the peaceful sounds of “deep nature” and taking in the beauty of Tibetan singing bowl sessions. Tuning forks of varying pitches are thought by some to be a way to “unblock” people’s “stagnant energy,” And so-called “sound baths” — an ancient form of deep meditation — create relaxing, repetitive sounds using musical bowls, cymbals, and gongs.

“An immersion in sound frequency cleanses the soul,” said Robert Lee, a leader at  Eaton DC, a hotel and wellness center in Washington, D.C. “It allows for a recalibration to a deep stillness that we can all access within ourselves.”

In fact, sound can be used to create a sense of stillness that people crave, he added. “While trying to quiet the mind in a quiet room is nearly impossible, sound actually makes meditating easier.”

WHERE SOUND AND TRAVEL OVERLAP

At Miraval Arizona, Lancaster has seen firsthand how much sound can help visitors leave behind their stresses and negativity and settle into a meditative state. The resort offers Vasudhara, a water treatment combining Thai massages with pulsating sounds emanating from underwater speakers. “The body brings itself back into a place of homeostasis,” Lancaster said, about the treatment. “And things have a propensity to begin to heal.”

Vasudhara at Miraval Arizona

Michelle Pirret, a “sonic alchemist” at the Four Seasons New York Downtown, suggested this type of therapy is powerful because the human body is comprised mostly of water. “When frequency is played on the body, cellular water is vibrating,” she said. “This escalates hormonal release and relaxation.”

The Lodge at Woodloch in northeastern Pennsylvania offers a vibrational treatment that uses the sound waves of singing bowls to create a relaxed, meditative state. Its “Gong with the Wind” selection combines yoga and meditation with holistic sound immersion. The acoustics come courtesy of conch shells, bronze gongs, and singing bowls.

Sound Healing Instruments
at The Lodge at Woodloch

Primordial sound meditation is also on the menu at the Chopra Center for Well-Being in California. Guests receive personal mantras, specific sounds or vibrations that help them achieve quieter, more peaceful states of mind.

In Wisconsin, Kohler Waters Spa at The American Club has wet treatment rooms featuring VibraAcoustic bath technology. There, a big bathtub is tricked out with transducers that send vibrations through the water and aimed at opening up lymphatic pathways, said Nikki Miller, director of Kohler Waters Spas.

For companies looking to add sound therapy to their offerings, here is one piece of counterintuitive advice. Rather than just focusing on the noise, resort operators also need to focus on designing spaces for, well, blissful silence. “Creating a soundproof space significantly enhances the effectiveness of the experience,” Lee, of Eaton in Washington, D.C., explained.

“Silence,” he added, “must be given the honor it deserves.”

Shining the Spotlight on Wellness Real Estate

The wellness zeitgeist has been permeating our culture during the past decade. People run around the world in search of wellness practices. At home, they spend spend thousands of dollars a year on SoulCycle and smoothies. Yet, what has been largely overlooked as the movement has exploded is the wellness of one's physical home and the neighborhood that surrounds it.

As most of us have been spending 24/7 inside for the last few months, the realization that home is where the health is has become a reality. Suddenly, there is an understanding that the home environment itself should be healthy and healing, from the quality of the air to the availability of sunlight to the materials used in construction. And, as we take short jaunts around our neighborhoods, we are increasingly appreciating the lure of outdoor features like tree canopy, green spaces, water and walking trails.

A running trail in Emilia-Romagna's Wellness Valley
Courtesy: Technogym

It's not surprising, then, that many experts predict that this pandemic will change the way people choose to live. Even before COVID, there were studies indicating that lifestyle and environmental factors account for nearly 85 percent of one's health outcomes. It's not a coincidence that during the lockdown, there’s been almost a primordial urge to return to arcadia, in the form of countryside, coastline or mountains.  At the same time, though, in isolation, people are realizing the importance of IRL connection and community.

That is why wellness real estate is set to experience its moment. The wellness real estate sector was already in a nascent state pre-COVID. But post-pandemic, the trend toward buying healthy homes and real estate in wellness communities will grow as more people take into consideration how their living environments support their physical, mental and emotional state of being. 

The Global Wellness Institute has been watching this trend develop over the past decade. According to Build Well to Live Well: Wellness Lifestyle Real Estate and Communities, wellness real estate was a $134 billion worldwide industry in 2017, and, at the time of the report, was expected to grow to $180 billion in 2022. Given that pandemic, expect that number to top $200 billion.

There are several important features of the communities that are actually walking the wellness walk. They include the use of natural and no-VOC materials in construction; the incorporation of biophilic elements in design, and an abundance of unprogrammed outdoor spaces (that means no golf courses and concrete-covered playground areas). A focus on community-building and social connection is another vital element of a true wellness neighborhood, one that is often overlooked by companies that are trying to glom on to the trend without really understanding the importance and the nuances of a holistic approach. This could result, for example, in larger front porches, smaller front yards and more communal spaces.

Over a series of blog posts, I will be exploring the key ingredients that every wellness community worth its salt must sport. Stay tuned.

Employing Nature As a Wellness Tourism Asset

Resources

Forest Bathing:

https://www.cnn.com/travel/gallery/new-spa-treatments/index.html

Forest Bathing: How Trees Can Help You Find Health and Happiness Dr. Qing Li 

nationalforests.org

Isolation:

https://skift.com/2017/04/18/isolation-is-the-next-big-thing-in-luxury-travel/

https://skift.com/2019/04/02/how-the-faroe-islands-became-an-un-destination/

https://skift.com/2019/04/09/how-one-canadian-province-uses-icebergs-to-attract-visitors/

Quiet: 

https://skift.com/2017/08/01/the-canadian-nunnery-thats-become-a-wellness-retreat/

https://quietparks.org/about

Hot Springs:

visitidaho.org

www.hotspringsassociation.com

https://colorado.com/hotspringsloop

https://skift.com/2019/10/10/why-the-hot-springs-movement-is-gaining-steam-in-the-united-states/

Alternative Accommodations: 

https://skift.com/2019/07/30/luxury-accommodations-head-outdoors-in-creative-ways/

https://skift.com/2019/04/16/when-luxury-goes-small/

A Tiny House at Canoe Bay's Escape Village