Health and Wellness Resorts - Research Paper Example

? Health and Wellness Resorts The research intends to identify and explore the management and operational issues faced by health and wellness resorts. Consequently, based on the evaluation made certain recommendations for the future areas of research has been made. It has been ascertained that the concept of health and wellness resort is relatively new and its development across the world is at the infant stage. Currently, health and wellness resorts are committed towards offering a variety of products’ and services that would meet the health and wellness needs of the customers. At the same time, it has been ascertained that health and wellness resorts are engaged in standardizing and globalizing the products and services. Nonetheless, it has been observed that health and wellness resorts are also burdened with increasing management and operational issues arising from declining quality and increasing competition. Furthermore, health and wellness resorts as mentioned above are in the early stage of development thus there is a relatively less literature regarding it. Consequently, there is a greater scope for future research to be conducted in order to derive valuable insights about the health and wellness resorts. Introduction Over the last few years, businesses have started using the word wellness for describing both physical and emotional meaning. More specifically, the word ‘wellness’ is extensively used in the service industry particularly in the context of luxurious hotels. At the same time, travelling for the purpose of health is not a new concept. However, it can be firmly admitted that the term ‘health tourism’ is relatively a new concept in the market positioning strategy of hotel and resorts. Broadly speaking, health and wellness tourism is defined as products or services that are made accessible to people travelling from their places or residences for health reasons (Caribbean Export Development Agency, 2009). The primary focus of the health and wellness resort involves imparting good health and general wellness of people. It entails a wide variety of treatments and services. For instance, Canyon Ranch one of the leading healthy living and luxury spa vacations comprising resorts, a beachfront hotel and destination spa amenities both on land as well as on sea is determined towards expanding the concept of health resort by initiating comprehensive approach regarding health and wellness of people. The evolution of health and wellness tourism is a result of continuous effort of service industry to attract new and potential customers through promotion and campaigns of health services. It can be argued that in the recent times the health and wellness tourism has gained tremendous popularity amid the global tourism industry as it does not depend on the factors such as seasonality. In other words, the health and wellness tourism has increased the ability of service industry to generate favorable income even during the off-seasons. Notably, the health and wellness sector within the context of Canada has also accorded radical growth. Health tourism across the globe including Canada can be identified to hold a greater opportunity for the service industry to boast its revenue and acquire loyal customers. Furthermore, the demand for health and wellness resort is constantly increasing (Siriphannapirat et al., 2013). Correspondingly, this research study intends to review the relevant development, management and operation issues pertaining to health and wellness resorts along with making relevant recommendations regarding future research scope. Literature Review Wellness Tourism Mueller & Kaufmann (2001) postulate wellness tourism to be the sub-category of health tourism (Mueller &Kaufmann, 2001). Didascalou & et al. (2009) argue that there is no single definition of wellness or wellness tourism. It has been stated that the development of wellness tourism is actually embedded to ancient form of tourism (Didascalou & et al., 2009). Boulay et al. (2013) argue that wellness tourism is predominately concerned with the prevention of diseases and illness. It has been affirmed that wellness is a multi-dimensional concept that is described to define the quality of life and well-being. It has been postulated that conventionally the wellness tourism was firmly related with resorts with spas or spiritual retreats. However, it has been revealed that in the contemporary context, the concept of wellness tourism has emerged to be regarded as multifaceted (Boulay et al., 2013). On the other hand, Smith & Kelly (2006) propagate that “wellness is a journey, not a destination”. Accordingly, it has been postulated that wellness is far more important than destination. In the similar context, it has been argued that destination in the wellness tourism is an alternative space where in an individual can involve in analyzing ‘self’ without distraction or stress. At the same time, it has been argued that wellness tourism is not merely concerned about the relaxation rather it offers pure relaxation including emotional and physical wellbeing to an individual (Smith & Kelly, 2006). Langviniene (2011) stated that there are many forms of wellness resorts and spas. In this regard, it has been stated that certain wellness resorts and spas are oriented towards pleasure while others are more inclined towards relief and stress (Langviniene, 2011). Health and Wellness Resorts Pongsiri (2013) claims that tourism industry, in the contemporary business environment, is the fastest growing industry. Similarly, it has been ascertained that health and wellness tourism is also augmenting at a rapid pace while accordingly drawing the attention of businesses and governments across the world, concerning how to organize and promote health and wellness tourism (Pongsiri, 2013). Koncul (2012) states that health and wellness tourism incorporates the four major segments which include wellness and spa, diagnostic service, medical tourism and nursing and elderly care. It has been further affirmed that health and wellness resorts are generally located away from the crowded places. It is stated that health and wellness resorts are also concerned about identifying target market, tracing the competitors’ activities and mitigating potential barriers (Koncul, 2012). As far as Canada is concerned, it has been ascertained that health and wellness resorts are at infant stage. According to Canadian Tourism Commission and the International Spa Association (ISPA) (2006), Canadian health and wellness resorts are faced with growing competition generating from the European countries such as the United Kingdom and Germany. At the same time, it has been stressed that health and wellness resorts in Canada are comparatively less oriented to European resorts (Association Resource Centre Inc, 2006). Zappino (2005) propagates that health and wellness tourism has provided greater potentialities for the global tourism industry but it has been argued that health and wellness tourism is still in early stage of development in the most of the country such as Canada (Global Spa Summit LLC, 2011; Zappino, 2005). Langviniene & Sekliuckiene (2009) state that successful development of health and wellness resorts are significantly influenced by the economic fluctuation. It has been argued that health and wellness resorts are developing at a rapid pace despite the economic downturn witnessed in the recent past years (Langviniene & Sekliuckiene, 2009). In this context, Smith & Puczko (2009) state that tourism in 20th century is marked by large-scale development along with widely gaining popularity of health and wellness resorts. It has been further argued that health and wellness resorts are currently engaged in offering a wide variety of products and services and has been emerging as more standardized and globalized. It has further been admitted that health and wellness resorts operating in different parts of the world have incorporated unique features for attracting more and more local and international visitors. The health and wellness resorts have adopted versatile and flexible designs in order to meet the demands and interests of customers. Spa play ground comprising environmental saunas, relaxation meditation, aqua massage tables, games and specialty hydro-massage among others have evolved as the common and unique features of health and wellness resorts. Apart from these amenities, it has also been ascertained that many health and wellness resorts are offering specialty weeks related to Yoga and sexual health as their service components (Smith, & Puczko, 2009). Management and Operational Issues According to Didascalou, Lagos, & Nastos (2009) health and wellness resorts have suffered from declining quality and popularity in the recent decades and are faced with stiff competition from new and emerging health and wellness resorts. Hence, it has been argued that there is a greater need for developing new and unique products and services to drag the attention of visitors. It has been further stated that a lack of transparent policies and insufficient modernization followed by increasing competition would dramatically reduce the management and operation capabilities of many health and wellness resorts. It has been advocated that it is essential to make significant investment by health and wellness resorts in order to ensure increased quality of products and services offered. Furthermore, it has been argued that there is a greater need for the staff training and development followed by implementation of holistic approach in order to ensure effective management and sustainable operations of the resorts. O'Fallon & Rutherford (2010) argue that it is pivotal for health and wellness resorts to perform their business on market segmentation so that clear communication is established with the customers. Furthermore, it has been advocated that it is imperative for the survival of health and wellness resorts to integrate all amenities and facilities so that customers are provided with unique experiences. Additionally, it has been argued that successful operations of health and wellness resorts largely rely on the ability of these resorts to ensure standardized procedures along with prioritizing the sensitivity associated with the customers’ needs (O'Fallon & Rutherford, 2010). Barre, Barre & Taggart (2005) state that in order to tap the market and expand the business of health and wellness it is imperative to identify the needs for product reorientation (Barre et al., 2005). Erfurt-Cooper & Cooper (2009) state that like other forms of businesses, market segmentation for health and wellness resorts are also very crucial for effective management and operations. Furthermore, it has been advocated that it is crucial to develop operational parameters for successful accomplishment of the broad business goals. Moreover, health, safety and risk management often serve as imperative constituents that need to be addressed in order to eliminate certain specific issues associated with management and operations. In this, regard, it is further claimed that developing organizational culture that empowers the staff to operate interactively with the guest that ultimately results in rendering rewards in the form of increasing customer satisfaction is extremely important for the development of the health and wellness resorts (Erfurt-Cooper & Cooper, 2009). Despite the growing demand for wellness tourism, Bertsch & Ostermann (2011) argue that there are certain challenges such as economic uncertainties that have radical implications on the wellness tourism. Additionally, it has been postulated that currently wellness, health and resorts are encountered with increasing global along with local competition. Hence, the stiff competition prevailing within the global wellness tourism industry has raised issues related with sustainability for many wellness health and resorts. It has been postulated that in order to sustain the business profitably, it is essential for the health and wellness resorts to restructure their prevailing marketing clusters (Bertsch & Ostermann, 2011). Discussion From the above literature review section, it can be ascertained that like other business sectors of the global economy, tourism industry has also been witnessing relative influence of global economic turmoil. For example, Canyon Ranch Resort & Spa has faced radical challenges arising from the global economic uncertainties that have caused Canyon Ranch to lay off its employees as well as such uncertainties have ascertained to have adverse impacts on the discounts and deals offered by Canyon Ranch (Canyon Ranch, n.d.). The increasing work pressure along with the economic crisis has burdened the life of people with psycho-physical health issues. As the result of increasing health related issues and stress, people are looking for alternative ways to relax and reenergize themselves. Despite the global economic downfall, the tourism industry has performed quite well as compared to other sectors. The reason behind such impressive performance of the tourism industry is firmly accredited to incorporation of new model, also termed as wellness. It can be stated that the evolution of health and wellness resorts is relatively a new trend. Correspondingly, health and wellness resorts are primarily based upon activities including healthy activities, medical treatment, massage and other health related activities. For example, Canyon Ranch offers its customers facilities such as dieticians, licensed therapists, board-certified physicians and other highly skilled and caring staff in order to ensure the highest possible customer satisfaction (Dobrowolski & Jones, 2009). It is worth mentioning that wellness tourism is a component of broader health tourism concept. Respectively, the other form of health tourism includes medical tourism. In is regard, it has been ascertained that wellness tourism as the components of health tourism includes leisure and recreational activities and medical wellness. Moreover, it has been identified that health and wellness resorts help the travelers prevent and treat illness than merely offering rest and relaxation. In this context, Canyon Ranch is determined towards creating environments and products that would promote health and the increased enjoyment of life to its guests. Furthermore, it has been ascertained that evolution of health and wellness resorts in Canada is relatively in infant stage as compared to European countries such as the UK and Germany. Moreover, it has been ascertained that health and wellness industry significantly contributes towards the nation’s economy. The primary goal of health and wellness resorts is to restore the health of guests by using a treatment and preventive strategy. With the rapid increase in the popularity of health and wellness resorts, these resorts are now involved in offering numerous amenities and facilities in a more standardized and globalized fashion. Accordingly, health and wellness resorts are making considerable development in order to tailor their products and services according the needs of current customers. In the course of designing the products and services based on the customers’ requirements, health and wellness resorts across the world are constantly engaged in the adopting unique and innovative ideas and features with the intention to attract considerable number of customers and meet their expectations. Additionally, it has been identified that health and wellness resorts are engaged in offering products and services beyond rest and relaxation such as yoga and meditation, beauty treatment, pampering, sport and fitness, therapeutic recreation, occupational wellness and lifestyle related rehabilitation among others. It has been further ascertained that there persist greater opportunities for health and wellness resorts to attain growth and expansion. It can be viewed that making health and wellness services available to different consumer groups is quite challenging. It is worth mentioning that with the increase in the healthcare cost, there is a greater opportunity for the health and wellness resorts to attract the attention of large customer segments (Koncul, 2012; Global Spa Summit LLC., 2010). Similarly, certain management and operational issues have been identified concerning health and wellness resorts. Correspondingly, the declining quality and popularity accompanied with increasing competition from emerging competitors have imposed radical challenges. For instance, Canyon Ranch is significantly influenced by the increasing level of competition as it is perceived that in the upcoming years Canyon Ranch may possibly lose its market share (Steiner Leisure Limited, 2007). It is thus crucial for health and wellness resorts to determine appropriate management and operational strategies in order to sustain their business profitably. Since the health and wellness resorts are still in the developing stages, customers for health and wellness resorts are also scarce and their interests towards the health and wellness resorts are slowly but steadily taking momentum (Global Spa Summit LLC., 2010). Moreover, the continuous technological advancements and the greater requirement for competent employees have resulted in the emergence of the certain management and operational challenges. Thus, it is crucial for the health and wellness resorts to adopt dual focus i.e. these resorts are required to emphasis on both technology aspects as well as human interaction for delivering greater customer satisfaction. Another issue associated with the operations of health and wellness resorts can be attributed towards recognizing needs of customers. Thus, it is essential for management to ensure that acceptable standard of services are delivered to the customers. Managing human resources and selecting appropriate location are crucial determinants for health and wellness resorts. Notably, changes in the national health system are also ascertained to have significant impacts on the management of health and wellness resorts. In addition to this, understanding the role of managers and effective leadership also act as the strong determinants for the effective management of these resorts. In this context, developing effective relationships with customers is also observed to have a considerable impact on the management and operations of health and wellness resorts. Other issues such as recruitment of staff and training are identified to be paramount aspects for effective management along with attaining operational efficiency for health and wellness resorts. In addition, increasing cost may also be considered as another major factor that may restrict the operational efficiency of the health and wellness resorts. It is thus crucial for the health and wellness resorts to incorporate cost effective strategies and policies that would result in an increase in operational efficiencies without compromising with the quality of products and services rendered to the customers. Conclusion The purpose of this study has been to review the relevant developments in the health and wellness resorts as well as to identify the management and operational issues associated with health and wellness resorts. In order to attain the broad objective of this essay, review of relevant literatures had been conducted. It has been ascertained from the review of literature that the development of health and wellness resorts across the world is at infant stage. However, the health and wellness resorts are widely gaining popularity in the recent past. Specifically, the global economic turmoil witnessed by the world in the recent years has significantly influenced the lifestyle of people across the world. As the implication of the economic crisis, people are facing increased mental stress and physical fatigue, burdened with augmented work pressure. Correspondingly, the tourism industry has integrated wellness as a new model of business. It has been ascertained that there is no concrete definition of wellness tourism. Furthermore, like other countries of the world, the wellness tourism is ascertained to be relatively at an early stage of development in Canada as well. Despite being a new business model, integration of wellness to tourism has resulted in reduced impact of economic downturned on tourism industry as compared to other sectors. At the same time, the health and wellness resorts are identified to be increasing in number at a radical pace while acquiring significant attention from both businesses and governments. Furthermore, it has been observed from the review of literature that the structure of health and wellness resorts are fundamentally derived upon the integration of four key segments including wellness and spa, diagnostic service, medical tourism and nursing and elderly care. Due to the widely gaining popularity of health and wellness resorts, these resorts are engaged in offering a variety of products and services to the discriminating customers. The health and wellness resorts endeavor to provide more standardized and globalized products and services in order to best avail the opportunities of the rising popularity. It has been ascertained that health and wellness resorts along with the increasing popularity amid the global visitors has also been facing certain challenges that have dramatically influenced the management and operation of these resorts. Declining quality and rapidly augmenting competition from new health and wellness resorts across the globe have laid hurdles for the existing resorts. A lack of transparent policies along with insufficient modernization has also led towards the emergence of management and operational issues. The need for the effective interaction with customers and importance of relationship building for acquiring operational efficiency have also created a greater need for staff training and development. Nonetheless, the complexities associated with the current global economic environment have also offered significant challenges for effective management practices. In other words, such complexities have created a demand for competent leaders who are able to motivate employees’ and manage the chaotic situation more efficiently. Recommend Future Research It has been ascertained from the research study that health and wellness resorts is relatively a new business model that has developed in the recent years. Thus, it can be admitted that determining any possible issues regarding the management and the operations of health and wellness resorts would be too early. At the same time, there is no sufficient data regarding the health and wellness resorts which has contributed towards literature review gap. Correspondingly, there lies a greater scope along with areas for future research relating to the various aspects of health and wellness resorts. The future studies in these areas can facilitate to leverage a set of wider prospects regarding the industry which in turn can replicate greater profitability for the companies such as Canyon Ranch. References Association Resource Centre Inc. (2006). Spa, health & wellness sector foreign competitor pro?les. 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