The Global Wellness Tourism Congress (GWTC) held the first roundtable conference at Dorchester, London on April 1. The leaders of Greek, Moroccan, Finnish, Swiss, Spanish, and the UK tourism ministries, and executives of big travel and healthcare organizations like The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) were present at the conference.Two more roundtable conferences of GWTC will likely take place this year in Washington and New York. GWTC had revealed in its global wellness tourism economy report in October that the wellness travel is of $439 billion USD market worth, and it will probably grow 50% more by the year 2017.The main agenda of the conference was to accentuate various factors that are important for the growth of wellness tourism world over. One such factor of paramount importance for the wellness tourism to grow is the use of multi languages.
If the wellness tourism destinations communicate well with the customers who come from different parts of the world, then obviously the exchange of information will be free from misunderstandings. Thus, the customers will experience full satisfaction, which in turn will help the wellness destinations to grow.Susie Ellis, who is the chairperson and chief executive of the Global Spa & Wellness Summit, and GTWC's executive-Anni Hood-hosted the conference. Out of many tips given on wellness tourism growth, the use of multi languages at the wellness retreats was the point that was emphasized the most. They say a major and the most effective way to satisfy a wellness tourist is to communicate properly with him/her. To achieve this, the staff at the wellness retreats must be bilingual and the tourism bodies, travel agents and the tour operators also must be well-versed with different languages, so that language barrier does not come in the way of wellness tourism's growth.Some other points important for the growth discussed at the conference were:
Do Not Over Use Term Wellness Tourism:
The members at the conference discussed that the term wellness tourism does not really go with the tourist's intentions. Whatever they sell needs to look extremely interesting, then only tourists will undertake the journey. In place of wellness tourism, put it as a place where you can relax and recharge your batteries. This sounds more interesting and attractive.Do not preach health:The members decided in order to make wellness tourism grow; they will have to stop selling it as something that is good for people's health. Rather they should put it as a trip that one should take for fun and joy.
