Strategy for Value Creation in the Health And

Strategy for Value Creation in the Health and Wellness Business: the sense approach The paper presents an overview of the health and wellness business; and subsequently highlights strategies for creating and staging spa experiences by use of the sense approach. An Overview of Health and Wellness Business Health and wellness tourism is a relatively new high-growth industry which has been proliferating in the past decade. It has contributed significantly towards the tourism, hospitality and leisure sector. Within the tourism industry context, the growing health and wellness phenomenon has impacted the resort hotels and commercial sectors such as shopping centres and commercial buildings. A variety of different definitions of health and wellness tourism based on different stakeholders has also been found. A recent survey by Chan (2007) has shown that various interpretations of health and wellness tourism are as follows: regarded as relating to personal well-being and lifestyles a way to release work stress for working people in urban areas and a new form of leisure/tourism activity for foreign tourists as a body treatment for personal well-being (stress release); cosmetic surgery for an individual multi-services that include medical, personal beauty/surgery and leisure-related activities Hence, in broad terms, health and wellness tourism tends to relate to the four key components, which are: medical, body beauty treatment, leisure activities and personal well-being. These components relate more to the provision of a service and the creation of an experience. The spa has been seen as a health and wellness tourism product/service; it is perceived as a luxury service but is now becoming a necessity. It is one of the largest growing sections in the hotel market (Harmsworth, 2008) and generates a high profit for most resort hotels. Spas are increasingly an important economic and marketing strategy for hoteliers, resorts and destinations. In Malaysia, the spa industry has grown by over 200% since 2002; there are currently 151 spas in operation whilst 25 are under development (Register, 2007). It is clear that spas are qualitatively different from other hotel amenities or facilities; what is delivered to the guests are more than a service, it is “an experience“ (Henkin, 2006). Design aesthetics play an important role in the consumers’ mind when choosing a spa and they are also an important factor contributing to profitability. Fundamentally, spa providers need to understand the fundamental needs and preferences of spa consumers for long term competitiveness and sustainability when providing spa experiences. Health conscious consumers predominantly seek well-being through their travelling experiences; find ways to look and feel better; to release stress and to improve their health. Stress reduction has been determined as the main motivating factor for participating in health and wellness activities. Likewise, it is vital to understand consumer behavior with regards to their choice, motivation and preferences simply because most consumers are stressed and have little vacation time. In general, there are three key reasons why consumers go for spa treatments: Achievement of personal space, “time out”, escapism and retreat Pampering and relaxation Fitness, health and spiritual experiences Making Sense of the Spa Experience: value innovation through the sense approach For value innovation to take place within the spa business context, one has to recognise that the spa is a form of service provision as well as experience consumption. Pine and Gilmore (1999) strongly argued that experiences are a distinct offering from services; they create “memorable” offerings that will remain with one for a long time. Thus, in this sense, the consumer must be part of the process and use their senses to feel and actively participate in the said process in order to appreciate the entire spa experience. At the same time, this requires highly skilled staffs or actors who can dynamically personalize each spa service transaction or activity according to the needs, response and behavioral traits of the guests. Since the consumption of spa tourism involves the sensory perception of consumers, it is logical to suggest that spa providers develop and market their spa businesses based on the “sense approach”. By use of the sense approach, spa providers would appeal to the senses with the objective of creating sensory experiences through sight, sound, touch, taste and smell. The sense approach marketing may be used by spa providers to differentiate their companies and products from that of competitors, to motivate customers by use of the right stimuli and to add value to their products by focusing on their sensory appeal. In simple terms, spa providers must identify the appropriate stimuli for creating the said sensory appeal. In addition, the sense approach can be used as a motivator tool for customers when visiting a spa. For spa providers, the sense approach can create a unique value to customers by understanding the type of senses that the customers desire. Providing spa experiences requires new service experience perspectives. Companies that wish to offer their customers an experience need to see themselves as stagers of spa service experiences. Spa service staff needs to dynamically select individual props and sentences in response to the statements, questions and body language of guests. In other words, it has to be a truly interactive experience to the point where the guest has as much or more influence on the spa experience as the staff. Where the experience is of a more sensitive or personal nature, guests cannot be expected to open up and fully engage on their first encounter. It may require a number of encounters before guests reveal themselves over a duration of time; relationship, trust and bonding need to be developed during and between the spa service transactions. This suggests that spa providers can stage their spa experiences based on the four realms of an experience by Pine and Gilmore (1999), namely – absorption, immersion, passive participation and active participation or a combination of all realms, as shown in Figure 1 below. Figure 1: The Realms of an Experience by Pine and Gilmore (1999) In addition, when designing, staging and delivering a health and wellness experience, one should aim at and consider the following aspects as suggested by Pine and Gilmore (1999) for the service experience consumption context, as follows: • theme the experience • harmonize impressions with positive cues • eliminate negative cues • mix in memorabilia • engage all five senses Likewise, it is clear that different spa-goers may look for different experiences and the depth of required experiences may be different as it depends on the personal characteristics of the consumers. Generally, the experiences tend to be influenced by the place where the spa experience took place, and the relationship between the consumer and the said spa. In addition to the experience delivery, it is equally vital to note that health and wellness products, especially the spa, must be “experience–driven”. In other words, perception of the value of the experience is not linked to the quantity of the treatments experienced, rather, it is linked to the creation of experiences that touch and change people’s lives. The customization and personalization for a “true experience”, based on personal needs, interests, time and budget, is vital to create a memorable experience. In this way, loyalty from the customer is created and repeat business can be achieved. Stress should be minimized for the customer by maintaining an uncluttered and pleasurable environment whilst ensuring an affordable experience, as opposed to placing an emphasis on a big, luxurious and expensive spa. The spa design should incorporate relaxing facilities with appropriate sound and lighting. Lastly, a green spas (which take into consideration environmental concerns and utilize organic products) or spas which incorporate social conscience, integrity and ethics pertaining to a healthy environment would be definite plus points for consumers. It is suggested that when making competitors irrelevant or outbidding them, spa providers need to invest in their people, commit to good training programmes for the delivery of great experience to consumers, meet brand standards in spa design and ensure the comfort of guests. Further reading: Chan, J.K.L. (2008). Case 13: CHI Spa at The Shangri-La , Sabah , Malaysia: Its philosophical and managing concept and “a journey of experiences” in Smith, M. & Puczkó, L. Health and Wellness Tourism, Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann -Elsevier Limited UK. ISBN-10: 0750683430; ISBN-13: 978-0750683432 (Links: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/bookdescription.cws_home/716257/description#description , http://www.amazon.co.uk/Health-Wellness-Tourism-Melanie-Smith/dp/0750683430 ) References : Chan, J,K.L. (2007). Survey on definition of health and wellness tourism in Sabah. Harmsworth, S (2008). Spa guru for luxury hotels and resorts. Global Update Interview. Pine II, B J, & Gilmore, James H., 1999, The Experience Economy, Harvard Business School Press , Boston, Mass. Written by : Associate Professor Dr. Jennifer Kim Lian Chan Ph D in Tourism and Hospitality Management School of Business and Economics Universiti Malaysia Sabah e-mail: [email protected] .

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