Introduction:

In our trend analysis we are going to examine the following themes:

- Trend description
- Other trends associated with our topic
- Wh questions
o Who are the followers of the trend?
o What do they do?
o Where do they come from?
o When did they appear?
o Why did they choose this trend?
- Target Group
- Samples of the concept
After having a research at hotel Comwell and assuming the information received
from examining the trends connected with the hospitability field we did a trend
analysis. Primarily we focused on healthcare and wellness tourism which is an
upcoming trend as much in the Nordic countries as globally. We made some
interviews with the guests and the staff as well and their answers contributed to
justify our assumptions. We took into consideration some other trends as well we
found during our research. We will cover them in more details later on, but in
advance we can determine that these trends have no such impact on our case. We
will go through the so called WH questions to have a better understanding about
the trend itself. After that we are planning to describe a specific target group which
is or can be associated with the trend. In the end we are going to introduce some
existing examples of our concept/chosen trend by examining some competitors.
The trend we chose
For our project we chose the renovation/expansion of the pool area/wellness
department. We found during our research, that among all the trends connected
with the hospitability field, the trend of prioritising well-equipped spa facilities in
hotels is emerging among customers.
Here I would like to define health tourism with the words of an expert:
Wellness tourism is the sum of all the relationships and phenomena resulting from
a journey and residence by people whose main motive is to preserve or promote
their health. They stay in a specialized hotel which provides the appropriate
professional knowhow and individual care. They require a comprehensive service
package comprising physical fitness/beauty care, healthy nutrition/diet,
relaxation/meditation and mental activity/education.
1

If we take a look into Maslows hierarchy of
needs we understand that the basic needs
such as eating and drinking does not include
luxurious things as spas but if we look into it in
more details we notice that nowadays caring
about health is as important as other basic
needs. Because these days customers consider
protecting their health as a basic need. So they
are putting more effort in prevention in spite
of treating illnesses they have.
Comwells main target group is built from business persons. According to Massage
Magazine a web site about wellness and spa we found, that it is becoming a
trend, to offer spa services during corporate events or even making the plans for
events based on some spa services


1
Kaspar, C. (1996), Gesundheitstourismus im Trend, in: Institut fr Tourismus und
Verkehrswirtschaft (edt.): Jahrbuch der Schweizer Tourismuswirtschaft 1995/96, St. Gallen 1996, p.
53-61.
In a 2012 survey commissioned by Hilton Hotels & Resorts a high percent of
respondents (45%) said, that they take it as an important factor considering their
bookings whether there are spa facilities or not. And 69% said it is likely that they
will actually use them during their stay.

The same survey shows, that nearly the half of the correspondents (40%) said, that
they would use a local hotels spa facilities (if it offered a local membership
program).

Above all the factors we already mentioned, we must also have a word about what
Bonnie Campagnuolo senior director at Hilton Hotels said: earlier the must
have for a resort used to be just a pool, but todays travellers expect more focus on
wellness.
Now, that you have a broader view on the trend we chose for our project, in the
next paragraph we are going to describe you some other trends we found during
our research and analysis of (spa) hotel industry.



Other trends
While we were examining the main trends which are responsible for shaping the
hotel industry (also maintaining spa hotel industry) we found some trends which we
did not think were useful considering our project.
Some examples:
- mobile apps,
- online booking,
- feeling like home,
- underwater speakers,
- high-tech technology [flat screen TV-s])
Some go even as far, to say, there are hype trends which are not really useful. As
David A. Keeps wrote on Travelandleisure.com in his article:
Others [some hotels] rely on showy design elements (peekaboo bathrooms), luxury
amenities (1,500-thread-count linens), retro appliances (record players with a
selection of vinyl), customized services (on-call butlers), and personal touches
(nightly poems left on your pillow) to woo you.(Travelandleisure.com)
We agree on most of these trends. For example how much use does a bathtub has
in the middle of a room? Or butlers for every little process. But saying that using a
towel for more time is making the hotels activity much more eco-friendly is quite
unprofessional.
So we picked the one we thought is the most relevant with our topic, and continued
to work with it.





WH questions
Who are the followers of the trend?
Basically hotel visitors, but to narrow it a little bit, it is more precise to say, that
those customers, who are able, and willing to pay for such extra services, like health
care, beauty care, spa and wellness services and connected (retail) products.
This definition can mean either those who are traditional visitors, staying in the
hotel, using the rooms and other facilities like spa as well, or it can mean local
customers, who are using only spa/wellness department. Another group is the
business people travellers or employees of local companies who attend corporate
events.
What do they do?
Despite the fact, that they are using the spa facilities, this question is more complex.
It completely depends on the installations of the current spa departure, but the
basics are usually a pool, which provides opportunity to exercise; saunas are a
commonly used facility as well, with different types, and benefits, e.g. infrared
sauna, steam sauna, etc. If provided, they can just enjoy the coziness of a Jacuzzi. It
has a wide range of opportunities, but the primarily activity of clients is relaxation.
Where do they do?
There are two different types of spa hotels. One is when a hotel builds its own spa
departure, as an integrated part of the hotel, such as in location as in prices. They
employ the staff, and have all the incomes from the guests.
The other type is when there is already one spa or health centre, with all the
functionality of health caring, and for its success a hotel is built nearby of the
building, and usually has some contract with the operator of the spa, or the spa can
be expended with a hotel.

Why do they do?
They can visit a health centre for several reasons; it depends on the aim of the
visitors. The following table shows different types of tourism, and different types of
health tourism, such as illness prevention tourism or convalescence tourism, which
focuses on rehabilitating from illnesses. Hotel spas usually provide illness
prevention tourism, and focusing on the wellness part of it, with more pleasure.

When did it emerge?
Spas have a large history in Europe. Firstly it was emerged in Ancient Greece, where
they already had their public baths. Romans also had their own building for
wellness and spa, with different types of rooms, used for different reasons, such as
lepidarium,tepidarium,frigidarium. Turks built a huge number of baths in the
occupied territories.
The economic crisis did not have a big influence on the industry as it did in other
departures. And after lagging behind other hotel revenue sources, hotel spas began
to see their sales recover in 2011, and this trend is expected to continue for the
foreseeable future.