Last Word Andrew Gibson
Defining wellbeing Vice-president of wellbeing for AccorHotels Luxury Brands, Andrew Gibson believes hotel and resort spas need to know the difference between wellbeing and wellness to operate effectively I think of wellness as in the domain of spas and sickness as the responsibility of the medical industry, but what about acupuncture, cryotherapy, Botox or thread lift – are they spa or medical, or neither? The confusion causes a dilemma for hotels with spa and beauty services. It is therefore important to have corporate definitions of wellness and wellbeing that protect the brand and provide guidance for hoteliers.
Selling wellness
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“Wellness services are here to stay, but failing to provide the right resources to sell them will quickly deflate the motivation of your team and the financial benefits on offer.”
have often had to defend the economic performance of spa businesses within the hospitality industry because the traditional method of evaluation, through a departmental profit and loss account, only tells a fraction of the story. The use of spa and fitness facilities in marketing creates a halo effect, and internal research with all my brands has shown that spa users also add revenue in all other areas of hotels. Now there is the question of how we perform profitably while offering guests ‘wellness’. Just as the word ‘spa’ once signaled everything from a massage to pet pampering, so the terms ‘wellbeing’ and ‘wellness’ have become indiscriminately and overly used to suit a range of needs. For me, wellbeing is a state of mind (that which we aim to help guests achieve) and wellness comprises the different paths that lead to this state (the services we provide). We receive many requests from our hotels to ‘add wellness’, without a real understanding of what it means. There can be confusion between wellness and medical services, while ‘beauty’ treatments, complicated by the availability of low-cost cosmetic surgery, can fall somewhere between the two.
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The gravitation towards wellness in hospitality can be seen in the acquisition and development of international companies, each of which delivers ‘wellness’ according to its own brand strategy. This demonstrates an increasing demand for more than just a good room and decent food, but to profit from this trend requires looking at services as a whole and providing sufficient resources to effectively reach the target market. At present, savvy marketing will carry companies through the confusing terminology and mixed expectations of guests, but just as the spa guest began to understand the spa industry, so too will the hotel guest develop a sense of what ‘wellness’ means to them. Simply adding classes and a weekend retreat will not satisfy the discerning guest – hotels must create a wellness identity that runs through every aspect and employee. There is a big financial difference between treating every guest interaction as a chance to experience all things, and making rooms the only priority with everything else as just a service. Each luxury brand for Accor has guest wellbeing as a fundamental pillar, with the concept and delivery of this remaining in character with the hotel brand and reflecting the priorities of the services offered to guests. Wellness services are here to stay, but failing to provide the right resources to sell them will quickly deflate the motivation of your team and the financial benefits on offer. If every employee (we call them ‘heartists’ at Accor) is trained to have the mindset to treat every guest with respect and do their best to deliver a positive experience, then we are already on the road to achieving wellbeing. If that is combined with thoughtful design built around wellness principles and a holistic attitude towards the room, food and leisure experiences, then the hotel will become a place of wellbeing.
Meet the expert Vice-president of wellbeing, Andrew Gibson is responsible for the development of the wellbeing strategy for AccorHotels Luxury Brands portfolio, stretching across 550 hotels with 250+ managed spas, 100 outsourced spas and over 350 fitness centres across 10 brands. A 30-year hospitality industry veteran, he is also a founder and current board member of the Global Wellness Institute and an advisory member of the Global Wellness Communities think-tank. www.accorhotels.com
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