5 growth sectors in the Wellness market
In the previous blog “Opportunities for Pilates businesses within the wellness market”, we looked at the structure and sectors within the Wellness market, identifying the 5 highest growth sectors.
- Spa Facilities (9.9%)
- Wellness Tourism (6.5%)
- Wellness Real estate (6.4%)
- Fitness and Mind Body (4.8%)
- Workplace Wellness (4.8%)
It is relatively easy for most of us in the Pilates Industry to have a vision of a Spa facility and also to be able to define Fitness and Mind Body products but perhaps less easy to have a clear picture of Wellness Tourism, Wellness real estate and Workplace Wellness.
Wellness Tourism – Research suggests that Europe is the number one market for Wellness tourism with 292 million trips made in 2017 with wellness as the main purpose of travel. Customers with a wellness focus when choosing a tourist destination not only consider their focal destination: i.e. Spa, health resort, boot camp, Retreat – but are equally interested in the Food and beverage on offer i.e. Healthy Eating, Organic Cuisine, Carbon Footprint etc.
Wellness Real Estate – In a 2018 report titled ‘Built Well to Live Well’ the Global Wellness Institute defined Wellness real estate as “The construction of residential and commercial/institutional properties that incorporate intentional wellness elements into their design, materials, and building as well as their amenities, services, and/or programming”. Pilates business who might be able to extend elements of Spa, Retreat, Excursion, Healthy Eating, Wellness products and clothing to their core business or to look to integrate their business into local real estate projects and local housing developments etc. to create a community wellness centre as opposed to Pilates studio or to combine business interests with others in the Wellness sector Beauticians, Hairdressers, Complimentary Therapists, Mind-Body and mainstream fitness practitioners to run a small personal business within a larger wellness focused business .
Workplace Wellness – To take a share of the workplace wellness market the Pilates business owner must recognise that in many businesses employees are too focused on basic needs, such as paying the rent/mortgage, job stability, workplace safety, etc to see Wellness initiatives at work as a key advantage – however there is a percentage of businesses often multinationals or SME’s in specific sectors where skilled workers are in demand from employers and there is competition to retain staff. Employers in these sectors are often motivated to build a wellness programme within the workplace to tackle issues of absenteeism, maximise staff retention, improve morale, improve recruitment success, and increase productivity within the workforce.
Projected Annual Growth rates 2017-2022:
- Wellness Real Estate – 8.0%
- Workplace Wellness – 6.7%
- Workplace tourism – 7.5%
- Spa Facilities – 6.4%