Statistics from the latest study on the wellness tourism niche point to a favorable scenario for the development of this segment of the Dominican Republic’s tourism offer.
This was demonstrated by Flavio Acuña, representative in the country of 6 of the 7 world wellness associations, when he presented the results of the latest study by the Global Wellness Institute (GWI), which reveals that wellness tourism represents a market worth US$651 billion.
He added that the Global Wellness Economy Report 2023 indicates that the niche grew 36% annually in the period 2020-2022 and its growth rate from this last year and until 2027, will be 16.6 percent, to reach 1.4 trillion dollars.
Increase in wellness tourism
He said that wellness tourism reached 90 percent of the level in relation to the level it was at in 2018.
According to the referred report, the referred wellness segment plummeted from 2019 to 2020 (between $720 billion and $351 billion). However, it has experienced an extraordinary 36% annual spending growth and 30% growth in wellness travel between 2020 and 2022.
He indicated that this is a significant higher than the overall tourism travel and spending growth rates of 23.8% and 28.4%.
“Wellness travelers took 819.4 million domestic and international wellness trips in 2022, a significant increase over 2020 (483 million) and 2021 (608 million) levels,” he revealed.
He further argued that wellness travel accounted for 7.8% of all tourism travel, but accounted for 18.7% of all tourism spending in 2022, which translates to nearly 1 in 5 total travel dollars).
Wellness tourism is expected to double
He indicated the wellness tourism market is expected to more than double from 2022 to 2027, with dramatic jumps in spending from 2022 ($651 billion) to 2023 ($868 billion) to 2024 ($1 trillion).
He also noted that wellness tourism and general health activities are the fastest growing niche markets, as the country can benefit from an increase in tourists via retreats for seniors, pensioners and retirees.
“It is of high value to project that excellence and innovation in terms of diversification of tourism products, which have come together in this great tourism event and that once again positions the country as an international tourism reference,” he said.
The information was offered during his participation in DATE 2024 of Asonahores, the main marketing event of the Dominican tourism product, which was held at the Paridus Palma Real hotel in Punta Cana.
World Wellness Weekend
Regarding the segment, Acuña informed that this year 2014 the global event World Wellness Weekend will be held in the country, from September 20 to 22.
Around 7 thousand activities will be held worldwide in some 150 countries, including soccer, paddle tennis, basketball, volleyball, hiking, marathons, meditation, yoga, Tai chi, zumbatón, facial and body treatments, Tibetan horns, swimming and orchards, among others.
The event is broadcast by some 8,000 media outlets globally to an audience of 430 million people.
DR awards in wellness
In last year’s edition, the RD won several important awards:
It ranked among the top 10 countries with the most activities, in position number seven, with 334 activities in 156 different locations. We were above Canada, India and the United Kingdom in this category.
Santo Domingo and Punta Cana were in positions 9 and 10 as the most active cities among 2,300.
In addition, DR was the most active country in the Caribbean, Excellence Resort Hotel was the most active resort chain in the Caribbean and the Body Shop Fitness Club was the most active in the Caribbean.
Rotary Club District 4060 was the most active in the world, Santuary Cap Cana Hotel was the most active Caribbean resort and Flavio Acuña was the most active wellness ambassador in the Caribbean.
Source: Arecoa.com
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