Wellness Relies on IT
Where this intersects with hotel technology is that wellness programming must be operationalized in a labor-efficient manner, and then merchandized effectively across the entire guest journey in order to generate throughput and profitability. Connected systems and centralized data are the engine that powers hotel wellness experiences.
Before we get into the wellness technology (welltech) applications, here are some specific ways IT professionals will be essential to commercializing hotel wellness:
- Using marketing systems that can seamlessly merchandize wellness offers or experiences within the prebooking, prearrival, onsite and post-departure stages
- Configuring application programming interfaces (APIs), a customer data platform (CDP) or robotic process automation (RPA) to increase data connections so you can better segment or target your loyalty guest pool with wellness news or offers
- Smart staff scheduling to enable flexible shifts and personalized service delivery as well as learning management systems for faster onboarding
- Task automation so spa therapists or other wellness practitioners can focus on the guest
- Investigating machine learning or related tools that provide features like multivariate testing, dynamic availability, sentiment analysis itinerary builders, or one-to-one marketing offers
What we would also stress with any strategic wellness discussion is that this area can provide a strong reason to visit a property that will induce more demand for overnight stays. Tracking this reason to visit nowadays means having strong analysis and reporting tools so you can examine metrics like total revenue per available room (TRevPAR), average daily rate (ADR), direct booking share, length of stay (LOS) and lead time pace to see how this ancillary programming is performing and supporting the bottom line.
Welltech as Innovative Labor-Light Experiences
The most important element of wellness is touch. That is, the emotional rapport built between guest and staff. For wellness, this is most likely to happen within the spa.
The problem, however, is that great spa professionals are in short supply. Hence, the advent of welltech, in all its various forms, presents hotels with a way to augment their wellness footprints in a scalable way that’s largely untethered by the traditional requirement to staff up.
Welltech can present itself as: spatech, sleeptech and fittech.
Spatech in Focus
This pertains mostly to those hotels that already have a spa or wellness center. While it may be possible for resorts with some available land to build out a new facility (with the right capex and municipal approvals in place), this is harder for an urban property to do. Nevertheless, spatech may work to round out other traditional spa treatments or thermal bathing experiences, as well as also present an opportunity for converting a no-longer-viable space like a retail outlet or a tucked-away business center.
To start, know that there are dozens of great spatech suppliers, but the machinery that lets a spa practitioner set a guest up then be largely hands-off for the next 20-30 minutes can come with a hefty price tag. In that sense, what we advise focusing first on the senses to create themed experiences for guests. The most well-practiced application here would be to look for ways to augment a contrast therapy-focused spa (thermal bathing, sauna, salt room, experiential showers, ice baths, snow rooms) with an infrared (IR) sauna or pod and IR-heated loungers or relaxation chairs. However, while cold exposure is increasingly being cited as beneficial for the body, cryotanks and cryofacials require training and direct staff interactions (for safety reasons at least).
Infrared light is but one range that can be used to help guests feel better as part of an add-on experience. Red light therapy (RLT) has been used for pods or blankets, or for handhelds and wearables that can also be placed in the guestroom. If you’re looking for something even more sci-fi, non-thermal laser (NTL) has shown promising results for more medical treatments. Circling back to the senses, beyond light and cold, there’s sound in the form of meditation pods, binaural beats that can be added into other experiences and gravity wave equipment.
Revenue from Diagnostics
Diagnostics is a domain where hotels can realize huge gains by cluing guests into their genetic and epigenetic (which genes are turned on and off) makeups in order to help them adjust habits back at home – as well as to augment the rest of the guest stay. If there’s a biomarker, there’s a test you can
take to know more about yourself.
Significantly, people are willing to travel to specific destinations and pay for elaborate multinight packages that incorporate these sorts of screenings along with
consultations or personalized recommendations. A sampling of the treatments some “hotel clinics” are offering include nutrient supplements, hormone replacement therapy, Peptide treatments and Epigenetic clock tests. After all, you can only manage what you measure, and what better way to manage it than to go on an annual retreat as a check-up in an idyllic location?
For the last time, it’s a wild world, but there’s a method to the madness. Luxury hotels around the world are already building programs that help guests discover their own bodies to improve their wellbeing – and they’re charging thousands of dollars per night for these experiences. What we’re suggesting is that every hotel can play this game, it’s just a matter of theming your approach and having a strategic vision.
Sleeptech as a Foundation
Within the longevity community, evidence increasingly points to sleep as the foundation of bodily health. Without high-quality sleep, our moods deteriorate, our cognition suffers, our immune systems are weakened, and weight loss becomes increasingly harder. This has led to the rise of sleep tourism. Indeed, for every property the incorporation of sleeptech presents a relatively efficient way to help guests get a better night’s rest. After all, only some people will use the spa, but every hotel guest wants good sleep. For this reason, sleeptech is an evergreen opportunity for hotel brands.
Hotels can start by looking at each element that influences quality sleep hygiene. For climate, you want noiseless HVACs with advanced filtration for cleaner air. You also need smarter controls so guests can tune the ambient temperature to optimal levels for slow wave then REM sleep cycles. Overhead LEDs are often laden with blue light that tells the body it’s daytime. Cove or low-positioned, softer lighting helps, but the gold standard is to switch to circadian-adjusted bulbs that can transition to red-amber to imitate sunset and dimmer for the onset of sleep. Other design options include motion-activated lighting around the bedframe so guests don’t have to turn on a light when they get up during the night.
Beds are no longer just mattresses but full-on bedding systems. Many leading manufacturers now offer temperature and moisture controls as well as built-in air
filters to remove carbon or dust particles.
FitTech: More Than a Gym
Think of your fitness center as a reason to visit the hotel rather than something that checks a box. Look at state-of-the-art machinery to complement the classic gym setup of dumbbells, strength trainers, and cardio machines with your choice of isometrics, isotonics, or off-balance trainers. Since recovery is just as important as the workout, there’s a whole new breed of massage guns, vibration plates, compression pants, RLT wraps, and cold packs available to help lessen the chance of joint injury or muscle strain. All of these can be packaged or made rentable.
For guests with mobility issues, one emerging area is augmented reality (AR) movement tracking, which offers gait and sports analysis and can provide personalized corrections – with or without a trainer. Finally, you can get scanners like the dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) that diagnose mobility issues via muscle imbalances along with body fat composition and bone density.
