Health, Wellness and Tourism: healthy tourists, healthy business ...

Most important criteria when booking a hotel are the price (83%) and location (93%) of the
hotel. Wellness facilities are important for 33% of them (women more than men) and 28% of
them would like to use fitness facilities in their hotel.
The more often respondents are practicing fitness , the more often they would like to get
informed about fitness, wellness and healthy nutrition.
Barcelona wellness and fitness offer
Although Barcelona does not stand out as a wellness tourist destination, it has a significant
potential in this sector that may be able to transform it into an excellent supplement for the
new tourist trends, and specially for Dutch people.
To analyze the wellness and fitness offer of the city, we applied a SWOT analysis to find out
that the most important strengths are the identity of the city, the culture and its climate. In
terms of opportunities for Barcelona the fact that wellness/fitness is an expanding sector
represents an important and an unquestionable added value for tourism industry nowadays.
On the other hand we also find some weaknesses. For example the lack of tradition in
wellness or spas in the city, which limits the use of the actual facilities to a small group of
citizens and to some tourists staying in some specific hotels that are not usually located in the
city centre. Finally the main threats are the typology of city visitors, since at this writing
most of them are are low costs tourists. Furthermore, the increasing competition of other cities
that are already positioned internationally.
An important part of the research results are the proposals and suggestions addressed to
future tourists visiting Barcelona but also to companies willing to meet the needs of these
possible future customers.
New directions for Barcelona?
The following destination concepts will be presented at the TTRA conference:
Mediterranean Wellness
Wellness based on typical and traditional values and products
Wellness de luxe for business travelers
Well-being, fitness and gastronomy