interviews
The Wellness Area - An Added Value to your Hotel
Interview with Daniele
Cantoni
From Area Wellness Magazine
Issue N. 7 | May-June 2004
The number of hotel owners who ask themselves if it
would be worthwhile to broaden their services by creating
or modifying an existing wellness area is continuously
on the rise. It has become impossible to ignore the
success that facilities of this type have had over the
past few years. Is it better to do all the work yourself
and save money or should you call in a company that
specializes in this field and who will take care of
everything - from the planning to the building
- for you? We talked about that with Daniele Cantoni,
one of the best known wellness center designers in Italy.
Improvements made on a hotel, especially those that
are considered "added benefits" are often
underestimated by a hotel owner. He needs to have that
added sense of perception in order to evaluate, first
of all, what that ideal investment is that will offer
his clients something that they will come to consider
"a must". A concrete example? That's simple.
A private bath in the room in the 50s, a television
in the 70s. Not only would it be unthinkable today to
offer a hotel room without a television, but the client
expects it to have satellite, a remote control, etc.
The same thing is happening in the wellness field, as
it has become an added value in hotels in most parts
of the world. Ten years ago, hotel owners in the Alto
Adige region of Italy began investing in wellness tourism
and it has since become a must in facilities all over
this area. Today, in this area, a hotel without a small
wellness area - not to be confused with a simple
gym or pseudo beauty treatment room - is as unheard
of as a room without a television. This is not only
because the wellness client comes looking for it, but
also because the traveling businessman and the salesman
who has enjoyed the pleasure of a turkish bath at the
end of a long work day, has begun to request it moreso
than the tv in his room.
It's important to hire a consultant who is an expert
in the field, who knows how to draw up a customized
plan that will perfectly fit with the already-existing
facility and who can satisfy the client's objectives
for the future [more customers out of season, a new
clientele, etc.]. A consultant should, in addition to
creating a project for the center, come up with a business
plan, which outlines the expenses and income in minute
detail [energy consumption, personnel costs, courses,
products, investments in furnishings and equipment,
timetable, etc.] so that the investment doesn't become
a shot in the dark. You should never trust professionals
or companies that claim to have experience in the field
and suggest standard formats, which become very costly
to operate and are therefore unprofitable. A true wellness
area should guarantee a profit that is proportionate
to the investment that is made.
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