PUNTA CANA, LA ALTAGRACIA PROVINCE -The statistics shown by the latest study on the wellness tourism niche present 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 global wellness associations, when presenting results of the latest study by the Global Wellness Institute (GWI), which reveals that wellness tourism represents a market of 651 billion dollars.
He added that the Global Wellbeing Economy Report 2023 indicates that the niche grew 36 percent annually in the period 2020-2022 and its growth rate from this last year until 2027 will be 16.6 percent, to reach 1.4 trillion dollars.
He stated that wellness tourism reached 90 percent of the level it was at in 2018.
According to the aforementioned report, that segment of well-being plummeted from 2019 to 2020 (between 720,000 and 351,000 million dollars).
However, it has experienced extraordinary growth in annual spending of 36% and wellness travel of 30% between 2020 and 2022.
He added that this represents a significantly higher growth rate than the overall travel and tourism spending growth rates of 23.8% and 28.4%.
“Wellness travelers made 819.4 million domestic and international wellness trips in 2022, a significant increase over the levels of 2020 (483 million) and 2021 (608 million),” it revealed.
He argued that wellness travel accounted for 7.8% of all tourist trips, but represented 18.7% of all tourist spending in 2022, which translates to almost 1 out of every 5 total travel dollars.
He indicated that 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 highlighted that wellness tourism and health activities in general are the market niches that have grown the most.
He specified that the country can benefit from an increase in tourists through withdrawals for senior citizens, pensioners and retirees.
"It is of great value to project that excellence and innovation in terms of the diversification of tourism products, which have come together at this great tourism event and which once again positions the country as an international tourism benchmark.".
The information was provided by Professor Acuña at DATE, the main marketing event for Dominican tourism products, which is held in this tourist enclave.
World Wellness Weekend
Acuña, who represents 7 of the 10 most important wellness tourism organizations globally, reported that the global event World Wellness Weekend will be held in the country this year, from September 20 to 22.
Flavio Acuña during the presentation of the report at DATE 2024. (External source).
Around 7,000 activities will be held worldwide in some 150 countries, including football, padel, basketball, volleyball, hiking, marathons, meditation, yoga, Tai chi, Zumba, facial and body treatments, Tibetan horns, swimming and gardening, among others.
That event is broadcast by some 8,000 media outlets globally to an audience of 430 million people.
Dominican Republic Awards
In last year's edition, the Dominican Republic won several important awards:
It ranked among the top 10 countries with the most activities, in seventh place, with 334 activities in 156 different locations. We were ahead of Canada, India, and the United Kingdom in this category.
Santo Domingo and Punta Cana ranked 9th and 10th as the most active cities out of 2,300.
"We were the most active country in the Caribbean, the 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," Acuña commented.
Rotary Club District 4060 was the most active in the world, the Sanctuary Cap Cana hotel was the most active resort in the Caribbean, and Flavio Acuña was the most active wellness ambassador in the Caribbean.
Profile
Flavio Acuña is an international master in holistic medicine modalities, with more than 34 years of experience in various techniques applied to wellness and health.
In Bávaro he is president of the Spa Natural Center in Punta Cana, and represents in the country the Latin American Spa Association, the American Spa Association, the Ibero-American Wellness & Health Tourism Association, the ODM of Elite Therapists, the World Wellness Tourism Organization and the World Wellness Weekend.
