The rise of wellness tourism encourages service providers to be more dynamic
The growing trend of wellness tourism has encouraged service providers to design more diverse tours to meet travelers’ demands.
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| The growing trend of wellness tourism has encouraged service providers to design more diverse tours. |
| Photo: MTDL/CVN |
Wellness tourism, which combines traditional tourism activities with health activities, is popular around the world but is still new in Vietnam. However, this type of tourism attracts an increasing number of domestic tourists.
Wanting to escape the stress of work and life, Lê Thu Hoa from Hanoi’s Câu Giây district chose Mu Cang Chai in Yên Bai as a retreat for herself and her family. They had an interesting experience participating in the agricultural activities of the local population.
Lê Thu Hoa said that manual labor helped her and other family members feel relaxed, especially the children, because they could experience new things that are not available in the city.
Meanwhile, Lê Hoài Nam from Hanoi’s Hoàn Kiêm district chose the Mekong Delta region for his family trip, during which they participated in many age-appropriate ecotourism activities for each member.
While Lê Hoài Nam and his children fished with the locals, his parents attended yoga and meditation classes beside the vast fields of the Dông Thap Muoi (Mekong Delta) region, in Dong Thap province.
The activities helped them become more mentally balanced and physically stronger, and promoted family ties that are affected by work and social factors, said Lê Hoài Nam.
According to the Vietnam National Tourism Administration (VNAT), the development of science and technology, as well as climate change, pollution and stress have led to numerous negative effects on people’s health, especially mental health.
Therefore, more and more people are paying more and more attention to their health and reducing stress, which leads to the development of wellness tourism with a unique combination of activities in nature. This type of tourism is expected to flourish in Vietnam and around the world, said VNAT.
A report by the Global Wellness Institute showed that by the end of 2022, revenues from wellness tourism will reach USD 919 billion, accounting for 18% of the total revenues of the global tourism sector.
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| Tourists in Nha Trang, Khanh Hoà Province (Central). |
| Photo: VNA/CVN |
In Vietnam, many travel agencies have invested in spa tourism with a variety of products to meet the demand of domestic and foreign tourists.
Recently, the northern province of Lào Cai, home to the famous tourist destination of Sa Pa, launched medicinal tourism tours that offer visitors yoga exercises and traditional health treatments combined with an exploration of local life and culture.
In the Mekong Delta region, Dong Thap, which has great potential for wellness tourism thanks to its popular lotus farms, has introduced many tourism products around this plant, as well as unique and healthy lotus dishes.
However, as a new type of tourism, wellness tourism has not yet been systematically invested in many tourist destinations and is not combined with other types and products of tourism. In the meantime, the necessary human resources do not yet meet the increasing demand of tourists, especially foreigners.
Therefore, experts emphasized the need for competent authorities to design appropriate policies to encourage companies to invest more in wellness tourism and improve the efficiency of managing this promising type of tourism.
VNA/CVN