WELLNESS - ADAM MOGELONSKY, PARTNER, HOTEL MOGEL CONSULTING LTD: “I’M A BIG FAN OF PREARRIVAL UPSELLING TOOLS FOR SPAS”
A pioneer in the analysis of hospitality trends, Adam Mogelonsky explores the future of wellness as a key driver of hotel revenues. An enlightened view of an industry in the throes of change, between innovation and sustainability. . |
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WELLNESS - ADAM MOGELONSKY, PARTNER, HOTEL MOGEL CONSULTING LTD: “I’M A BIG FAN OF PREARRIVAL UPSELLING TOOLS FOR SPAS”
A pioneer in the analysis of hospitality trends, Adam Mogelonsky explores the future of wellness as a key driver of hotel revenues. An enlightened view of an industry in the throes of change, between innovation and sustainability. . |
Catégorie : Monde - Économie du secteur
- Interviews et portraits
- Tendances, avis d'expert - Interviews
Interview de Vanessa Guerrier-Buisine le 02-12-2024
 Adam Mogelonsky, Partner at Hotel Mogel Consulting Ltd.
Crédit photo © Hotel Mogel Consulting Ltd.
In an interview with the Journal des Palaces, Adam Mogelonsky, Partner at Hotel Mogel Consulting Ltd and a recognised expert in the hotel industry and wellness, shares his analysis of the major trends shaping the future of the wellness industry. With a career that has seen him master every facet of the hotel industry, from strategic marketing to technology, he offers a unique perspective on the growing importance of wellness as a key revenue driver for luxury hotels. Far from being a cost centre, this activity is increasingly becoming a driving force.
In particular, the expert highlights the central role played by a dedicated Wellness strategy in extending the length of stay, increasing additional revenue and improving the guest experience. He also explores the challenges hoteliers face in maintaining the consistency and quality of these services, while adapting to shortages of qualified staff, and reconciling innovation and cost control.
As the conversation unfolds, Adam Mogelonsky deciphers the emergence of ‘longevity’ as a natural evolution of wellness and invites hoteliers to reinvent their approach to take account of this enduring trend. A fascinating reflection on a world where wellness rhymes with sustainability and prosperity.
Journal des Palaces: How is wellness becoming one of the main revenue drivers for hotels, particularly in the luxury industry?
Adam Mogelonsky : Everyone wants to feel well, to have wellbeing. So, the demand has always been there, but now we have a compounding awareness for the practices and habits that will help people attain this wellbeing. Offering wellness amenities that cater to this need is thus entirely nature in a business that’s fundamentally based on serving other people’s needs and wants.
You mention that the wellness offer makes it possible to extend the length of stay in luxury hotels. Could you summarise this concept?
Wellness experiences offer one more reason to choose a specific hotel versus only choosing a hotel because of the destination or its proximity to other places. So, while most hotels will remain centered on location, location, location, events, sightseeing, area activities, wellness gives guests a reason to stop and smell the branded scent, so to speak.
Wellness allows the hotel to be the centerpiece for an afternoon, a day or multiple days rather than just lodging. On the chain scale, luxury takes the cake for this LOS inducement because guests have the desire and the means to engage in lengthier travel that includes spa, longevity clinic visits or other experiences.
What obstacles do hoteliers need to overcome to realise the full potential of their wellness offers in their properties?
It needs to be an integrated effort. Hotels can no longer relegate wellness to only the spa. Spa directors are doing incredible things in their facilities, but they need the full support of the marketing team to get the word out, the sales team to help get adoption within the corporate segment or group itineraries and the IT team to enhance the tech stack that will allow the spa to be more labor efficient.
Next will be looking at how to incorporate wellness into other operations like sleep amenities in the room, but first is always to hone what you already have.
With the ongoing labor shortages, particularly in specialized roles such as wellness practitioners, how can luxury hotels maintain high standards in delivering wellness experiences?
Training and retraining is the best way to maintain high standards. Beyond that, it’s recognizing that practitioners are people, too; the experience they deliver will be largely determined by their own energy levels or wellbeing. So, employee wellness programs have to be in place in order for teams to excel their roles.
Do you foresee technology helping bridge this gap, or is there another solution?
Technology has always helped bridge the gap. This is one thing that we need to have more context on – the role that tech and innovation have always played in the spa. Yes, we fundamentally need great systems to store our spa inventory – SKUs and time slots – while the new longevity diagnostics or spatech will increasingly become a way to add more high-margin treatments to menu.
But look at the history of wellness and you see technology everywhere. Thermal bathing, saunas or other contrast therapy methods are all underpinned by tech, however invisible. The same can be said for luxury cosmetic and beauty product providers who go through painstaking efforts to ensure their ingredients are science-backed and verified. Spa and wellness have always been supported by tech in numerous and varied ways.
What are the most effective strategies for creating upsell in the wellness offer?
As before, the most effective strategy is better alignment from the entire commercial team. From there, the specific actions or tactics will work as a series of incremental wins. As an example, I’m a big fan of prearrival upselling tools for spas, but focusing on just this one initiative would belie the need for a great retailing experience on the website and booking engine to get more wellness experiences sold upfront (and concurrently more LOS).
Together, this then necessitates more thought given to leisure packaging as well as integrated analytics to see where the demand is coming from and what to test that will actually boost throughput.
From there, selling wellness needs to move both further up funnel into how the brand is advertised across different channels as well as how wellness is used to pad corporate subscriptions or group contracts. It’s all connected.
How can wellness complement or be compatible with a hotel’s CSR approach? What practices should hotels adopt to ensure that their wellness programmes are both environmentally friendly and luxurious?
Environmentally friendly and luxury now go hand-in-hand. It has frustrated me for years knowing that what’s bad for the body also tends to be bad for the planet and that few were taking action to concurrently heal people by also healing the environment through the adoption of more sustainable or regenerative practices.
As such, whenever there’s a chance to support companies that are using more natural ingredients, fewer plastics (thus reducing microplastic leeching) and helping reduce carbon emissions, it’s not just a good story to tell but a means to boost profits and actually improve the livelihoods of our guests. And whenever we think of these stories, we must remember that all our stakeholders are listening; guests care but so do our teams. Hence, sustainability and other CSR efforts need to be communicated internally just as much as they are used to sell the hotel to travelers.
From your perspective, what are the most exciting emerging trends in wellness in the luxury hospitality industry? Are there any trends you believe hype and may not endure?
Longevity is the new wellness. The latter term can be quite ambiguous, which is both bad and good due its flexibility. Longevity on the other hand more definitively inscribes those practices that will give an individual greater healthspan. There’s more science and measurement involved while still allowing for brands to get creative with how they express themselves within this framework.
And going back to my first answer, if the core goal is the feeling of wellbeing, then what better way to provide this then through the diagnostics, techniques and experiences that are backed by medical research to give more vitality for a greater length of time? Longevity has been a goal for humankind since the start of recorded history – just look at the plot of Gilgamesh, the first written story – and as such, this trend isn’t going anywhere because it’s always been here!
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