The Global Rise of Wellness, and Japan Spa
and Wellness Tourism
Masashi ARAKAWA, Ph.D.
Professor and Dean
Center for Health and Wellness Tourism Research,
Graduate School of Tourism Sciences, University of the Ryukyus,
Okinawa, Japan.
The concept of wellness was first put forward by the American Halbert Dunn M.D. in 1961, as an understanding of health that was not limited just to the body, but took a broader, more holistic approach. For a long time, research and public awareness in wellness had been largely limited to medicine and health related fields, but in recent years the concept has gained greater attention from all manner of sectors, such as the spa industry, the beauty industry, the food and beverage industry, and the tourism industry, to name just a few. Of late the Global Wellness Institute has defined wellness as “wellness as the active pursuit of activities, choices and lifestyles that lead to a state of holistic health”, with the latest definition put forward by Arakawa from the University of the Ryukyus (Japan) being that wellness is “designing a rich life on the basis of physical health, mental health, environmental health, and social health, to achieve self-actualization.” (2017) Using this new concept of wellness, it becomes possible to use it to attract new fields, including not only health and medicine, but also lifestyle industries including clothing, food, and living, as well as even the economic societies’ wellness, cultural activities and wellness, and the environmental wellness. Even in the tourism industry, major hotel chains are seizing the new business opportunities arising from this new keyword, “wellness,” and are beginning to develop menus to meet concept of wellness, and provide related services. Wellness is rich in opportunities for partnerships across industries and professionals, new service innovations, and development of new markets.
Including the healthcare market, the wellness industry, which seeks a healthier, more beautiful, and sustainable model of health and beauty, and which is on the verge of a major growth trend as a new business that seeks harmony between the internal and external environments. wellness tourism and healthcare market value $4.2 trillion according to the latest reports in 2018. Across the globe, 690 million people have participated in wellness tourism, which accounts for 15.6% of all travel revenue for the whole world. Therefore, in this lecture, I intend to present the latest information on the Japanese spa and wellness tourism industries, within the context of global trends in the wellness field.
Masashi ARAKAWA, Ph.D.
Professor and Dean
Center for Health and Wellness Tourism Research, Graduate
School of Tourism Sciences, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan.
◆Dr. Arakawa was born in Fukushima Prefecture in 1972.
He graduated from Graduate School of Medicine in Fukuoka University. His research expertise is epidemiology and title of doctoral dissertation is “the Relationship between Hypertension and Stroke in Centenarians (over 100 years old people), Okinawa Japan” (Cerebrovasc Dis. 2005; 233-238).
He conducted pioneer research on wellness tourism at Japanese universities in 2005.
He is a leading scholar in health tourism, wellness tourism, and thalassotherapy research in Asia.
◆Major wellness program supervision／achievement
・The Ritz Carlton Okinawa new wellness plan “Ryukyu Wellness Detox & Charge”
・ANA InterContinental Ishigaki Resort Spa Agarosa “Euglena B. C. A. D. Spa Cuisine”
・Halekulani Okinawa wellness program “The Secrets of Longevity”.
E-mail: h069475@tm.u-ryukyu.ac.jp
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Website:
health-tourism.tm.u-ryukyu.ac.jp
