Alta Thoughts (August 2022)
By Rakesh Patel
You will have seen the rapid growth in wellness and sustainability travel. Global wellness tourism has accelerated post-Covid, growing at 21% CAGR, and the majority of travellers now want a more experiential and sustainable trip. Alta Capital manages real estate funds that invest in future hospitality trends such as wellness, experiential and sustainability. We source and acquire undervalued/undermanaged boutique hotel assets and reposition/redevelop them for these future trends.
By way of background, myself and the team have extensive experience in this sector. I have worked in London, HK and Tokyo in real estate and finance, and my family, through multiple generations, have been involved in wellness, so we understand this space well.
Every month, we circulate a brief summary of our latest comments on articles related to hospitality, wellness, sustainability, real estate, travel and tourism in Asia, etc. Below are some of our latest thoughts. You can follow us directly on LinkedIn and go to our website.
We are always happy to exchange ideas and receive feedback, so please feel free to reach out.
The Global Wellness Economy: Looking Beyond COVID
The global wellness economy is forecast to grow to nearly $7 trillion by 2025. The latest research from Global Wellness Institute shows a sharp acceleration in growth, triggered by the Covid pandemic. Looking at the data, the largest growth from 2019 to 2025 (smoothing the 2020 dip) comes from sectors like Wellness Tourism, Mental Wellness, Wellness Real Estate.
The pandemic has brought many wellness dynamics into sharper focus, including proactive prevention and immunity as a lifestyle choice, the impact of the built environment on well-being, a recalibration of work and life balance, environmental and societal sustainability, to name a few.
This gruelling global experience has engendered a shift in how consumers understand, experience, and expect wellness. This shift will have a broad impact for the wellness economy and the industry built around its multitude of sectors.
15 most important hotel technology trends for 2022
Hotels becoming the best version of themselves. The technological leap forward during Covid has impacted many sectors, including hospitality. Whilst digital solutions will never replace the human touch, they can enhance the experience.
AI, hotel apps, VR, chatbots, smart tech, IoT, Big Data, facial recognition, etc, all have a place in both the front and back-end hotel ecosystem, and increasingly guests will come to expect and demand a more curated, streamlined, digitally enhanced experience
We are looking forward to a new digital rich age for hotels.
Whilst the E in ESG is headline news, the question is whether the pandemic will trigger a sharper focus on the S?
Moving beyond diversity and inclusion into broader societal impact, starts with properly articulating an authentic company purpose and linking it to strategy.
Taking a multi-stakeholder approach in this process, gaining real insight into needs, can create both economic and social value.
The Land of Smiles is steadily re-opening its borders in a series of tourist friendly steps. The measured progress is much needed and no surprise, given Thailand’s reliance on tourism, which represents 20% of GDP.
Investment will follow, as this JLL’s Hotels & Hospitality Group report highlights. Beyond a simple return to mass-market boxes, we expect a more lifestyle/experiential product will emerge, with a positive ESG impact.