Demand for wellness services went up during APEC hosting

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu’s wellness sector noted a spike in demand during the past few days but operators cannot confirm whether the development was brought about by the influx of visitors in relation to the APEC meetings.

Spa and Wellness Association of Cebu (SWAC) past president Johnie Lim said in an interview with The Freeman yesterday that for Body & Sole alone, demand for varied wellness services such as massage, facial, among others, went up by 100 percent in the past few days.

"There was an increase in customer traffic but we cannot be certain if these are APEC delegates" Lim said.

Lim's actual report on demand improvement coincided with the impression made by authorities that most APEc delegates, aside from taking side trip tours around the city and neighboring provinces, also are availing of wellness services, either inside their hotel accommodations, or outside.

Department of Trade and Industry-Cebu Provincial Office director Nelia F. Navarro said that, she is still to gather concrete information on the APEC related business generated by the Cebu Health and Wellness Council (CHWC) members.

While the most celebrated APEC meeting event this year, had been able to pour immediate and even long term positive effects to Cebu's economy and its positioning to the international landscape, Navarro said health and wellness industry is clearly one of the beneficiaries, as it is always linked to tourism.

Meanwhile, Lim said the influx of tourists also made the wellness sector alive, despite the difficult business environment in Cebu City.

According to studies, beauty and wellness have become one of the fast growing sectors in the world.

Investing into these services that enhance well-being is not anymore regarded as "mere vanity" but has become an important part of one's ritual.

A growing middle class and consumers' evolving attitude toward health and travel have fueled a global spa and wellness industry worth an estimated US $3.4trillion in 2013, according to a report.

Nutrition and weight loss, preventative and personalized health, complementary and alternative medicine, and beauty and anti-aging treatments were the biggest growing sectors, the report compiled by the non-profit research center SRI International showed. — (FREEMAN)