There is a great potential in India as Indian travellers are very health conscious and travelling for health related issues are becoming very common here. The desire for wellness, healthy food, weight loss programmes and beauty is constantly increasing, along with an interest in golf.
According to Kathrin Boerger, Head – Sales and Marketing, Grand Resort Bad Ragaz, the trend is that room nights from India are slowly increasing. “In 2011, we had 600 room nights from India which was increased to 900 room nights in 2012. We are expecting to grow fast in India and are likely to touch 4,500 to 5,000 room nights in 2015. We are positioning our resort as a leading health wellness resort in Europe,” she added.
Her confidence to grow at a faster pace in India lies in the offering of the resort. “The main USP of our resort is the thermal waters that attract many travellers from around the world. We also have four thermal water swimming pools apart from a palatial new Tamina Therme spa. The sports and health clinic is overseen by the Chief Medical Officer of the Swiss Olympic team,” she said.
The resort, which has been receiving a lot of world-class players and business tycoons from across the world, is aiming to foray into these segments in India. “As of now, we do not have sports icons from India and we are looking at creating awareness about our offering to this segment. Moreover, we are also looking at tapping the Bollywood actors,” she stated, informing that the resort is focused on tapping high-end tourism from India, not the mass tourism. The resort has also come up with a new itinerary for Indian honeymooners. “We have created a special two-night package with wellness experience for Indian honeymooners,” she added.
Grand Resort Bad Ragaz is also aiming at tapping the Indian MICE market. “We participated in Young Presidents Organisation’s meet in 2012 and offered for them to visit our resort. Some of them availed our offer. We need to have unique strategy to attract high-end segments from India,” Vasudha Sondhi, Managing Director, Outbound Marketing that represents Grand Resort Bad Ragaz in India, said.
According to Sondhi, the main source markets for the resort are Delhi and Mumbai. “We have already been to Chennai, Bengaluru, Coimbatore, Ahmedabad and Pune, and are planning to go to Nashik, Chandigarh and other cities in Punjab to create awareness about the offerings of the resort,” Sondhi added.
