We met Dr. László Puczkó, inspirer and international strategist in the fields of health, wellbeing, hospitality, leisure, and tourism, recognized for his innovative vision of the role of wellness in hospitality. We asked him a few questions about his work and the future of the industry.
1) Dr. Puczkó, you are active in many areas, from academic research to consulting for hotels and spas:
what would you say is the core of your work today, and where do you focus most of your efforts?
As per my credo consultants’ most valuable assets are their comprehensive and creative approach and professional integrity.
To achieve that one would need to nurture and foster knowledge and intelligence.
Every activity I have been doing follows this credo.
Most of my efforts currently focus on how to infuse wellbeing and lifespan contributing aspects and attributes to leisure, lifestyle, travel and hospitality. Both at micro, i.e. property and at holistic level.
We are also looking into the wellbeing of men as one of the somewhat overlooked areas.
2) Your HTWW Life project is now well known
Could you tell us more about it and its impact on the international wellness landscape?"
I have been working in the field for some 25-30 years. HTWWLife is the result of an organic evolvement from one-off projects to a boutique powerhouse. It is an umbrella for a pool of highly focused specialists as well as a brand for shared values. The understanding and the consequent implementation of the pillars of wellness/wellbeing require wide range of knowledge and expertise. We understand that the wisdom of all means more than the sum of individual components. HTWWLife experts and partners are anchors of their own fields, i.e. we can put together the most suitable team to the task.
As founders we have been authoring industry reports that have become cornerstones. Worked together with global as well as national organizations, e.g. UN Tourism, European Travel Commission, International Trade Center of the World Trade Organization and the United Nations, ministerial bodies in Jordan, UAE, KSA, Malaysia, South Korea, Costa Rica, Hungary and a long line of private clients as well. Our publications, white papers are studies, e.g. Wellness of/for Men, Health, Wellness and Medical Tourism, etc. have become well-known, respected and referenced globally.
3) As a speaker at the Wellness Hotel Conference 2025,
which topics will you focus on, and what key insights do you hope to share with the audience?
It is a very special honour to being invited again. I certainly believe that Wellness Hospitality Conference is the must attend event of the year. Such honour comes with a bit of stress as well. Every industry heavyweight attends, i.e. it really is not easy to come back with inspiring and meaningful content.
This year I will address two key points. The first is looking at how hotels can reach ’backwards’. Hotels offer short term provision to their guests. Many now claim transformative outcomes. Others suggest life extending results. Are these realistic propositions? In rare cases, maybe. In the contrary hotels should enable their guests to use what is in their ‘doggy bag’ of wellness, longevity, vitality practices - brought from home or from their gym. The second point represents an opportunity. Hotels should also choose what role they want to play in the kintsugi paradigm: the hammer or the gold glue?
4) In your opinion,
what are the key factors that determine the success of a hotel spa?
First of all, one would need to have a clear idea about how to measure ‘success’. There is a long list of potential measures from as simple as total revenue to therapist utilisation figures or to guest review scores. It makes a difference if the spa was operated in house, it was rented, or managed by while label partner, etc. Hotels may consider success of the spa not only by revenues (or rental fees) but also by guest conversion rates.
Event at resort hotels guest conversion rates could be rather low (in the tens) and still, that can be a success. Apart from basic factors such as spa menu items, prices, brands used, etc. there are several other factors that can have direct impact on performance, and consequently success. This can range from introduction of innovative technology, e.g. robots and other touchless alternatives, opening hours, signature treatments, pre-packaged sales together with room booking. Some hotel spas especially with large wet areas collect a standard cross charge from every room booked. Operational, marketing, and sales strategies and tactics all have an impact on spa performance. Management’s decisions can determine the success even before the first spa guest walked through the door. The hotel brand in question, owner’s expectations, sales approach, the established competitive set all influence these strategic decisions. Success may be measured together with the hotel’s image and performance. Stunning images of the spa may become key hooks for establishing the aimed market position and price point of the hotel. Event if hardly any guest would book a treatment. May I repeat: make sure you know how you will measure success before the spa opens its doors.
5) What are the most significant trends
you are seeing emerge in the wellness and hospitality sector?
Everybody defines ‘trends’. I am not necessarily buying those. The market is not one mass with uniform characteristics. Lifestyle-based segmentation provides valuable insights but it is not easy to collect. One segment may show rather different characteristics even within the same city! Certain markets are very mature in terms of previous experiences and understanding of wellness. Others are not at all and everything is new to them.
Legislation in one country permits the use of natural assets, traditional healing approaches and holistic programmes, in another it forbids. The list is long. The next-10-hot-trend-in-wellness style publications may shed light on some relevant issues but many are nothing more that attention hooks or clickbaits. One or a couple of those 10 trends may, but also may not be relevant to me as an operator.
You need to sieve trough large number of ‘trends’ to find a really relevant one. What could be seen as a trend, especially in the Western World is the emerging awareness of and the interest in health, wellbeing, quality of life, happiness and healthspan. Of course, these concepts are not synonyms or interchangeable but very much interrelated. How hotels, spas, wellness centers and other establishments take on and respond to the opportunity that very much depends on numerous factors from owners’s intentions to existing market characteristics and staff qualities.
Even major international hotels brands are now open to health-improving solutions and services. The convergence of so far rather separate industries, i.e. healthcare, IT, leisure, hospitality, spa, entertainment will definitely influence the future of spa and wellness provision in hospitality settings.
6) How are new technologies and innovations
transforming the guest experience in modern spas?
Technology is used right if it was given a supporting or facilitating role. In spa environment technology is not supposed to be given the leading role. Certain new approaches, e.g. robotic massage offers are as much as innovation as desperate measures bridging staff shortages. The novelty factor is certainly there. How long will that last? As long as a robot delivered treatment serves as a warm up or prepping the guests for the ‘real deal’ robots do have their place. Or if a hotel spa is unmanned and the robot offers couple of standard treatments as quick fixes. There is the place and the way. Multi-sensory provision, projections, digital environments, soundscapes and experience scapes are all examples of how technology can enhance the spa offer. Still, the power of human touch, the energy between the therapist and the guest may not be replaced by technology anytime soon. Spa operators need to be aware of what level and style of technology and innovation serves as added value and which as a gimmick, a fad or a fashion item. Each can serve an important purpose but the lifespan of fashionable items may be very limited. And those can cost a lot, too.
7) How important are water-based technologies,
such as Experience Showers, horizontal showers, or Kneipp paths, in shaping guest perception and enhancing treatment effectiveness?
As long as these modalities are fitting well the overall treatment programme and wet space provision. If those were used for entertainment purposes only then one may wonder what was the point? Experience showers do have entertainment as well as physiological and psychological impacts. So do horizontal showers or Kneipp paths and other wet components. In wet areas or circuits guests can choose to take these components as many times they prefer. Others where staff involvement is necessary, e.g. Vichy shower they would need to book a session. When it is a free-to-use offer guests’ perception may be more of a goal then treatment effectiveness.
Should any or all the wet provision be part of a treatment journey or package the order and the length of each component is defined by therapeutic objectives. Guest may or may not be aware of these objectives but likely they can benefit from the positive impacts of taking part in the journey. I always recommend spas to create at least one designated journey that links many components under a theme. The storyboard of the theme enlists the order of wet treatments including times for resting and refreshments. These journeys work as torchbearers as well as ambassadors. Most guests need some guidance in spas to get the most out of their visit. Themes journeys can facilitate that and consequently introduce wet components and the impact of those to guests who may never have used any of that before.
8) What are the most common design or management
mistakes you observe in spas that lack an integrated strategic approach?
Based on my experience there are five steps when spa and wellness design and management derails. We call these Fallacy Booby Traps. During the conceptual phase there is the tendency to underestimate the future TOTAL performance. Consultants and owners tend to look at only a handful of performance indicators. Whereas wellness (and health) is typically the field where looking at the total spend makes way more sense, hence the package-pricing model. Designers and owners could very easily fall in love with the design. The result is the overdevelopment of spaces that does not contribute to performance or to guest benefits. The overspending on the infrastructure and therefore the budget too, could result in underspending on OPEX. Saving money on HR, amenities, etc. will not bring the expected results either in terms guest wellbeing or financial performance. Wellness guests appreciate intangible components and attributes (e.g. holistic journey) and less interested in tangible components (e.g. marble wall). We always encourage owners and operators to spend money on creativity and innovation during the conceptual phase, and less on building physical spaces.
9) How do you envision
the evolution of the wellness and spa sector over the next 5–10 years?
I prefer to look at the total picture and less so at the components. The only constant is change, ie every industry and activity changes all the time. Spa and wellness are no exceptions. Still, there are modalities, e.g. thermal bathing that has hardly changed over several hundreds of years. We know more of the beneficial qualities of bathing, architecture where bathing is provided changed, but the actual activity has not changed.
Spiritual systems, holistic approaches, e.g. yoga or ayurveda have not changed much either. There are new approaches to it, e.g. Ying Yang Yoga but the fundamental characteristics remain the same. Concepts with strong foundations will not change much, I do not think. What might do is the way or ways we will use, apply or adapt those. Technology, design, materials will all change. What does not is the expected results ranging from escapism, relaxation, personal growth or social connections. Spa and wellness need to recognize the duality of permanence and change and capitalise on innovations. Do not forget development does not necessarily mean growth! In spa and wellness qualitative measures weigh more than quantitative attributes.
10) What advice would you give to
young professionals who want to specialize in hotel wellness and spa design?
There is so many different potential spaces where wellness could be offered, not only in spas. Designers should be aware of the domains of wellness/wellbeing and they should consider all or many of those in their design thinking. Some places need multi-functional spaces that can accommodate a group of friends enjoying the treatments together. Other spaces need tranquillity and silence. Apply the holistic approach of wellbeing to most or all your designs. I suggest being specialised in wellbeing improving spaces and services. And not in spa design.
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