In need of A CURE
The wellness industry, which is expected to touch ` 90,000 crore in a few years, lacks quality checks and certified licensed personnel
All is not well with the wellness market in India, roughly worth ` 49,000 crore with related services accounting for 40% of the entire market, as per Pricewaterhouse CoopersFICCI estimates. In the years to follow, wellness services will require 600,000 additional skilled personnel but training them and acquiring specialised skillsets is an area of concern.
The report , Riding the Growth Wave - Wellness, reveals that lack of universally accepted accreditation or standards of education is a big challenge.
The talent crunch impacts scalability plans of organised players and presents a huge challenge in employee retention.
Adjacent industries such as healthcare, hospitality, gaming and education are all converging on the wellness space to capitalise on its growth.
Hospitals have now transitioned from pure play health care to providers of servi ces such as preventive check-ups, curative care, surgeries and wellness services. It’s a journey from curative to preventive care. Even five-star hotel chains have branded spas across properties besides having salons and fitness clubs within their premises. Many corporates have also set up wellness retail chains.
The industry includes products and services across the board such as cosmetics, salons, cosmetic treatments, slimming services, fitness equipment, fitness services, all estimated to be around
` 20,000 crore, the report says. The health and wellness food and beverages dominate the ` 13,000 crore nutrition market. The rejuvenation market, including the spa industry, is estimated to be around
` 500 crore. The alter nate therapy market, which includes ayurveda treatments, is estimated to be worth around
` 13,000 crore. Job profiles in the sector range from therapists and wellness consultants to spa supervisors, spa managers and yoga instructors etc, says Dr Manish Patwardhan, SpaConsultants. The biggest challenge that the sector faces is regulation.
The governments have all along pushed the wellness sector from a skill development perspective. The need of the hour is to bring various regulations that would bolster the industry and bring about professionalism. Another challenge is the unorganised nature of the industry, he says, adding getting trained manpower is a big challenge too.
Dabur India Ltd operates in the health and wellness market with a range of ayurvedic and natural health care products.
The healthcare business accounts for nearly 27% of Dabur’s domestic revenue. The company has kicked off a new i nitiative - - Project LEAD (Leveraging Through Empowered Anchoring and Detailing). As part of the initiative, the company is focussing on improving coverage of healthcare professionals, both ayurvedic and allopathic.
“Doctor advocacy shall be the key to demand generation, and a medical detailing team has already been put in place for the same. Around 170 medical representatives have been hired and we will take this number up to 275 by the end of the fiscal,” says V Krishnan, executive director, Dabur India Ltd.