The Global Wellness Tourism Congress (GWTC) held its first roundtable in London on 1 April to plan the growth of the US$439bn (€317bn, £261bn) global wellness travel market.

24 tourism board, travel and health leaders took part in a Q&A at the Dorchester hotel – the first of three meetings – moderated by GWTC executives Anni Hood and Susie Ellis. They discussed the different language necessary to promote wellness tourism to consumers and governments.

The umbrella term of “wellness tourism” doesn’t resonate with consumers, who need to know exactly what they can expect from a specific, tangible service – according to James Berresford, chief executive of VisitEngland.

Diane Bouzebiba, managing director of Amadeus UK and Ireland, argued that the wellness tourism industry must standardise its classifications of sub-products – such as hot springs, yoga retreats and weight loss resorts – so that consumers can use technology to search through clear categories. “We live in an age of extreme consumer search where travellers want agencies and websites to manage every aspect of their trip” she said.

Additionally, participants found that telling consumers they should embrace healthier travel options because of the perception that it will do them good is a strategy that often backfires. “Few people are interested in that, talk about having fun and making wellness tourism a core part of an enjoyable, aspirational lifestyle,” said Filipe Silva, director of Portuguese Tourism.

It was also agreed that industry stakeholders must make wellness tourism more mainstream and affordable. “Price perceptions must change so we can showcase this as a mainstream sector rather than a luxury niche – because too many people still believe the latter,” said Diane Bouzebiba.

The roundtable highlighted the key aspects of concern to cover when motivating governments to push for wellness tourism growth – the impact on local financial economy and jobs. “You have to give governments the empirical evidence for its value, but you have to get it down to their language – and the wellness tourism industry needs to get together and message the same things,” said Helen Marano, vice president of Government and Industry Affairs at WTTC.

Participants concurred that data from the “Global Wellness Tourism Economy” report – released in October 2013 – gives stakeholders substantial evidence in their case for industry growth. For example, the sector provides a world economic impact of US$1.3tn (€962bn, £809bn) and 12m jobs worldwide.

The congress attendees also said that there are not enough well-trained people to fill positions opening up in wellness tourism, calling for education infrastructure to be developed to meet demand. “Governments need to understand that tourism cannot be automated and a wellness sector cannot be automated,” said Ruiz de Lera of Spain Tourism.

Tourism directors highlighted the need to promote unique national wellness resources over copied inauthentic offerings, with Graham Wason, co-founder of All Being Well, saying: “You need to build on what you’re known for, and not pioneer too much.”

In Europe, “Alpine Wellness” is a USP for the Swiss wellness industry; Spain has a 3,000 year-old tradition of oil therapy, wine and spas; Portugal is planning to broadening the appeal of its natural thermal waters; and Finland focuses on sauna and its vast expanses of unspoiled nature.

Despite already representing one in every seven tourism dollars, the roundtable concluded that the wellness tourism industry is still very young. “It’s very fragmented, with great opportunity if we’re clear about what it is and train people to deliver within it, said Steve Brown, a founding director of Center Parcs.

Mike Greenacre, vice chairman of the Travel Foundation compared the wellness sector to the UK cruise industry, which has grown annual trips more than four-fold in the last 25 years: “We need to take a broader view of how the wellness tourism industry will develop over the next 2 to 3 decades.”

The two additional roundtables scheduled for the first half of 2014 will take place in New York city and Washington DC.

The GWTC falls under the umbrella of the Global Wellness Institute – an independent body which aims to help attract investment from outside the industry to support growth opportunities for the sector.