Interview with Ms. Sun Yuxuan, the President of Sheenjoy Health and Wellness Tourism Group
Positioned as high-end vacation resorts, Sheenjoy hotels are located in unique destinations with stunning scenery and rich natural resources, aiming to provide guests with joyful and healthy holiday experiences. Though a relatively new brand, with its continual development and steady operations, Sheenjoy has become a trustworthy choice in the hospitality industry. Now, Sheenjoy is beginning to shift to the health care industry and has plans for dozens of wellness tourism programs that target the market demand, further driving the active and healthy development of the health industry.
Sheenjoy Health and Wellness Tourism Group’s president Ms. Sun Yuxuan is the sole figure behind the company’s success. With a master’s degree in Business Administration from Tsinghua University and a bachelor’s degree in Economic Administration from Fudan University, Ms. Sun has been dedicated to real estate and the hospitality industry since the 1990s. In 2005, she established the first Sheenjoy hotel – Kunming Anning Spring Soul Garden Spa & Resort. Afterwards, she created various influential business modes such as Sheenjoy Health, Sheenjoy Wellness Tourism, Sheenjoy Senior Migratory Living and Health Maintenance Vacation. SpaChina interviewed her to learn more about her current wellness campaign in China.
How does Sheenjoy differentiate itself from other wellness resorts?
Our vision is to create a place where guests can talk with their inner self and pamper their mind and soul. So with all our hearts, we keep pursuing perfection in every aspect, from design and construction to operations and service, aiming to set a premium and romantic brand image.
Sheenjoy hotels has more family guests than other resorts. What are the particular requirements of China’s family guests in terms of hotels and resorts?
It is true. From the very beginning, we have created two sub-brands for Sheenjoy Hotels to target different guest groups. One is Sheenjoy and the other is Sheenjoy YI. The former is precisely a leisure vacation resort brand designed for Chinese middle-class family guests, while the latter offers body-mind pampering and a recovery experience for high-end consumers both home and abroad.
The pillars of Sheenjoy’s family guests are young parents normally ranging from 20 to 35 years old. They enjoy spending vacations together with other family members on weekends, holidays and festivals. So they usually prefer the resorts which can offer multiple facilities and services to cater to the needs of both old and young. They prefer a relaxing style of the hotel’s interior design. And they have higher demands on the comfort level of the hardware facilities and everything the hotel offers.
What services and facilities do Sheenjoy hotels offer to the elderly and children? What development potential do you see with those two markets?
Both of these two markets have great potential in China’s hospitality industry. Almost all inland investors and resort operators have realized this. For children, in addition to offering a homey interior and highly comfortable appliances, we also create dedicated theme rooms for kids such as CAT, BABE BEAR, and other services including a children’s park, DIY studio, painting and calligraphy center, reading room and hot spring pools. In the restaurant, we have children’s DIY cooking lessons. For elders, we have created special rooms for them to live in both medium and long term. In these rooms, there are skid resistance and anti-collision facilities and emergency buttons. We also offer laundry and room cleaning services for them. Other facilities for elders include a senior care reception center, recreational center, a canteen with a tailored menu, music and dance studio and fitness center. Apart from these, we have a health and wellness center, hot spring center, organic farm and more for all guests to enjoy. It is our goal to become a vacation platform of joy and health which is the first choice for family vacation guests.
Wellness Tourism has been flourishing rapidly in China in recent years. From your perspective, what are the characteristics of wellness tourism compared with traditional leisure tourism?
The biggest difference between wellness tourism and traditional leisure tourism is that the former has the goal of improving body and mental conditions while the latter is for mere recreation. Every aspect of wellness tourism is designed around health improvement including destination selection, design and construction, functional planning, business models, service modes, and etc.
What guest groups do Sheenjoy Wellness Tourism projects target?
Sheenjoy wellness tourism projects mainly target modern elite groups who suffer from sub-health conditions. They are usually well-educated, affluent, and are specialists in a certain area. They are also passionate about social public affairs and make endeavors to push forward society’s progress. However, due to their busy work schedule and burdens of life, they also suffer from various discomforts of body and mind. So they not only hope for a leisurely trip but also desire to be healed during the journey.
What role does Sheenjoy hotel and spa play in its wellness tourism projects? How do you integrate them with other resources to offer a more comprehensive wellness tourism project?
Sheenjoy’s wellness tourism is developed based on consumers’ increasing attention to and pursuit of health, as well as the increasing market segmentation. We study and search for the most suitable destinations for wellness experiences. We also take into consideration the travel habits and health demands of our guests, and then develop a series of wellness tourism programs for joyful and healthy experiences.
As China’s aging population keeps rising, elderly people are often the target of wellness projects. Has Sheenjoy developed any tourism or real estate project to target this group?
Yes, we have senior care and living programs especially designed for elders between 55 and 75 years old who can walk and move freely. Now we have accomplished 36 senior care retreats and 3 wellness resorts nationwide. As a result, more elders can set off on their wellness journey any time they want. We offer butler services for each elder throughout the program.
Two years ago, the national and regional governments launched many policies guiding and supporting the construction of wellness projects. Do Sheenjoy wellness tourism projects conform to the guidance of these policies?
Definitely. Our projects are in high consistency with the core spirit of these wellness policies. Yes. In the last couple of years, both the national and regional governments have issued many standards and outlines to promote the development of China’s wellness industry. Among them, the Healthy China 2030 Plan issued by The Central Committee and State Council in October 2016 calls for developing new modes of health services and actively enhancing the integration of health, senior care, tourism, internet, fitness and food. The Plan also advocates developing the health & culture industries, setting standards and regulations for health and medical tourism, creating internationally competitive health and medical tourism destinations, rapidly developing TCM tourism, as well as developing quality brands and industrial clusters prospering in virtuous circles, and supporting the development of medium small and micro-sized enterprises. To respond to the call, Sheenjoy has launched “Sheenjoy Wellness World” for all those who love and pursue healthy lifestyles. We focus on a holistic health and joy of body, heart and soul and therefore have tailored a series of health products such as health tour and wellness vacations. We want to make people healthier and happier and our vision is to become a global healthy lifestyle platform. We have developed four core businesses: wellness tourism, senior migratory living and health maintenance vacation, integrative health and health education. We have already debuted several product lines including Sheenjoy Wellness World, Sheenjoy Medical Hot Spring, Sheenjoy Seasonal Wellness SPA and Sheenjoy Senior Migratory Living and Health Maintenance Vacation, as well as 20 Sheenjoy wellness retreats. So undoubtedly, Sheenjoy has been totally consistent with the wellness policies of the government.
What plans do you have for the future development of Sheenjoy Wellness Tourism?
Sheenjoy hopes to become a premium healthy lifestyle platform through continual study and exploration. We want to make people healthier and happier.
What wellness projects by Sheenjoy are most popular in China?
Generally speaking, we are still at the initial phase of the transformation to wellness industry. Most of our projects will be accomplished in 2019. At present, many of our 3-day-2-night wellness vacation programs, 7-day-6-night senior living programs and senior care programs are most popular among guests.
