Branding Strategies and Ecolodges Architecture to Develop Wellness Tourism in Egypt

Abstract

. Wellness has become the holistic approach that raises a community’s quality of life. Wellness tourism is a form of therapy based on natural resources; it is used to treat patients as well as tourists who want to blend into the natural environment. Therefore, wellness tourism needs preservation through adapting sustainable approaches. Eco lodges, which are examples of sustainable architecture, can act as a protection tool for wellness destinations. Their signature architecture and unique built environment could promote wellness tourism. The promotion and development of wellness destinations could be supported by branding as an important marketing strategy. This research aims to present a matrix that can integrate the architectural elements of eco lodges and branding strategy elements. A comparative methodology is used to analyze branding strategies’ theories, models, and frameworks to propose the effective branding elements that could develop wellness eco lodges. Egypt is one of the countries that is endowed with a wide variety of natural resources and is a well-known nation for its ecotourism activities such as wellness activities. One of the most significant and underappreciated wellness destinations is Wadi El Natroun. It has distinguished by its salty lakes like El Hamra Lake, which has healing characteristics besides its religious significance and unique architectural character. Therefore, a branding strategy is proposed to develop and promote Wadi Natroun’s wellness abilities through eco lodge architectural elements.