McKinsey data shows 60% of consumers prioritise healthy ageing, fuelling demand for diagnostic-led retreat programmes, though experts warn "longevity" is largely a marketing claim with limited clinical backing.
As wellness tourism expands into a multi-billion dollar industry, BoF sits down with Vivianne Garcia-Tunon, vice president of wellbeing at Auberge Collection, to unpack how the ultra-luxury hospitality brand is strategically delivering on luxury travellers’ evolving expectations.
The EHL Hospitality Business School Food and Well-being Trend Report spotlights how changing consumer priorities—greater health awareness, environmental challenges, and shifting cultural expectations—are transforming the role of food in our lives. More than mere sustenance, food today is viewed as a driver of holistic well-being, embracing both the pleasure it provides (hedonia) and the sense of purpose, connection, and health that underpins it (eudaimonia).
When the Six Senses Residences Dubai Marina is completed in 2028, the gleaming 122-story building will be the tallest residential structure in the world, complete with luxury fitness and wellness amenities to match. Residents will be able to lift weights, take an outdoor yoga class or swim laps in a pool more than 100 stories high in the clouds.
The now multi-trillion-dollar wellness industry shows no signs of slowing down, and the hospitality industry continues to evolve to align with guests’ shifting desires. According to travel industry site Skift’s State of Travel 2024 report, wellness tourism boasted a growth rate of more than 36 percent from 2020 to 2022.
For the inaugural Wellness Hospitality Conference in Milan on November 22, 2023, Adam delivered a keynote speech on the future of wellness, focusing on innovative and technological wellness practices that will present incredibly lucrative opportunities for spas over the next decade. In the article by European Spa Magazine, the entire full-day conference is covered, including all other speakers.
Staying in hotels can be a harrowing experience for people with disabilities. When Julie Reiskin, 58, tried to book an accessible room in Chicago, she got one with no roll-in shower. In D.C., the bed was too high. Throughout her travels, she’s often had to go days without bathing and has had to sleep in her power wheelchair.
Intravenous drops, sound healing, forest bathing — these are just some of the activities hotels are offering to entice businesses to hold their corporate retreats with them.
Wellness has developed into a must-have component of both leisure and business travel, but it is not sufficient anymore for hotels merely to have one area dedicated to health. Rather, hotels must incorporate it into every aspect of the hotel’s design, space and offerings.
The trend toward wellness and transformative experiences is a popular one in the tourism and hospitality industries, but many companies are missing the point.
A discussion on service excellence in healthcare intrigued me while recently moderating a conference on medical tourism in the GCC region. Patients can rarely challenge the technical competency of the medical staff, let alone provide immediate satisfaction feedback.
Hyatt has wellness on the brain—quite literally. The Chicago-based corporation hired its first Head of Wellbeing, Mia Kyricos, two years ago, and recently announced a new partnership with meditation company Headspace that will bring new offerings to both hotel guests and employees.
As the new decade begins, it's becoming more apparent to the travel industry that the well-being of the individual is intrinsically tied to the well-being of the environment. That's why we are starting to see hospitality companies looking into getting certified for wellness.
Yoga retreats and spa getaways used to be the definition of wellness travel. Guests would fill their days with beachside yoga classes or couples' massages, dine on healthy fare, and lounge poolside. And yes, those types of trips still exist, but the days of one-size-fits-all wellness travel are long gone.
As the decade comes to a close, it's inevitable that we'd start thinking about how wellness travel has changed over the past 10 years. With more people interested in fitness than ever before, there has been an uptick in people working out while traveling. ClassPass recently made this announcement in its 2019 Fitness Trends, finding that 18 percent of business travelers booked workouts in a city other than where they lived, compared with 14 percent in 2018.
It only makes sense that business travel — including meetings and conventions — would incorporate more aspects of the wellness movement. While industrywide changes are happening, it's debatable whether they've made a real impact on the lives of business travelers yet.
The Bavarian city saved 298 apartments in the past year - which were rented illegally as a holiday home or to medical tourists who were left empty or used as an office. That does not sound like much, but to produce 298 social housing would cost around 69 million euros. Social Affairs Officer Dorothee Schiwy emphasizes this in the new report on the misappropriation of housing. The action of the city shows "clearly visible successes".
Wellness tourism is growing twice as fast as the tourism sector overall, accounting for around 830 million trips a year and is worth an estimated $639 billion, according to figures released at World Travel Market London. It can encourage people to travel beyond over-crowded destinations, spend more and enjoy new experiences.
The global wellness industry grew 12.8% in the last two years, from a $3.7 trillion market in 2015 to $4.2 trillion in 2017, according to an in-depth research report, the 2018 Global Wellness Economy Monitor, released today by the nonprofit Global Wellness Institute (GWI). This all-new data on the ten markets that comprise the global wellness economy provides fresh evidence that wellness remains one of the world's biggest and fast-growing industries.
The luxury travel network Virtuoso® has revealed the nominations for its 2018 Best of the Best awards to be announced at their 30th annual Travel Week conference. The awards will take place August 15, 2018, at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas and will mark 12 years since the organization began honoring the best properties in the world.