Your leisure time is one of your most critical assets, and Americans far too often leave this asset on the table. We're notorious - worldwide - for expired vacation days.
Your vitality is another essential resource.
Post-pandemic, all travel is wellness travel. Fully integrated into travel experiences, wellness is prioritized in myriad ways.
The Global Wellness Institute notes that wellness tourism will likely hit $1.3 trillion by 2025. And 76 percent of respondents to a 2021 American Express consumer survey intend to travel to improve their wellbeing following the pandemic.
And the travel industry is adapting accordingly. Here are wellness travel innovations that are here to stay:
Urban retreats As life returns to our cities, urban retreats rise. And two top wellness hospitality brands just opened heavenly havens. Six Senses Rome offers a modern-day take on the ancient ritual of Roman baths and a dedicated Earth Lab to learn about sustainability. The new Aman New York is a three-story stunning sanctuary. And Aman will open its first sister brand hotel, Janu, in Tokyo later this year.
Sleep programs Recognizing the critical importance of restorative rest, sleep programs emerge as foundational. Canyon Ranch, a leader in wellness getaways for over thirty years, offers Mastering Sleep: Expert Guidance for Better Rest. Along the shores of Lake Lucerne, Waldhotel Health & Medical Excellence features a sleep escape with guided exercise, forest bathing, and cryotherapy to reduce stress and anxiety.
Intentional & Science-based Resorts integrate hard science into their offerings. For example, SHA Wellness introduced a performance program for CEOs with health assessments to set strategic aims via nutrition, physical exercise, rest, stress and emotion management, detoxification, the intestinal microbiome, and hormonal balance. At Carillon Miami Wellness Resort, guests can get diagnostic tests on over 100 biomarkers and use the results to illuminate a pathway to longevity.
Nature More hotels and resorts help travelers integrate the thrill of natural beauty and the excitement of exploration. Adventurers can explore Santa Barbara's sea caves during a stay at El Encanto, A Belmond Hotel, go "wild swimming" in a lake in the UK's Lake District during a stay at Armathwaite Hall, or relish a wildflower walk with a local forager while staying at the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues Geneva. Wild is in!
Design Hospitality design is bringing the great outdoors indoors, and their designs showcase how environment, balance, and design affect wellbeing. We love Irish Clodagh's textural and earthy design in Miraval Berkshire and Six Sense Douro Valley. American architect Edward Burnham Tuttle Jr put Aman on the map with hotels such as Amanzoe in Greece and Amanyana in Morocco. Another fav is Belgium designer Jean-Michel Gathy whose artistry is integral to the experience of many top luxury hotel brands, including Aman, One & Only, Jumeirah, Capella, Cheval Blanc, and more.
Further expanding wellness travel are offerings that focus on mental health, sustainability, local foods and cooking skills, pro-aging & pro-women, fitness and exercise recovery, and group experiences after years of isolation.
Designing wellness travel is intensely personal and intimate. So whether you're looking for a sound bath, a forest bath, or a water bath, we have an immersion, a holiday, or an escape perfectly suited to your wellbeing needs and your heart's desire.
Head to premierwellnesstravel.com to grab Premier Wellness Travel’s Wellness Travel Guide.
Cassandra Marcella Metzger
Founder of Premier Wellness Travel,
An independent affiliate of EMBARK Beyond
202-333-8850 | [email protected]
Photography by: Courtesy of iStock and Pexels