Tag: tourism

The Economic Effects of Wellness Tourism

On August 11, 2017

Wellness tourism provides immense benefits to the traveler who decides to take a vacation devoted to the advancement of their health and wellbeing; generally, those who embrace wellness in their travels return feeling refreshed and rejuvenated, and committed to a healthier lifestyle. Wellness tourism, as a sector of the travel industry, extends its reach far beyond personal benefits, however. It is also a major economic force.

According to the most recent statistics from the Global Wellness Institute, the global wellness tourism industry is a $3.72 trillion industry. That represents a 10.6% increase from 2013-2015! What’s remarkable about the wellness tourism industry is its resilience despite periods of economic downturn. Even when global GDP fell 3.6% between 2013 and 2015, global wellness tourism experienced double-digit growth. Additionally, the global wellness tourism industry has grown at twice the rate of overall tourism.

These incredible statistics are nothing to take lightly. A few years ago, wellness tourism was not a term that was even in circulation. There was no sector within the travel industry devoted specifically to wellness. Now, the wellness industry represents 5.1% of global economic output.

So what does the increase in global wellness tourism mean and why does it matter? First, wellness tourism is inextricably linked to other markets, such as spas, hotels, nutrition and weight loss, beauty, public health, alternative medicine, real estate, and workplace wellness, for which had has contributed major economic gains. It benefits economies all over the world, creating 17.9 million jobs worldwide. The average wellness traveler spends 61% more per trip than the standard tourist, so every market wellness industry touches reaps the benefits.

Second, and most importantly, the massive economic success of wellness tourism indicates a shift in attitudes around the world, as more and more people begin to invest in their health and wellness. There is a concerted effort among people around the world to look prioritize wellness, as the GWI reports that wellness expenditures are nearly half as large as total global health expenditures- $3.72 trillion compared to $7.6 trillion in overall healthcare spending.

Katherine Johnston, a Senior Research Fellow for GWI notes the deeper changes the booming global wellness tourism economy is contributing to:

A profound shift in the way people consume wellness is underway: once a luxury or ‘add-on’, it’s now being infused into every aspect of daily life- from how people work to how they travel. And the spend on proactive healthy choices- on wellness- will continue to comprise a greater percentage of massive multi-trillion industries, whether real estate, food and beverage, or travel.

As the global wellness tourism industry continues on its upward path, people of all industries and backgrounds from all around the world have the opportunity to share the wealth, both physically and fiscally.

The Most Relaxing Destinations Around the World

By deepmarwaha

On July 7, 2017

In Blog

Some vacations are about getting out and taking in new sites, gaining a greater cultural awareness. You may barely get a chance to catch your breath, but it will be worth it at the end of the day when you fall into bed remembering everything you got to experience. Wellness tourism takes a different approach where the vacation is more about investing in yourself than the people and places around you.

When your personal health is on the line, it’s okay to be a little selfish. If your mental and physical wellbeing are at the top of your checklist, then these six relaxing destinations are definitely worth looking into.

1. Phuket, Thailand

Thailand is a pioneer in wellness tourism, from its lush, tropical paradise atmosphere to its vast health and wellness offerings. Thailand’s hospitality industry has really marketed itself as a center for wellness over the last few years, with hotels like CC’s Hideaway rising up to offer full-service wellness packages, such as a yoga retreat that includes healthy meals, meditation, massages, and daily activities such as surf lessons and cooking classes.

2. The Maldives

Type the Maldives into your Google search bar and you will see that words aren’t even needed to describe how tranquil this destination is. The Maldives consists of hundreds of tropical islands surrounded by the crystal blue waters of the Indian Ocean which beckon visitors from all around the world seeking the ultimate relaxing escape. There are a plethora of spa and luxury resort options on the islands, such as the villas at Kuramathi or the Cinnamon Dhonveli Resort.

3. Vancouver, Canada

You may associate Canada with Niagara Falls, maple syrup, hockey, and poutine, and not necessarily relaxation. However, the city of Vancouver has a laid-back vibe that other major cities do not. With quiet, pristine beaches and beautiful mountain views, you are sure to find a relaxing vacation destination in Vancouver.

4. Dubai, UAE

My current residence of Dubai still has some room for improvement with its wellness offerings and, known as a luxury city, a lot of its attractions are not affordable to the average person. However, for those willing and able to invest the money in a one-of-a-kind getaway, Dubai will provide. From world-class restaurants to helicopter skiing, there are some relaxing experiences that can only be found in Dubai.

5. Vientiane, Laos

Laos has rightfully earned the title of “laid-back Laos,” from the travel blog, Our Big Fat Travel Adventure. The capital city, Vientiane, is rich in culture with its historic landmarks, delicious restaurants, and Buddhist religion. In Laos, there are plenty of opportunities to embrace the meditative and spiritual values of Buddhism.

6. Marbella, Spain

Most people visiting Spain will look to hit up the cities of Madrid and Barcelona, but one hidden gem that does not get the attention it deserves is the coastal city of Marbella. Relaxation is easy on Marbella’s warm, sunny beaches, and there are plenty of boutiques, bars, and golf courses to help you unwind as well.

Must-See Attractions in Dubai

By deepmarwaha

On May 11, 2017

In Blog

Ranked at the fourth most visited city in the world, Dubai boasts incredible landmarks and attractions that bring in over 14.2 million tourists annually. No matter if you are visiting Dubai for your next solo adventure, romantic getaway, or even family vacation, here is a list of attractions you cannot afford to miss:

The Dubai Fountain

Located at the base of the Burj Khalifa, the Dubai Fountain boasts the world’s largest choreographed fountain system. During each show, the Dubai Fountain sprays over 22,000 gallons of water up to 150 feet in the air, enrapturing audiences with the magnificent displays that are perfectly in sync with a variety of music. Shows take place throughout the day and are entirely free to attend.

The Burj Khalifa Observation Deck

Once your fountain show has concluded, head inside of the magnificent Burj Khalifa — the world’s tallest building — for one of the most breathtaking experiences of your life. After ascending nearly 1,500 feet, the elevator doors will open to the Burj Khalifa Observation Deck. This deck provides a complete, 360-degree view of the city and the outlying deserts and, of course, the ocean. Cost of admission ranges from $95 – $500 USD, and it is strongly recommended that you purchase tickets well in advance of your trip.

Talise Spa

Located in scenic Burj Al Arab, Talise Spa offers a range of luxurious treatments that are beneficial to both the mind and body, including: detoxifying lymphatic drainages, during which a trained professional combines rhythmic strokes with soft pumping motions to promote the flow of lymphatic fluid throughout the body; infrared saunas, which boast the ability to promote intracellular cleansing by enhancing detoxifying enzymes; and even computerized skin analysis, which can quickly determine your skin’s texture, amount of sun damage, and effectively select the best treatment regimen to improve your skin’s overall health.

Softouch Spa

This authentic Ayurvedic spa boasts not only the traditional treatments one would expect a spa to offer — massages, aromatherapy, and even pampering manicures — but a unique, ancient Indian experience as well. The Abhayanga is a holistic oil massage therapy designed to detoxify the Body, Mind, and Spirit. This treatment combines a combination of oils — both aromatic and herbal — that are tailored to your personal Dosha (mind and body) type. Complete with lymphatic stimulation, this massage is sure to cleanse your body of a variety of toxins, leaving you feeling refreshed and rejuvenated.

Work Stress Feeds Into Wellness Tourism Industry

By deepmarwaha

On April 4, 2017

In Blog

Have you ever wondered why so many offices offer their employees cool perks like fitness centers, snacks, meditation spaces, even nap pods? It isn’t hard to put two and two together. These benefits are all nice, but they’re in place to accommodate work stress. According to Corporate Wellness Magazine, work stress, defined as “The adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures or other types of demands placed on them at work,” costs U.S. companies an estimated $300 billion each each and sleep deprivation as a result of excessive work costs another $63 billion.

Work stress is a big problem, especially in America where employees are often overworked and underpaid; however, it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. According to the Health and Safety Executive, it affects nearly every individual at some point in his or her life. A survey from Harris Interactive found that 80 percent of American workers could identify at least one stressor in the workplace, the most common culprits being excessive workloads, low pay, and long commutes.

The only upside of all this work stress is that a desire for healthier lifestyles is a byproduct of it, feeding indirectly into the wellness tourism industry. Businesses spend 200-300 percent more on indirect healthcare costs (sick days and decreased productivity) than they do on direct costs in the form of medical, pharmacy, and disability claims, but it seems at least that, with wellness tourism, employees are responding to their stressful environments in the best way they can by making their health a priority.

The phrase “wellness tourism” did not even exist seven years ago, and the industry has already seen amazing growth and changes since it first came into being, eclipsing the growth of tourism overall by a margin of 7%. The global wellness tourism industry is valued at over $500 billion and is expected to expand to $808 billion (nearly a trillion!) in the next few years, considering it grew at a rate of 14% over the past two years compared with 6.9% for overall tourism.

Wellness travelers represent “a new generation of travel enthusiasts,” according to Fast Company. When the industry was just taking off, it catered to the more affluent traveler. Now, realizing the need and desire for wellness travel in the workforce, the industry has adapted to “become more democratized with affordable retreats increasing across the globe.”

Interestingly, in addition to generalized work stress, corporate travel is another driver for wellness tourism, as workers seek a different kind of experience outside of anything associated with work. The Global Business travel Association reported in 2014 that it expected spending on global business travel to increase at a rate of seven percent each year, due primarily to growth in Asian markets. As corporate travel increases, so too should wellness tourism. “In a world where business trips are becoming increasingly common, wellness tourism provides an ideal counterpoint to the stresses associated with corporate travel,” says Matt Timms for BusinessDestinations.com.

Both the demographics and the destinations associated with wellness tourism have changed over the years, with the industry opening up to appeal to a wider socioeconomic audience with more affordable options. Additionally, more destinations are becoming available as countries around the world catch onto the trend and open more wellness tourism businesses. Americans represent the largest share of the industry, due primarily to their overworked lifestyles according to research from Beth McGroarty of the Global Wellness Institute. As a result, America is also the number one destination for wellness tourism- but this type of travel is expanding across the globe, with today’s wellness traveler favoring exotic locales like Thailand, Vietnam, Bali, Nicaragua, and Morocco.

As long as job-related stress continues to haunt workers around the world (and it will), wellness tourism will continue to appeal to the frazzled, overworked employee, from bottom-of-the-totem-pole assistants to executive-level bosses, and the industry will continue to grow. “It seems unstoppable,” says McGroarty.

How to Implement Wellness Into Your Everyday Life

By deepmarwaha

On March 6, 2017

In Blog

Wellness tourism is taking off around the world, with centers dedicated exclusively to wellness opening up to offer travelers a spectrum of health-oriented activities including fitness and sports, spa treatments, nutritious dining options, yoga, meditation, stress relief, and health education. Some already-established hotels are implementing wellness into their accommodations while other centers dedicated exclusively to wellness retreats are becoming increasingly common. If you have the means to visit a wellness facility, I highly encourage it as it can be a life-changing experience and has impacted my entire life for the better, but you don’t have to travel the world or spend a lot of money to experience wellness. Or, if you have been to a wellness facility and witnessed its wonders, the wellness activities shouldn’t end when you return home. You can implement wellness into your everyday life.

It may be difficult to stop and take time for yourself when you’re busy with your daily routine- work, errands, doctor’s appointments, etc. But wellness should not be a choice, but a requirement. Make your health a priority and it will improve your overall outlook on life. You may not have the fancy yoga studios, spas, pools, and team sports that a wellness facility offers within your own home, but it’s not hard to make the most of your resources and practice wellness every day. Here are some suggestions to start you off:

Practice Meditation

Meditation can be really difficult to stick to for newcomers. I get that. It’s hard to shut out your surroundings and focus only on yourself when there are so many things running through your mind and going on around you. Did I remember to pay that bill? I can’t forget to make dinner reservations! I need to prepare for that call this afternoon! I have to pick Johnny up from soccer practice after school. And so on and so on. However, meditation is a natural antidote for a range of mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression, and is medically-proven to reduce stress and lower blood pressure. If you start to make it a habit, it becomes easier, and there are a plethora of books and apps available to help you out.

Listen to music

According to Huffington Post, music has been shown to reduce stress, aid in memory retention, improve your immune system, motivate you to exercise, and even decrease physical pain. So plug in and unwind. Whether you take time each day to completely zone out to music or you listen to it at work, you will start to see the positive effects. Music with a slow tempo and low pitch (without loud instrumentals or lyrics) is best for reducing stress.

Visit a spa

Unless you live in the middle of nowhere, you’re probably only a few minutes away from a spa. If you can afford it, schedule monthly massages to loosen your tense muscles and focus on any problem areas. If you can’t afford a monthly spa visit, then pamper yourself at home! Simply purchase a yoga massage ball or foam roller for a diy massage. Soak in a warm bath for 20 minutes for further relaxation and stress reduction.

Exercise

Exercise seems more like a chore to most people than a fun activity and I know how difficult it can be to make it a part of one’s daily routine. Motivating yourself to get to the gym after a long day of work when you’d much rather collapse onto your couch is no easy task. But there are so many ways to implement exercise into your life, whether it’s a 15-minute YouTube workout video before work, a class at the gym, or a morning run, find something that works for you and stick to it. You may not have a fitness coach pushing you like you would at a wellness facility, but you can be your own advocate.

Connect with your surroundings

A huge draw of wellness tourism is the opportunity to escape from one’s daily life and bask in a new, distraction-free environment. Simply take a walk and breathe in the fresh air, admire the greenery and flowers, and listen to the birds.

Schedule time to relax into your day

This may seem overly-simple and obvious, but actually writing a time for relaxation into your schedule will make you more likely to do it. Writing your goals and tasks down has been proven to make them more likely to happen. Practice good time management and schedule time into your day, even it’s just a few minutes during work, to de-compress with a book or a walk around the block.

These are just some of the many ways you can implement wellness into your everyday life. Taking a wellness vacation is likely to be a transformative experience, as it was for me, but wellness can start in your own home.

Trends in Wellness Tourism

By deepmarwaha

On February 1, 2017

In Blog

Once a luxury reserved for the rich and famous, wellness retreats are taking off at an astonishing rate, with facilities promoting health and wellness popping up all over the world. Those unfamiliar with the booming wellness tourism industry may think that taking a vacation and staying healthy while on holiday simply don’t mesh; who wants to to worry about eating healthy and fitting in exercise when the very idea of a vacation is to pamper yourself and get away from all your worries?

Well, wellness tourism, defined as travel for the purpose of promoting health and wellbeing through physical, psychological, or spiritual activities, allows for the best of both worlds. My life was transformed when I took a trip to a Thai wellness facility in 2015, encouraging me to lead a healthier and more mindful lifestyle, so I want to ensure that others are aware of all the exciting opportunities available to them to do the same.

Wellness tourism can be considered a new sector of the travel industry, in that it exploded into a $494 billion industry between 2012 and 2013, growing 12.7 percent in just a year. It is expected to reach $680 billion this year, according to the Global Wellness Summit. Wellness tourism is no longer just about luxurious spa retreats the average person cannot afford. According to Anne Banas, executive editor of SmarterTravel, “Back in the day, wellness travel was focused on the notion of spas. But now, it’s really expanded into this area of experiential travel, with a combination of well-being, fitness, and soulful, spiritual experiences as well as working on the mind-body connection. Connecting to local community is also a big part of it.”

So what exactly does wellness tourism look like? It varies based on the facility or travel company, but generally it is the movement of various players within the travel industry, such as hotels and even travel agents and airports, acting to provide travelers a more enriching and holistic experience. Wellness vacations seek to fulfill the notion of a unique travel experience through offering everything from classic yoga retreats and spa packages, to fitness camps, agro-tourism, and cycling trips.

As the wellness tourism sector is still in its infancy, the term not even being in use six years ago, we can expect to see some exciting developments underway as the trend makes its way to the mainstream. Here are some things to look out for in the near future:

Hotels

Hotels all around the world are jumping on the wellness tourism bandwagon, with many offering fitness, spa, and healthy cuisine packages in additional to the traditional amenities. For instance, major hotel and resort chains such as Hilton, Marriott ands Four Seasons have started offering guests additional services such as walking tours, yoga classes, healthy food options, and even fitness gear available for rent. Some hotel chains, such as IHG, Starwood, and InterContinental have even launched their own wellness hotel brands.

Cruises

Cruises are often already a relaxing getaway within themselves, but now many are offering activities and cuisine choices dedicated exclusively to wellness. The luxurious Regent Seven Seas Explorer cruise, for example, has a full-service spa onboard offering a range of wellness activities such as yoga, a thermal suite, and exclusive body treatments. Other cruise lines, such as Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection and Un-Cruise Adventures, offer both onboard wellness options (such as fitness instructors and classes) and off board wellness options (such as kayaking and snorkeling).

Airports

Believe it or not, you can be health-conscious even while waiting for your flight at the airport! You may think the only food options at airports are greasy fast food joints and the only exercise you’ll be doing is running down the terminal to board your plane in time, but that mindset is a thing of the past. Not every airport is on board yet, but many offer lounges, trails, and fitness equipment so you can stay relaxed and energized while waiting for your flight. Major airports like Chicago O’Hare and Heathrow now offer quiet rooms for practicing yoga and meditation, and many have exercise options as well, such as the Phoenix Sky Harbor International airport which has an indoor fitness trail overlooking the mountainous terrain.

Travel Agencies/ consultants

Some travel agents have even dedicated themselves to the wellness tourism trend, with agents planning custom trips for clients interested in unique wellness experiences. To help advisors become experts in wellness tourism, travel site Virtuoso has created a community to connect travel agents with wellness-focused hotels, cruise lines, tourism boards, and tour companies.
Feeling ready for a relaxing and healthful getaway? Look no further than the wellness tourism industry. A holistic vacation is more attainable than you may think.

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