Spa and Wellness
Wellness matters H
Spa and wellness resorts are expanding the options they offer to cover physical, mental and spiritual health. By Robert Carlsen
ere’s the paradox: the United Nations’ 2017 World Happiness Report shows the that happiness and
wellbeing levels are dropping, even though, in the U.S. at least, the average GDP per capita is rising. It shows an economic and social dislocation of such proportions that some U.S. pundits now claim that inequalities and accumulating despair among the working class are undermining the fundamental values of the country. Te report finds that the U.S. ranks only 85th among nations when it comes to equality in wellbeing among its citizens. “And now, more than ever, the country needs more mental wellness solutions and more wellness offerings for its people,” said Susie Ellis, chairman and CEO of the Global Wellness Institute (GWI). “And, because the U.S. wellness market is so vast, consumer-driven and innovative, the industry will respond to these needs and opportunities.” According to the Miami-based GWI,
the spa and wellness industry is currently tallying more than $3 trillion annually around the world; this, in turn, is spurring travel suppliers to up the ante and get the word out to travel agents and clients — wellness travel is the new best thing.
At the Institute’s 10th annual Global
Wellness Summit in Kitzbühel, Austria, held in October last year, leaders from the travel, spa, beauty, fitness, nutrition, technology, medical and architecture worlds formulated a trends forecast. Te results speak to a shift towards democratizing a wellness industry that’s traditionally catered mainly to higher economic brackets. Some of these new
directions include: • Wellness architecture: While architecture has long been preoccupied with surface aesthetics, little attention has been paid to creating buildings that improve the health of people living or visiting within. In fact, ‘living buildings’ and responsive architecture are flourishing, and even 2,000-year-old saunas
are being re-imagined for the 21st century. • Wellness remakes beauty: Worth $1 trillion, the beauty industry is remaking itself to meet the needs of a wellness-oriented population concerned with authenticity and
‘inner beauty.’ • Embracing the c-word: Te wellness world is waking up to the needs of a surprisingly underserved population: cancer patients. Wellness companies and spas are finally being trained to deliver comfort (and dignity) to sufferers.
Te GWI said that the U.S. drives nearly
four in 10 wellness dollars spent globally and has gained more than 1,500 spas from 2013 to 2015. Further, spa revenues are growing 7.2 percent each year. In the institute’s 2016 Global Wellness
Economy Monitor, research indicates that, “the U.S. and global wellness industries’ growth has proven not only resilient, but even inversely correlated with economic and ‘human wellbeing’ downturns. With the looming ACA repeal and mental and women’s health programs especially targeted — and U.S. healthcare costs forecast to rise an average of 5.8 percent every year through 2025 — more Americans will turn to alternative, preventive health approaches. Wellness, from yoga and meditation to exercise, will become an even more sought-after antidote for an increasingly over-connected, chaotic world,” according to the institute. Meanwhile, several U.S. travel
organizations and companies are also courting the wellness market. Luxury travel network Virtuoso, for example, introduced educational sessions on wellness travel at its 2015 Virtuoso Travel Week conference in Las Vegas and expanded the sessions last year into a 6,000sq ft Wellness Zone, with 18 ▶
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