Spa and Wellness
supplier partners, at Las Vegas’ ARIA Resort and Casino. Tese wellness ‘community’ members that participated in the zone at the conference included properties across Europe, Asia and the U.S. Virtuoso advisors at the zone could browse
health and wellness products and view demonstrations of services for mind, body and spirit. Experiences on display included custom blending of aromatherapy body butters, a traditional Mexican ritual energy cleansing, paddle-boarding yoga, a Tai massage employing silk strands and a Turkish hammam demonstration with customary soap foam washing. “Te formation of the Virtuoso Wellness
Community was very organic,” said Karen Goldberg, managing director, hotels and resorts, Virtuoso, New York. “Wellness travel is a rapidly growing niche, and many Virtuoso advisors already have a strong wellness business and clientele. So, it made perfect sense for Virtuoso to create and nurture this community of well-vetted, qualified wellness partners and members to learn, share and grow their business together.” Goldberg said the Wellness Zone at last
year’s Travel Week drew 600 advisors. “Te feedback was amazing,” she said. “Tis year, we’ll hold an all-day Virtuoso Communities Globetrotting event with multiple communities in various pavilions including VAST (Virtuoso’s active and specialty travel community), Voyages, Family and Active and Specialty Cruises.” As agents and advisors dive into the
wellness market, a main focus formulates over the qualifying methods of finding the right experience for a client. Tey almost have to be like a therapist and go beyond the ‘are you stressed out?’ question. Plus, age also factors in. Goldberg said that wellness
Case studies
Tress Prefontaine of Prefontaine Travel An affiliate of the Virtuoso travel agency, World Travel in Portland, Oregon, recently met with two women, aged 47 and 52, with stressful jobs looking to get out of their daily grind. “I started the conversation with, ‘What do you think of Tuscany?’, and, since they’d been to Italy before, they liked the idea of returning,” she said. Prefontaine suggested a couple of wellness resorts, and they chose the Terme di Saturnia near Pitigliano. Its vast menu of treatments was appealing, along with the dedicated wellness staff to help find options for treatments and activities. So, she put together an experiential, customized tour: after three nights in Rome they arrived in southern Tuscany via rental car and had five days of massages, aroma therapy, swimming in the natural spring pool and early morning walks.
Kiron Dhaliwal of Concierge Vacations Inc. After announcing a five-night Women’s Wellness Retreat at the Miraval Resort and Spa in Tucson, Arizona, in March this year, travel advisor Kiron Dhaliwal wasn’t surprised that eight women, aged late 40s to 60s, filled the roster in short order. Dhaliwal’s agency, Concierge Vacations Inc. of San Ramon, California,priced the package at $3,602 per person, which included airport transfers, all meals, lectures, fitness classes, nutrition education, meditation and yoga experiences, outdoor activities, and a $175 resort credit per person, per night. “We had dinner together nightly,” Dhaliwal said, “where I’d gauge the group’s needs and wants. The resort provides more than just yoga and meditation. It has many activities the group took advantage of and enjoyed.”
Top trends
The future is mental wellness: Stats show that depression and anxiety is skyrocketing globally (expected to become the number one health issue by 2030), so look for more ‘healthy mind’ approaches in coming years.
Beyond the ghettos of wellness: In a world of rising income and ‘wellbeing’ inequalities fueling a populist backlash, a new wave of low-cost wellness is underway.
Silence: ‘Turning off the noise’ is becoming more popular, with more silent restaurants, salons, gyms, stores and airports on the rise, as well as in ancient sacred places such as Italy’s Eremito
boutique hotel/former monastery with no Wi-Fi/ phone signal and silent, candlelit dinners.
Art and creativity take center stage: The creativity-wellness-spa connection is making a comeback of late, with more art, music, literature and dance experiences being introduced.
Sauna reinvented: Something both ‘hot’ and ‘very cool’ is happening on the sauna front, including pop-up saunas floating on lakes or hanging from bridges, ‘hangout’ saunas and trendy urban ‘sweat lodges’ serving up infrared sauna treatments.
Source: Global Wellness Institute
travelers are younger than ever before, but all age groups enjoy wellness vacations. “Tis is where it gets interesting,” she said.
“You can choose between dipping your toes in and weaving wellness experiences into your vacation, such as at the Carillon Miami Wellness Resort or the Four Seasons Club Dallas at Las Colinas, or you can select a full-on transformational, life-changing vacation, such as at SHA Wellness Clinic in Spain or luxury boot camps such as Te Ranch in Malibu. “What’s really important is that wellness
goes beyond the spa and specialist advisors can assist in selecting the right partner, destination and experience for the right traveler.” Goldberg said Virtuoso’s wellness
community is made up of physical, mental and spiritual health and includes a total of 40 wellness partners in 20 countries providing a minimum of three of the cornerstones of the community: nutrition, treatment and healing, scheduled fitness, mind/body balance and education and learning.
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