What is Wellness Travel?
We obviously love wellness and travel, but what does ‘wellness travel’ really mean?
It’s any holiday, trip or getaway that you take with the intention of maintaining or enhancing your personal wellbeing. It might be a fully immersive wellness retreat in Byron where you’ll be nourished, pampered and massaged for a week, or it could be that incredible guided mountain bike experience in a Tasmanian rainforest, or maybe a treatment at that gorgeous day spa on the Sunshine Coast.
Wellness Tourism is one of the fastest growing tourism segments globally, and after the last few years, it’s no surprise that many people are now focusing more on their own health and wellbeing – both at home and while they are away.
Katherine Droga, Chair of the Global Wellness Institute’s (GWI) Wellness Tourism Initiative, explains that “the pandemic has been a game changer for so many of us now prioritising our own wellbeing. This could be a focus on your physical, mental, spiritual or social wellbeing or a mix of all four! We find travel provides the perfect way to support this internal journey. We’ve seen the demand for wellness travel experiences flourish with expected growth of 17% each year for the next two years. Our recent deep dive into wellbeing globally really highlighted the need for these experiences.”
The GWI’s Wellness Tourism Initiative recently released results from their 2023 Wellbeing Check-in Survey, and with responses from all over the world, it really does provide some valuable insights into how people are feeling about their own wellbeing, the impact of recent global challenges, and what they look for when planning a wellness holiday. Here are some highlights.
