Wellness tourism is a booming sector. New data from the updated Global Spa & Wellness Economy Monitor – unveiled in October by the Global Wellness Institute (GWI) – reveals that globally, this sector grew from US$494bn in 2013 to US$546bn at the end of 2015. The same report offers predictions of a 10 per cent growth each year to 2017.
Wellness tourism is defined as all travel associated with the pursuit of maintaining or enhancing wellbeing. It spans all kinds of travel, from fitness-focused or adventure travel – such as hiking, water sports and cycling – to yoga retreats and wellness cruises, destination spas and resorts.
It also embraces the more mainstream ‘healthy hotels’ that are developing a broader fitness and healthy food offering, as well as sleep programming. This includes almost all the big brands, from Westin to the Four Seasons. The GWI says there’s a ‘wellness war’ going on between the global hotel chains – hardly surprising when wellness tourists spend 137 per cent more per trip than the average tourist.
We take a look at the latest wellness initiatives from the major hotel operators.