Everybody loves a massage, a facial, or a full mani-pedi on vacation. But while small relaxation and cosmetic treatments used to be the extent of wellness travel, it’s not the case any longer. These days, travelers fly just about everywhere for the purpose of wellness. Turkey is the country of choice for full medical check-ups in state-of-the-art facilities, and Sweden is now famous for fits full-body scan offerings. No destination is too far when it comes to our well-being, and no treatment is too extravagant.
The Wellness Travel Boom
Although wellness travel represented $720 billion in 2019, it is expected to reach $1.4 trillion in 2027. We care about our health and it shows.
But, why is wellness travel having such a moment? Well, it is partly due to the amount of health and beauty information we consume on social media and streaming platforms. Between Netflix’s Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones and Tiktok telling us what kind protein and sugar to eat for bigger muscles and leaner figures, wellness advice is omnipresent. Not to mention that every second Instagram post is trying to sell us supplements for better sleep, better digestion, or thicker hair. Every online platform we visit is abound with health advice, and it has an impact our decisions when we make purchases or book vacations.
But the wellness travel trend was also energized by the COVID-19 pandemic. For about two years, we were unable to travel, creating a massive demand for it when borders reopened. Not only that, but for most of 2020 and 2021, we couldn’t visit our favorite spa at home, making us miss the little acts of self-care we used to enjoy on the regular. That combined with the fact that COVID-19 made us very aware of the fragility of our health created the perfect cocktail for the rise of wellness travel.
In response to this demand, the offerings from luxury hotel spas, private wellness clubs, and health resorts have diversified and expanded. Massages, sauna sessions, and facial treatments aren’t going anywhere, but, wellness menus in hotels, resorts, and clubs now concentrate on current trends. Those include: aging gracefully and prolonging life through rigorous diagnostics, women’s health, fitness, and mental well-being.
The Best Places to Enjoy the Current Wellness Trends
While some trend forecasters say that South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Iceland, and Italy will soon be the hot spots for wellness travel, for now it’s hard to pinpoint what country or city does wellness best. But we can recommend the hotels, resorts, and clubs that follow the current trends by proposing exceptional high-end treatments and programs.
Longevity and Aging Gracefully
Surrenne, the exclusive London wellness club that is part of the luxury hotel The Emory, is going all out to provide guests with the latest and greatest offerings. From brain stimulation therapy to cancer screening, food intolerance testing, and genome sequencing, guests can get checked from head to toe.
World-famous Lanserhof wellness resorts are also fully in on the trends. They concentrate on longevity and optimization by offering brain-health, weight-loss, and stress-resilience programs, as well as breast-cancer rehabs, and long-COVID packages.
Women’s Health
Leaders in longevity retreats, the two SHA Wellness resorts in Spain and in Mexico offer a pack that specializes on women’s health. The pack includes gynecological consultations, hormonal analysis, pelvic floor health, vaginal ozone therapy session, and more to provide women at all stages of life with the physical and mental care they need.
Because there’s something for everyone in the world of wellness travel, new mothers can now experience South Korea’s renowned postpartum retreat centers, AKA sanhujoriwon, in the United States. Boram in New York City’s Thompson Central Park Hotel and Sanu in The Watermark Hotel near Washington, DC offer the most renowned programs.
Fitness
A lot of establishments have fitness offerings. Even the most run-of-the-mill hotels have decent gyms after all. But for some, fitness is their entire focus. That’s the case of the high-end SIRO hotels in Dubai and in Montenegro that make it their mission for us to live better with tailor-made fitness programs run by athletes, and meal plans crafted by nutritionists.
Mental Well-Being
While technically most stays at health and wellness-focused establishments will have a positive impact on your state of mind, some wellness centers go above and beyond to ensure you feel as good in your head as in your body.
It’s the case of Palazzo Fiuggi, the wellness medical spa of the rich and famous, including Oprah. There, you can opt to partake in the Sleep Recovery Program led by a neurologist specialized in sleep medicine. The causes and manifestations of your sleep disorder will be identified before you undergo non-invasive procedures to remedy your insomnia. The goal is to improve the quality of your sleep and therefore improve your overall emotional well-being.
FAQs
Q: How big is the wellness travel market?
A: In 2019, the wellness travel market represented $720 billion, but this number is expected to double to reach $1.4 trillion in 2027.
Q: Where are the SIRO Hotels located?
A: There are two SIRO Hotels: one in Dubai, SIRO One Za’abeel, and one in Montenegro, One Boka Place.
Q: What are the current travel wellness trends?
A: Two of the biggest trends in travel wellness include resorts and private clubs that offer full medical diagnostics, and longevity programs.
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