The Growth of Wellness Travel 

People are paying attention to their health and wellbeing with great intensity and interest than ever before. As a result, more and more people are engaging in wellness travel. But what is wellness travel, exactly? Our spa director at Fox Harb’r, Joann Patriquin, tells us that, “People are learning ways to incorporate wellness into their daily lives in business and travel.” She previously explained some major spa and wellness trends, and now she’s here to explain wellness travel. 

Some People Travel Specifically for Wellness . . . 

What is wellness? It’s the idea that you should be more than simply free from sickness or poor health, you should optimize your entire physical, mental, and social well-being. Increasingly, plenty of travellers are seeking out destinations that revolve around wellness. Patriquin calls these people primary wellness travellers. 

Incidentally, wellness travellers might be older than you’d think. Boomers are more likely than any other generation to choose healthy foods, and they compete with Millennials for the title of most active generation, comprising nearly a quarter of all US health club memberships.  

. . . And Others Treat Wellness As a Bonus

Of course, you don’t have to travel specifically for wellness. For example, think of a business traveller who schedules a spa treatment after a big meeting as a way of practicing self-care. That’s an example of what Patriquin calls a secondary wellness traveller—and we should all think about a little self-care while travelling. 

Some Wellness Travellers Are Super Serious About Wellness

Have you heard of a wellness sabbatical? Basically, it’s a 21-day experience devoted to wellness where the wellness traveller eats healthy food, exercises, and partakes in other wellness activities. The idea is that it’s easier to make healthy lifestyle choices when unhealthy ones are unavailable, so 21 days of healthy living will help create a more healthy lifestyle once the experience is over. And thanks to remote working, some travellers even bring their work with them—but they also learn to strike a healthier work-life balance, as overwork can get in the way of wellness. 

Wellness Is Not Only About Relaxation

Relaxation can play a part in wellness travel, but the two things aren’t one and the same. For example, hiking, kayaking, yoga, and aerobics aren’t necessarily relaxing, but they’re activities a wellness traveller might choose to do because they reduce stress and anxiety, promote good health, and bring joy. 

There Is a Lot of Diversity in Wellness Activities

Patriquin tells us that, “Wellness is a different cocktail to each wellness traveller; we all need a different prescription.”

So what might that involve? “Physical treatments like massage, rieki, or spa-driven detox treatments are for the rejuvenation of our bodies, yoga retreats and meditation work our mind, body and soul, hiking and other outdoor activities are refreshing to our minds as well as our bodies.”

Wellness Travel Is for Everyone. 

Patriquin assures us that, “Wellness travel is not just for a privileged traveller with disposable income.” Wellness travel can be a week-long yoga retreat. But it can also be as simple as a weekend getaway to go hiking, perhaps to go leaf-peeping. According to Patriquin, “These are different but both for the same common purpose of wellness.”