What is wellness tourism?

Wellness tourism is any type of travel aiming to maintain or improve wellbeing. According to the Global Wellness Institute, there are two types of wellness travellers: primary and secondary. For primary wellness travellers, wellness activities are the main purpose of the trip. Think booking a digital detox camp for a client who wants to disconnect for a while. As for secondary wellness travellers, wellness travel is only a part of the trip. An example of this would be a client visiting Japan, and stopping by an onsen hot spring as one of the travel activities.

There’s so much more to wellness tourism than spa retreats. Activities could be linked to what a country has to offer, such as thermal baths in Hungary or surf retreats in Australia. These experiences can be tailored to clients’ interests — in Turkey outdoor enthusiasts would enjoy visiting the thermal pools in Pamukkale, while culture buffs might be more interested in experiencing the traditional Turkish bath.

Thanks to the broad-reaching, and entirely subjective, nature of wellness as a concept, you'll often find there are experiences and opportunites beyond count for every type of traveller on every continent! This alone makes wellness tourism a haven of opportunity for travel agents, as experts in offering tailored travel experiences for individual traveller needs.

What are the benefits of wellness tourism for travel agents?

Of course, when it comes to travel trends, you want to maximise your booking opportunities for those that offer the best return on investment - by which we mean, your time! As time is one of the most crucial resources that any travel agent has.

Growing at a comound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.6%, wellness travel is not only one of the fastest-growing travel segments but also one of the most profitable ones. By 2027, the global wellness economy is predicted to reach $8.5 trillion, and wellness tourism is a big part of it. 

In 2022, the average wellness traveller spent $1,764 on an international trip, 41% more than non-wellness tourists. The gap was even wider in domestic trips, with the wellness traveller spending $668 per trip, 175% higher than the average tourist.

From sand baths in Egypt, thermal hammams in Morocco, or wine retreats in South Africa — with so many wellness activities around the world, travel agents can attract different types of travellers. Whether that’s booking a spa retreat or organising a one-off visit to a hot spring, travel agents have many opportunities to make wellness travel interesting, fun, and personalised. 

Considering the wealth of personalisation that travel agents offer to travellers as standard, it's no wonder than wellness travel goes hand-in-hand with the services that you provide.

Examples of wellness tourism

You can find wellness travel experiences - from cultural practices to a purely luxurious spa getaway - in our Booking Engine. Thanks to our expansive portfolio of travel products across the globe, our Bedsonline Booking Engine makes it easier than ever for you to curate your clients' perfect wellness experience, no matter their preferences. 

From over 200,000 accommodation options, including hotels offering cutting-edge wellness programs to blissful, calm retreats in truly scenic locations, to 16,000+ experiences, our global portfolio helps you maximise each booking opportunity!

For now though, here are a few recommendations for how wellness might manifest for your clients...

Spa Retreats

Is relaxation at the top of your clients’ wish list? Check out some destination spas, perfect for a wide range of interests. One of this year’s trending spas is Winvian Farm in Connecticut — listed in Condé Nast Traveller’s Reader Choice Awards for six years in a row. Nestled in the Litchfield Hills, Winvian is a perfect escape from the city, offering extensive spa packages with massages, hydrotherapy, oxygen facials, yoga classes, and reflexology. Its farm-to-table restaurant makes sure guests eat well, adding a touch of luxury to the dining experience.

For couples, turn spa retreats into romantic getaways, by booking couple massages and candlelit dinners. In 2024, wellness is not only for couples and singles, but also for the whole family! With multi-generation travel trending, resorts are offering family wellness experiences — Zulal Wellness Resort in Qatar has a bonding retreat, focusing on the health and wellbeing of the whole family. 

Cultural Wellness Experiences

Experiential travel is a rising travel trend, with all types of travellers prioritising learning about the culture. Culinary travellers do this by tasting the local food, adventure travellers book trips to explore remote regions, and wellness travellers discover the different wellness traditions. 

Finland’s UNESCO-recognised sauna culture, Thailand’s famous Thai massages, and Japan’s scenic onsen baths all help your clients discover unique cultures through wellness - regardless of whether they're returning to a much-loved destination, or experiencing it for the first time. 

So why not look into some particular wellness traditions depending on the destination? In Central Europe and Germany, check out Aufguss ritual saunas, where a trained sauna master performs a 10-minute show in the sauna. In Latin America, look for treatments based on indigenous rituals, be it massages or ceremonies.

What's more, many hotels often offer special packages — for example, Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos in Mexico has a selection of Mexican folk healing therapies. From having mezcal-infused massages to energy-cleansing rituals, your clients will unwind while learning about indigenous holistic healing practices. Not only does this allow travellers to be immersed in the unique culture of their destination of choice, but it offers a glimpse into the authenticity of the place, which is so key for experiential travellers. You can book these cultural wellness experiences via our Booking Engine! 

Creativity will be your best friend while looking for cultural wellness experiences, so it's important to understand what it is each of your clients are looking for when they come to you to help them book their perfect trip. Personalisation is so crucial to today's traveller, and offering that level of bespoke service ensures that you're building a strong, positive relationship with each client from the start. 

And to offer your clients personalised travel brochures from the very first interaction, discover how you can use our Star Brochure to create personalised brochures, tailored to your audience's preferences, interests and destination focus.

Outdoor Wellness Activities

Running in the woods, relaxing on crystal-clear beaches, or doing yoga on a serene mountaintop — we all have a different way of connecting with nature. If your clients are sports enthusiasts, get their heart rates up with physical activity-based events, such as outdoor yoga camps, surf retreats, or fitness programs. 

Tailor these suggestions to specific destinations to your clients' needs — in Iceland’s famous Blue Lagoon, you can book an outdoor massage against the picturesque landscape, or a rejuvenating float therapy in the healing mineral waters. This is a perfect opportunity for travellers looking for a remote getaway with some, at times, pretty intense wellness practices. 

When curating your clients' ideal wellness trip, why not enrich their experience with a glimpse of what their chosen destination has to offer as a whole? Take Iceland's incredible city of Rekjavik, which should be a stop on all travellers' lists when visiting for its rich culture, and especially for wellness conscious travellers as one of the cleanest, greenest cities in the world. 

For an alternative outdoor wellness experience, travellers might wise to connect with nature on a deeper level, your clients might want to disconnect from modern life. In this case, silent retreats will be worth exploring, especially for spiritual clients. By staying quiet throughout the retreat, they will be engaging in mindfulness activities, such as meditation and nature walks, to immerse themselves in the power of quiet. 

Sleep Wellness

Hotels are investing in visitors’ sleep. Hilton equipped Motto by Hilton with sound-absorbing walls and smart technology. Hyatt also went all out, creating a Restorative Sleep Suite in the Park Hyatt New York which offers an AI-powered mattress that adjusts its climate zones to ensure that each guest will experience all the proper sleep stages and cycles to wake up well-rested and ready to explore. It also offers a multisensory technology-based relaxation experience called Somnify™ which combines calming audio with a pressure-release system within the mattress to further enhance each guests' rest.

Luxurious hotel suites aren’t the only places to unwind and sleep better, however. Experiences like star bathing improve sleep by reducing stress and releasing melatonin. In star bathing, travellers spend time outdoors under the night sky, connecting with the vastness of the universe.

To add some tech to the sleep experience, check out resorts and wellness centres. Kamalaya Koh Samui in Thailand has a dedicated sleep wellness program, featuring traditional massages, mentoring sessions, and IV therapy for better sleep - which is bookable through our Bedsonline Booking Engine.

Wellness Technology 

With many medical spas, retreats, and centres offering high-tech wellness experiences, your clients can achieve their beauty, fitness, or mindfulness goals more easily. In Alicante, Spain, The Rebalance & Energise Programme at SHA Medical Spa uses ozone therapy to stimulate the immune system, along with personalised diet plans, medical consultations, and wellness treatments like shiatsu, nuat boran, and sound therapy. 

As a prime example of the blend of personalised wellness enhanced by the power of health technology, COMO Shambhala Estate located in beautiful Bali, offers an integrated Wellness programme allows visitors to build their personalised experiences, powered by hyperbaric oxygen chambers, sleep enhancement technology, and Microbiome facials. 
 

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