Post pandemic travel landscape: a golden opportunity for the wellness industry

The Pandemic brought the topic of immunity into sharp focus, exposing the fragility of our prescriptive culture and how out of tune we had become with our bodies as a society. This preoccupation with fixing and solving health problems was long favoured over contemplating their cause and how our busy, tech-led lifestyles could bear responsibility. What’s more, prior to this global health emergency, the wellness movement had fallen onto many people’s radars in faddish capacity, perhaps eclipsing the true value of a preventative treatment and a physiological, holistic approach to health.

Experiences conferring around the topic of wellbeing throughout 2020-2021 ranged from the more positive – discovering the remedial virtues of nature or ‘pressing pause’ – to the less so – observing the ravaging effects of stress and uncertainty, while yearning for the comfort of medically-backed pampering and the benefits of fresh air, a healthy diet and varied landscapes.

Despite the inconsistencies in what we know about Covid-19 and other viruses, a consensus has emerged that a holistic approach to health to optimise our immune system is a key line of defence against future threats. It’s also widely acknowledged to be invaluable in processing the toxic impact of protracted lockdowns and the trauma caused by the Pandemic. And while the wellness tourism industry suffered immensely with the restrictions and travel bans in place, leading global technology research and advisory company, Technavio, predicts a $315 billion growth in the global wellness tourism market between 2020 and 2024, citing an increase in personal wellness awareness as the key driver.

In light of this, some of the world’s most eminent hotels and medi-spas have readjusted their offering to suit this post Pandemic paradigm – in some cases, merely tweaking what they have always done best.

Take the Aman Group which has launched immune-boosting wellness immersions at several of its splendid properties, all of which appear sewn into their respective other-worldly locations. These immersions see an Ayurvedic doctor curating specialised programmes integrating nutrition, fitness and spa therapies to optimise immune strength (on top of the sumptuous interiors, facilities and spoiling service). Similarly, SHA Wellness Clinic in Spain, one of Europe’s leading wellness destinations, has created its own immunology package, leveraging the clinic’s integrative approach – one which combines ancient treatments with medical prowess, fitness formulas with tailored nutritional plans (and all in cosseting hotel rooms with private pools and that warm Spanish breeze).

This drive to reinvigorate programmes or invent new ones for the latent post lockdown wellbeing demand can even be observed at Swiss medi-spa doyenne, Clinique La Prairie. Nestled along the glistening shores of Lake Geneva, and with over 90 years pioneering the science of longevity, the medi-spa has rebooted its acclaimed Revitalisation Programme, mobilising its cutting-edge nutritional knowledge and scientific prowess. What’s more, it has seized this golden opportunity to launch a genetics, cellular and nutritional science-driven Master Detox, as well as a six-day Better Sleep Programme, with a tailored, 360 degree approach following a health assessment, integrating the clinic’s impressive spa, restorative surroundings and state-of-the-art technology. It is holistic, results-driven programmes like these that are speaking to the weary, cabin-fevered community of British travellers.

With the definition of wellness evolving in recent years, from the physical to the psychological, and finally, the physiological, so has its remit. The holistic nature of the top tiers of the wellness industry has seen luxury, epicurean-led hotels pulling in the legitimacy and authority of medi-spa approaches and procedures, and vice-versa, with medi-spas upping the ante on their interiors and pleasure-factor for a less clinical guest experience.

What’s more, there is an increasing focus on the natural environment, not simply subsuming malaise in Europe’s beauty but how wellness programmes can harness the nourishing benefits of the region’s bounty – its vegetables, local fish, minerals, fresh air and clean or thermal waters, for both hotels and medi-spas. Take the pioneering VIVAMAYR Altaussee in the Austrian Alps and Bavarian big-wig, Lanserhof Tegernsee. Both draw on their spectacular surroundings, VIVAMAYR on the serenity of the glassy lakes and Lanserhof, on the dense forest for reflective hikes between re-energising treatments. Other wellness destinations hinge their programmes on one specific element of their surroundings. In Italian retreat, Palazzo Fiuggi’s case, it’s the healing powers of its water, whose source lies in the region and whose antimicrobial and antiviral properties have been known to boost the immune response (reputedly curing the ailments of Pope Boniface VIII and Michelangelo).

Having opened this May 2021 following a substantial renovation, not only is the therapeutic water used as a detoxifier at the start of each of Palazzo Fiuggi’s programmes, it is leveraged throughout. For example, in the immune boosting itinerary as a healing thermal water medical therapy, and in the hydro and bathing section as a three-step hydro cure, with Thalasso therapy sessions and through access to the medi-spa’s own Roman thermae and swimming pools. Combine this distinguishing feature with a multi-faceted approach – an expert assessment resulting in a highly-customised programme of nutrition, fitness and lifestyle – and Palazzo Fiuggi embodies this balance of the medical and natural, of abstinence and pleasure which will dominate the post pandemic wellness landscape.