How wellness travel is changing the travel industry 14-03-2019 12:00 AM Share

The global wellness market has grown exponentially to become over a trillion-dollar industry as the increasing appetite for holistic health treatments worldwide continues to dominate. Beyond health treatments for their physical ailments, more people now crave for cost-efficient transformative services that will give them the much-needed mental, physical, and emotional rejuvenation. They travel around the world and willingly spend their time and money to have an experience that leads to invigorated body and soul.
Wellness travel is now one of the fastest segments in the travel and tourism industry. The 2018 Global Wellness Economy Monitor report by Global Wellness Institute (GWI) revealed a 12.8 per cent increase in the industry over the last two years, with its value hitting the USD 4.2-trillion mark in 2017 from USD 3.7 trillion in 2015. The same report showed a whopping 830 million wellness trips in 2017 globally, or 139 million more than in 2015.

This mind-boggling upward trajectory is going to continue without let-up in the years to come, opening up immense growth opportunities and a new source of income for industry players such as hotels, resorts, and tour operators. Global wellness destinations offering one-of-a-kind and comprehensive packages with localized treatments and experiences have inevitably emerged, thereby changing the game not only in the tourism and hospitality market but in the airport and airline segments as well as cited by an online report.
Hospitality brands, for instance, are now partnering with health and fitness organizations to provide their guests with value-added services that target their overall well-being during their stay in hotels, while airports are redesigning their facilities to include green spaces, natural light, and other additions that promote physical and emotional health. In airports, offerings such as yoga rooms, in-transit fitness clubs, therapy dogs, napping pods and suites, treadmill desks, and designated terminal walking circuits, as enumerated by the online report, provide passengers with quality experience while travelling. Additionally, a rising number of airline companies have taken steps to include healthy meals in their menus.

In the UAE, the number of urban resorts is increasing as well as customized wellness programs. Upon the directives of its leadership, the country has been putting emphasis on the key role of its population’s happiness and well-being in its steady socio-economic development. Having a quality life for its citizens and residents alike now takes a high spot in the government’s list of top national priorities.

As a wellness destination, Dubai is a strong contender having modern infrastructure and facilities and unique programs. There is an influx of visitors to the emirate availing of its health, wellness, beauty, and nutrition programs in its top-notch facilities and centers that employ professional and well-trained experts. Dubai is now on its way of becoming a health and wellness tourism hub in the Middle East as it continues its initiatives geared towards strengthening its wellness travel market.