Practicing health and wellness in our daily lives isn’t enough for many of us — we seek well-being when we travel, too. Enter: wellness tourism, a concept that the U.S.-based nonprofit organization Global Wellness Institute (GWI) defines as travel associated with the pursuit of maintaining or enhancing overall personal well-being.
It’s important to note that, though “wellness”’ and “well-being” are often interchangeable and related terms, they have slightly different meanings. According to Gallup, wellness is a part of well-being and describes a healthy lifestyle beyond acute illness, whereas both Gallup and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) define well-being in a broader life context feelings of contentment and satisfaction, and positive function in career, social, financial, physical, psychological, and other frameworks — which are important for personal and public health.
History of Wellness Tourism
Wellness tourism may be common now, but individuals have been traveling with health or wellness as their major objective for decades. According to Health-Tourism.com, most ancient civilizations understood the medicinal value of mineral thermal springs and developed healthcare facilities around them.
According to previous study, the ancient Greek, Egyptian, Roman, Celtic, and Hebrew civilizations had health institutions that drew visitors from all over the globe. Baths of various temperatures, swimming pools, exercise rooms, and chambers for massage and other health treatments were staples of Roman civilization, according to the World History Encyclopedia. People began traveling to India 5,000 years ago to benefit from Ayurvedic treatment, which takes a comprehensive approach to physical and mental wellness.
While travel for wellbeing extends back thousands of years, wellness tourism as a worldwide sector is relatively young, according to the wellbeing Tourism Association (WTA).
"In the early 2000s, the spa industry's marketing message went from 'pampering' to 'prevention,' and that, along with the so-called 'wellness revolution,' was the beginning [of wellness tourism]," says Anne Dimon, the Denver-based cofounder, president, and CEO of the WTA and editor of TraveltoWellness.com.
These days, the wellness-travel options are almost unlimited. Whether your hobbies include yoga and meditation, spa experiences, weight reduction, hiking, or even therapies that claim to be tailored to your DNA, such as the Chenot Palace Weggis health and wellness resort in the Swiss Alps, there's a vacation for you.
How Does Wellness Tourism Work?
Do you ever feel the desire for another vacation after you've had one? This may not be the case for wellness tourism. Traditional holidays are frequently hectic and stressful, but wellness travels seek to reduce stress and enhance health, allowing you to return to your daily life feeling refreshed and grounded.
Many individuals find that when they are relieved of their daily obligations, they are more willing to change their behavior. "For the most part, people try to make their lives as orderly and predictable as they can, because the less you have to think about your normal day-to-day life, the easier it is to manage," says Michael Brein, PhD, a travel psychologist residing on Bainbridge Island, Washington. "All that goes out the door when you travel."
Being in an atmosphere where you don't have to make daily choices may enable you to try out new habits or concentrate on nurturing ones you've ignored. This may help you develop healthy habits, such as sleeping better, eating properly, and exercising on a regular basis, that you will want to continue after you return home. A small observational research from Australia published in the February 2017 Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine discovered that weeklong retreat experiences may lead to significant benefits in several aspects of health and well-being that last for six weeks thereafter.
Furthermore, many wellness vacations include access to services that help improve mental and physical health, such as massage treatment, yoga sessions, and dietary consults. According to Lorandini, these experiences may help you come home feeling rejuvenated and more prepared to deal with daily challenges.