Wellness travel trends to watch in 2019

Global wellness travel company, Health and Fitness Travel, forecasts the next big trends in wellness travel for 2019.

Health and Fitness Travel’s predictions include:

• Nature Immersion Getaways

With mental health being such a hot topic, finding ways to combat issues such as anxiety, stress and depression has become more important than ever before. The rise of nature immersion getaways is a result of scientific studies into the effects of being outdoors, finding it results in both a reduction in cortisol levels (the hormone responsible for stress) and depression. These wellness trips allow people to get some Vitamin D, and provide an opportunity for exploration and discovery, allowing the mind to clear and relax.

• Preventative Wellness

Many people spend their lives succumbing to peer pressure that encourages life-shortening activities such as consuming alcohol, smoking and eating rubbish. These habits (as well as physical inactivity and air pollution) are the main risk factors for the top 4 major killers in the west: cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic respiratory disease and diabetes. Preventative wellness retreats target these risk factors by removing individuals from stimulus-inducing environments and provide them with the tools and skills needed to avoid them.

• Active Lifestyle Retreats

An active lifestyle is about making small and sustainable changes to up your daily movement levels, thus reducing your risk of physical inactivity induced diseases. Active lifestyle retreats use transformative wellness experiences to introduce activities and provide a handy toolbox to change lifestyle for the better.

• Divorce Retreats

There is a trend in people planning wellness holidays following the breakdown of a relationship. The stress and anxiety caused by major life changes like divorce, lead many individuals on a solo wellness trip to tap into the transformative power of travel. Retreats are responding to this growing trend with an array of emotional healing therapies, stress management and life coaching services.

• Painmoons

Painmoons are revolutionising the way people look at trips abroad and allow individuals going through difficult periods in their lives, to treat their issues in an environment where it’s truly okay to not be okay. Whether it’s the passing of a loved one, a bad break up or a period of depression, painmoons allow customers to get the specialist treatment and time away they need to restore happiness and normality.

• Tough & Transformative Wellness

This trend embraces the endorphins you get from activities such as mountain trekking, kayaking and abseiling, using it as a tool for transformative self-improvement. Many hotels offer these excursions combined with a spa and holistic aspect to help people relax and get to the bottom of any underlying problems they may have.

• Wellness Mumcations

For mothers with young children, taking a break from domestic and family responsibilities can be beneficial for both them and the children. For mums, a short wellness break can allow time to recharge batteries and deal with any underlying stresses or anxieties.

• Menopause Retreats

These retreats acknowledge there are some unpleasantness surrounding the change, primarily in the form of the unwanted symptoms that come with it. This can include mood swings, hot flushes, emotional outbursts, weight gain (or all these). Wellness experts provide relaxation and relief, teaching important coping mechanisms for customers return home.

• The New Middle-aged Man

Over the past few years there has been a big increase in men aged 50-70 booking wellness holidays, showing the modern man is investing in their health now more than ever. Whilst most wellness resorts once only catered for women, there are now many male-specific programmes offering anything from anti-ageing to golf and spa.

• Fertility Trips

A healthy fertility trip could be just what’s needed to help couples conceive. Utterly relaxing, these healthy trips help couples to naturally increase fertility by refining nutrition, promoting gentle exercise, improving sleep, reducing stress and achieving optimum weight.

• Sugar Detox

Sugar detoxes, offered at many high-end spa and wellness resorts help to curb cravings, and offer advice on how to spot hidden sugars in the foods we buy day-to-day. These healthy breaks promise to deliver clearer skin, increased energy and a more efficient digestive system.

• Sleep Performance

Poor quality sleep can have strange effects on performance, increasing reaction times, injury rates and judgement errors, and decreasing accuracy and speed. Highly specialised wellness retreats around the world are now offering programmes combining a range of holistic treatments and expert sleep tips that are guaranteed to help people reach their optimum well-being and skill.

• Silence

The modern world is overflowing with noise pollution that is destructive to our health and well-being. Increasingly, people long for silence and tranquillity. Practiced by Buddhists and monks for centuries, periods of silence help to establish long-term improvements in both mental clarity and mindfulness. Silent retreats provide a nomadic opportunity to start a journey to a calmer, peaceful life.