The hospitality, spa, and wellness industry media company developed its 11th annual report of the top 10 spa and wellness trends. Predicted trends include healthy hotels, wired wellness, hot springs, and anti-gravity classes.
Spafinder Wellness 365™, a resource for the hospitality, spa, and wellness industry, has released its 11th annual report of the top 10 spa and wellness trends spanning the globe, focusing on where, why and how people will seek wellness in the year ahead.
Developed by a team of research analysts, editors and industry experts, the report is based on ongoing surveys of the 20,000-plus spa, wellness and beauty providers in the Spafinder Wellness 365 network. Additionally, the company’s research and editorial teams conducted extensive analysis of current market research, interviewed thousands of travel agents, surveyed hundreds of thousands of consumers, and visited spa and wellness locations across the globe.
“This is a landmark year for consumers and the industry, as wellness takes on new dimensions and becomes a key ingredient in travel and technology; spas help people face life challenges; and new fitness and beauty trends help us all be healthier,” said Susie Ellis, President of Spafinder Wellness, Inc.® “This year’s trends report encompasses our brand mission, inspiring people to lead their best life 365 days a year.”
The top 10 global spa and wellness trends for 2014 are:
1. Healthy Hotels 2.0: In 2014, “Healthy Hotels” becomes a mega-trend fulfilling the human need for restorative travel and helping people stay well while on the road. Look for hotels to move from healthy as a marketing differentiator to deeper, more multi-faceted, inspired and comprehensive programming.
2. Wired Wellness: For some, connecting the words “wired and wellness” is counterintuitive, especially as we are tethered to mobile phones, computers and tablets every waking minute. It turns out we can actually turn our wired lives into a wellness tool. Today there are hundreds of fitness apps out there to help you get in shape, get healthy and keep your fitness goals on track.
3. Hot Springs Heat Up: Bathing in hot springs may be the oldest “spa” experience in the world, even predating Roman times, but it is also on-trend in 2014. There has never been a hotter moment for thermal springs, with more and more people seeking out this affordable, social, beneficial and natural therapeutic spa experience. With hot springs existing in virtually every corner of the world, governments and developers alike have taken notice and are funding hundreds of new, exciting projects around the globe.
4. Suspending Gravity: A distinct “suspending gravity” or “floating” trend is rising as people have an increased psychological and physical desire to disconnect from our hyper-connected society. We are seeing more weightless stress—and mind-melting flotation tanks, chambers and pools at spas. On the fitness front, there is a global craze for aerial and anti-gravity classes and yoga, along with new equipment like anti-gravity treadmills.
5. Ferocious Fitness: Ferocious fitness is on the rise, led by people who seriously train for competitions or want to establish their own personal best, often with high-intensity interval training with shorter timeframes. Fitness has also become a major ingredient in peoples’ social lives, and a key factor is fun.
6. “Natural” Beauty Meets Social Media: With the growing popularity of social media and “selfies,” people are expected to look their best 24/7, without the benefit of makeup and blowouts—which means we may finally be leaving the era of faux beauty. In 2014, a new clean-beauty era takes shape focusing on the natural and introducing a high-tech, low-risk beauty. Spas will remain the torchbearers with organic products, science and technology intersecting to deliver minimal downtime results that are seemingly produced by nature.
7. Aromatherapy: As aromatherapy plays a greater role in the treatment of physical and mental issues, spas have been motivated to re-imagine their approach to craft aromatherapies with intended effects. Spas are now moving away from the generically pleasant treatments and working in tandem with botanists and digital technology to improve effectiveness.
8. Wellness Retreats Rise and Urbanize: Look for exciting movement on the destination spa front, where personalized, immersive wellness programming is the DNA, and life transformations are the goal. A distinct sub-trend is also emerging: the urban-close wellness retreat. More destination spas will be reachable by car and train.
9. Death & Spas: As baby boomers, the group that has been the largest spa-going demographic for decades, start thinking seriously about aging and death, we are seeing spas of all kinds help clients tackle the changes, challenges and choices that come with dying. Spas are also helping people address other life challenges like divorce, illness, job loss and more.
10. Top 10 Surprising Spa & Wellness Destinations: When one thinks spa or wellness vacation, Italy, Thailand and Turks and Caicos are popular locations. Now savvy spa-goers and wellness seekers are searching for more exotic destinations and indigenous experiences to stamp on their spa passports. In 2014, look for an emergence of new travel destinations in countries like Bhutan, Ghana and Nicaragua.
Tell Us What You Think!
You must be logged in to post a comment.