Wellness Retreats On The Rise

As stressed-out urbanites are struggling to find the right work – life balance, wellness travel is becoming a popular option for people to refocus and to reconnect with themselves.

- Vivienne Tang

As our lives are becoming increasingly more stressful with extended working hours, improved technology that forces us to be available at all times, as well as constant distraction through social media, it is becoming significantly harder to carve out down-time, and time spent with ourselves. Advertising and social media persistently push their views on us, telling us what to buy, how to look, and how to live, and the divide between reality and expectation continues to dig a gaping hole into our lives.

Due to the pressure and the stresses of daily life, people feel disconnected from themselves. Burnouts, depression and mental illness are at a record high at the moment, as people can’t seem to get that work - life balance right.

It is no wonder then that so many people are flocking to wellness retreats, seeking time out from their day-to-day grind, in the hopes to return and bring some of that wellbeing back into their daily lives.

Wellness is booming everywhere, as we strive to make healthier and more conscious choices, be it through exercise, food or travel. According to the Global Wellness Institute, the industry is now worth USD 4.2 trillion, and wellness trips make up 6.5% of all tourism trips, reaching a whopping 830 million trips a year.

Often reaching a breaking point in their lives, many city-dwellers are left with no other choice but to treat themselves to a wellness holiday, and many urbanites have already factored preventative wellness retreats into their wellbeing regime, which they now plan months in advance.