On this week’s episode of the Luxury Unpacked podcast, host Fiona Dalton chats to Spencer Travel Managing Director and Founder of Spencer Travel Wellness Penny Spencer about the latest wellness trends in the booming travel sector and the best places to experience it.
According to the Global Wellness Institute, the global wellness economy will reach $9 trillion by 2028 as more and more travellers seek wellness experiences.
That demand, according to Spencer, comes back to one mistake we’ve made: devices.
“We’ve all become so reliant (on devices), and it’s good to have access to technology, but it’s also a hindrance, so we have to find balance, and after COVID, everyone was running at 100 miles an hour, and we felt we had to continue that because we lost three years.”
She says people are now increasingly looking for a digital detox, but it’s deeper than that; it’s about considering their entire well-being, from their physical to mental health – and they’re prepared to get out of their comfort zone to do it.
She says one experience that had a lasting impact on a client was around sexual well-being.
“There are places you can go and learn about sexual wellbeing and the pleasure, and what works in your relationship. There are a lot of female wellness areas that are being talked about now that were never talked about: sexual well-being, menopause, so it’s a good place we’re in now around wellness.”
Spencer says grief is another growing trend.
“It’s important in life. You’re dealing with that grief internally, and there’s a place for these retreats, especially in a society where people don’t ask.”
Where to find wellness
Spencer started Spencer Travel Wellness in 2021 with a goal to “have you check out feeling healthier and better than when you checked in”, and Spencer says it has gone from strength to strength as people continually try to find calm in the chaos of their lives.
And she says we’re prepared to travel to do it, particularly if we’re tagging it on to an existing trip.
Bhutan, India, Thailand, Mexico and South America are her picks of some of the best places for wellness retreats, and she says New Zealand is also holding its own with “great wellness retreats in beautiful spots”.
Spencer says, regardless of where you go, if you want to get started, just begin with a weekend away to get a “taste of it”.
But, she says, be prepared for it to become an annual event.
“People are now putting wellness into their annual plan. It might be a weekend, a week or two weeks, but it’s in their annual plan to look after themselves, so we have clients who constantly look after themselves. It’s important.”
Listen to the full episode here:
For more information, partnership opportunities, or to be a guest on the show, contact Karryon’s Partnership Manager Carolyn Nightingale at carolyn@karryon.com.au.
