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TREND: Healthcare Meets Wellness–Recent Signs of a New Convergence Our 2021 trend “The Self-Care Renaissance” argued that a new era was upon us–one where the complementary yet often combative relationship between medicine and wellness gets rethought, leading to new conversations and convergences between these two worlds. The pandemic was the shock that has forced healthcare to finally focus on prevention and more holistic models of medicine. At the same time, wellness companies are increasingly forced…

TREND: A Wave of Scent Innovation Fueled by the Pandemic    Fragrance is being developed and applied for wellbeing in dramatically new ways   Back in 2019, one of our key trends was how fragrance was getting a wellness makeover. With a new understanding of scent’s role in our mental and physical health, there was a new wave of functional fragrances and scent-for-wellbeing applications starting to rise.     The pandemic has kicked…

TREND: Fighting Overtourism Moves from Talk to Real Action     The experiments–from banning short-term rentals to nixing cruise ships to charging fees to enter a place to marketing only to “conscious travelers”– are really heating up   In our 2021 trend “The Year of the Travel Reset,” author and New York Times columnist, Elaine Glusac, predicted that this long travel pause caused by the pandemic would give everyone—consumers and travel suppliers—a rare, crucial opportunity to think of the ways that travel could be…

Biophilia: Not a Passing ‘Trend’ but the Long-Term Future of Architecture and Design     Homes, cities, workplaces and hotels intentionally designed to reconnect people with nature are at a major inflection point   Biophilic design specifically connects people with the diverse, complex natural world to improve their physical and mental wellbeing. Biophilia is obviously not a new concept: The term was coined by psychologist Erich Fromm in 1964 and made popular by Harvard biologist Edward O. Wilson in the 80s, whose influential book Biophilia posited that if…

Hospitality brands set sights on lucrative wellness real estate sector   Wellness real estate has become a natural—and profitable—extension for brands like Aman Resorts, Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, Mondrian, Montage and more  Yesterday, the Global Wellness Summit’s nonprofit sister organization, the Global Wellness Institute (GWI), hosted its inaugural Wellness Real Estate & Communities Symposium in New York and virtually around the globe. (The full day’s presentations and takeaway materials are available on demand.) The event drew hundreds of attendees…

Wellness Real Estate and Communities: New Momentum, New Directions The pandemic ignited demand for “well” homes and new trends–from developments that blend home, work and wellness to a huge new value for nature to a shakeup in senior living to thinking beyond the billionaires Waaay back in 2007, GWS trends forecasters named “spa real estate” a rising trend (when destination spas were starting to add…

Take That, Digital: When the World Opened Up, Visits to Real World Wellness Destinations Surged  …People hit gyms, fitness studios, spas and wellness travel destinations at rates far greater than expected Since the pandemic hit, we’ve—of course—seen a massive adoption of (and investment in) all kinds of digital health and wellness—from virtual workout platforms to new companies that deliver mental health support (and wellness via screens was a big focus in our 2021 trends report). Investors are pouring gazillions of dollars…