The Wellness Sabbatical was named as a top trend for 2020 by the Global Wellness Institute back in January 2020. Little did the team predict at the time a global pandemic was on its way. Yet as the lockdown necessitated the need for more people to work from home, this trend has gathered pace and is proving to be one for the spa and hospitality sector to watch in the coming months.
TREND: THE WELLNESS SABBATICAL
Back in January, GWI named the wellness sabbatical a top trend for 2020. A concept born of the steady rise in remote work, the team defined it as a longer (3-week-plus) stay at a destination where hours of work and wellness experiences were blended each day - and at destinations intentionally focused on making that happen successfully.
As the pandemic hit, and overnight, most of us became digital nomads, working from home (WFH) but really able to ultimately work from anywhere (WFA), digital nomadism was no longer a niche millennial luxury; it was an enforced necessity.
As parts of the world slowly open up, and as a long (and for many permanent) work-from-anywhere future sinks in, more people are escaping crowded cities, giving up huge rents, and relocating to healthier, breezier or beach-ier destinations, where they’re working and seeking nature and wellness.
Countries who have seen their inbound tourism markets decimated, are now capitalizing on this new normal and rolling out long-term visa programs for work tourists. Last month, the Barbados government announced a plan to offer a 12 month visa option for tourists who visit the island in the hopes of revamping their tourism industry. The visa allows tourists to holiday and even work remotely from the island for a whole year, enjoying all the country has to offer - from luxury resorts to white sand beaches. The move speaks to the global nomad trend identified in Wunderman Thompson’s The Future 100: 2018 report, which according to the think tank was ‘formerly attached to affluent millennials but is now evolving for the masses’.
According to the GWI more high-end and affordable travel destinations are making moves to lure the work-wellness sabbatical seeker, from Rancho La Puerta in Mexico’s wellness sabbatical program, where your suite can be set up as an amazing private office. Digital nomad platform Selina (with dozens of remote work-wellness locations globally) has now launched a subscription program allowing people to move from property to property starting at $500 a month - because the market is moving beyond traditional digital nomads/freelancers to a huge wave of people now working from home permanently, including salaried workers.
According to Maeve Prendagast who reports on the trend for Wunderman Thompson: “With the pandemic blurring the lines between home, office and travel, brands and businesses have a unique opportunity to redefine what the new luxury vacation looks like, catering to both work and relaxation".
GWI: https://www.globalwellnesssummit.com/trendium/trendium-archives/
Wunderman Thompson: https://intelligence.wundermanthompson.com/2020/07/extended-stays
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