Study: Tourists Turning to Wellness Travel After Covid  

Seeking a balanced and healthier lifestyle, all the more tourists are looking into wellness and recreation travel experiences particularly after the Covid pandemic, reveals data released this week by tourism intelligence provider Mabrian.

More specifically, Mabrian analysts report a shift from traditional relaxation to active wellness. Indicative of the trend, traveler demand for soft hiking is up by 5.1 percent, physical recreation by 4.7 percent, and gastro experiences by 3.5 percent.

In order for tourism stakeholders to develop successful strategies that tap into the wellness segment, analysts identify five key demand drivers for active well-being: physical recreation (sports), soft hiking (excursions and walks), and water sports – all of which showed a growing trend in the last four years in addition to traditional wellness and relaxation activities such as spa treatments and hot springs.

“The traditional passive tourist is evolving into a proactive traveler; from contemplative visitor to an experiential participant in the dynamic of the destinations,” said Carlos Cendra, partner and CMO Mabrian.

Cendra goes on to add that in view of the data, tourism stakeholders need to redefine the wellness traveler concept, expanding it to an active wellbeing traveler and outdoor activities. “It is not about building complex products, but using the resources we have,” he said.

Leading the way in wellness travel is Europe, according to the report, with 48 percent of European travelers choosing a destination offering sports, excursions and walks, and water sports.

Tapping into health and wellness tourism and taking actions to attract investments in that direction is a key priority for Greece which has been actively seeking to diversify its tourism product in this direction.