Lack of Vacation Time in the U.S. Places Wellness Travel Front and Center

There’s an undeniable gap between the lack of vacation time among Americans and the need to have time off to de-stress, reconnect and have better quality of life.

Wellness Tourism Worldwide has been reporting and speaking on the subject since our inception.  Fortunately, wellness travel and tourism is a catalyst for bringing vacation deprivation and the need for better nurturing of mind, body and spirit through meaningful vacations to light.

A few trends and stats from Wellness Tourism Worldwide shows how wellness travel is changing the way Americans perceive vacation travel and how the travel and hospitality industries have changed the way they do business

• Vacations Improve Quality of Life: American’s believe vacations can significantly improve health, happiness and productivity by respectively[1]
  
• Transformation: The top decision made during a vacation is starting a new health regimen. U.S. consumers believe vacations are transformative because many of life’s major decisions are made while taking a trip.[2]
  
• Vacation RX - Doctors Prescribe Vacations: Doctors are prescribing leisure activities to combat sedentary behaviors leading to chronic and debilitating conditions and diseases. Physicians are also recommending vacations to counter-act stress[3]
  
• Rewarding with Wellness Travel – companies are incentivizing production with the allure of vacations, especially wellness trips[4]
  
• Healthy Hotels & Wellness Takes Flight – travel and hospitality businesses have changed their design, service levels and programs to meet consumer demand for healthy travel options[5]
  
• Vacations as a Necessity, Not a Luxury - In my keynotes at the Wellness Summit in Singapore in 2011 and at  Well-Being Travel Conference in 2012, and later published the U.S. Vacationers, the importance of key messaging of wellness travel as critical to taking care of oneself and work/life balance. Americans have a reputation for being world-class workaholics at the expense of their health and personal life.[6]

In 2011 and 2012, it was clear that no new consumer-oriented research was being conducted on the value and benefits of vacations in the United States and given tourism numbers were down substantially, I realized it was topic worth dedicated research. It seemed too much emphasis, effort and investment was being dedicated to international inbound tourism to the US and there was no or very little effort to increase domestic tourism within our own country. 

Between 2012 and 2013, Wellness Tourism Worldwide conducted an extensive survey to sound out the vacationing U.S. public and publish data to give U.S. consumers a voice. Travel professionals were also invited to participate in the survey, so that both side of the buyer/seller relationship were represented.  The results were a data-driven profile of consumers that the Wellness Travel industry can use published in U.S Vacationers Report, which is available for purchase here.

We knew we were on to something big when the U.S. Travel Association launched their Travel Effect campaign a few months before.

Vacations are not just for the affluent, and travel, especially wellness travel, could really be a game changer to population health and to the economy if it is developed and promoted in ways that benefits as many people and businesses.

WTW has enjoyed tremendous success and positive feedback on all of our research and educational products.
If you are interested in more information please click on the links below.
Certification for Wellness Travel Professionals
The Guide to Selling Wellness Travel
U.S. Vacationer: Health, Happiness & Productivity
Top 10 Wellness Travel Trends of 2014
Top 10 Wellness Travel Trends of 2013
Workshops, Presentations & Keynotes

I feel very fortunate to be a part of the shaping, development and promotion wellness travel industry.  Thanks for reading my blog and feel free to drop me a line and send your observations and comments by using the contact page.

Wishing you much happiness, health & success,
Camille Hoheb
Founder, Wellness Tourism Worldwide

Sources:
[1] Wellness Tourism Worldwide, (2013) U.S. Vacationers: Health, Happiness & Productivity – The Essential Report for Travel, Hospitality & Wellness Industries
[2] Wellness Tourism Worldwide, (2013) U.S. Vacationers: Health, Happiness & Productivity – The Essential Report for Travel, Hospitality & Wellness Industries
[3] Wellness Tourism Worldwide (2014) Top 10 Wellness Travel Trends of 2014
[4] Wellness Tourism Worldwide (2013) Top 10 Wellness Travel Trends of 2013
[5] Wellness Tourism Worldwide (2013) Top 10 Wellness Travel Trends of 2013
[6] Wellness Tourism Worldwide, (2013) U.S. Vacationers: Health, Happiness & Productivity – The Essential Report for Travel, Hospitality & Wellness Industries

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