Today we’re talking about a segment of the travel industry that has even more potential as we begin to emerge from the travel lockdown: wellness travel. As you might expect more and more people are looking for connection, for purposeful travel, to focus on themselves and perhaps kickstart or recommit to healthy habits.

Dawn Oliver, the founder of Well Xplored travel agency, and Christina Jelski, who covers hospitality (and, of course, hotels’ spa and wellness offerings) take on what wellness travel is (hint: it’s not just yoga and vegan cooking) and how big a role it is playing in travel overall.

In this episode we also talk about where people are traveling for wellness experiences, the popularity of the small-group retreat, Covid precautions and the importance of taking time to focus on what heals and motivates you.

This recording has been edited for length and clarity.

Related reading: The rise of the small-group wellness retreat https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Hotel-News/Resurgent-retreats

New and renewed properties for pampering https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Hotel-News/New-renewed-properties-for-pampering

Mexico Insight: In the new reality, demand grows for boutique hotels, wellness experiences https://www.travelweekly.com/Mexico-Travel/Insights/In-new-reality-demand-grows-for-boutique-hotels-wellness-experiences

Hotel spas transition to digital and touch-free offerings https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Hotel-News/Hotel-spas-transition-to-digital-touch-free-offerings

Plant-based menus taking root in hotels https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Hotel-News/Plant-based-menus-taking-root-in-hospitality-industry

A spa day for guys https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Hotel-News/Spa-day-for-guys

Access to Travel Weekly’s recent wellness-travel-related articles https://www.travelweekly.com/wellness-travel

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