2014 wellness trends

Spafinder Wellness 365 has released its annual report of the top 10 spa and wellness trends worldwide. The report is based on ongoing surveys of the 20,000-plus spa, wellness and beauty providers. My personal pick of their top five global spa and wellness trends for 2014 include:

Healthy hotels: In 2014 “healthy hotels” will become a megatrend fulfilling the demand for restorative travel and helping people stay well on the road. Look for hotels to move from healthy as a marketing differentiator to deeper, more multi-faceted and comprehensive programming.

Suspending gravity: There are more weightless stress and mind-melting flotation tanks, chambers and pools at spas. On the fitness front, there is a global craze for aerial and anti-gravity classes and yoga along with new equipment like anti-gravity treadmills.

Natural beauty meets social media: With the growing popularity of social media and “selfies,” people are expected to look their best 24/7 — without the benefit of makeup and blowouts. In 2014, a new clean-beauty era takes shape focusing on the natural and introducing a high-tech, low-risk beauty. Spas will promote this via organic products, science and technology intersecting to deliver results with minimal downtime that are seemingly produced by nature.

Scent with intent: As aromatherapy plays a greater role in the treatment of physical and mental issues, spas have been motivated to re-imagine their approach to craft aromatherapies with intended effects. Spas are now moving away from the generically pleasant treatments and working in tandem with botanists and digital technology to improve effectiveness.

Urban wellness retreats: Look for exciting movement on the destination spa front. A distinct sub-trend is the emerging urban wellness retreat. More destination spas will be reachable by car and train.

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What does the Luxury Traveler want?

A survey of more than 1,600 global, discerning travelers conducted by luxury travel website Luxury Link reveals that by no means do the rich want to pay for Wi-Fi. “Must-have” hotel amenities for 2014 include free Wi-Fi (75.7% of respondents), early check-in/late check-out (53.6%) and free daily breakfasts (47.1%).

Croatia and Portugal were tabbed as up-and-coming destinations for 2014, while adventurous and foodie-focused vacations are trending higher, as well. These high-end travelers will not be sitting idle during their 2014 vacations as 46.3% plan to incorporate adventures such as hiking, sailing or scuba-diving into their trips, while 40.7% are foodie-focused, centering travel around fine dining / cooking classes.

It is about time that Indian Hotels stop charging for Wi-Fi and look at how they can offer the luxury traveler safe adventure options in and around Indian resort destinations. With the tremendous cuisine India has to offer, the possibilities are endless.

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Re-imagining the ‘Meetings’ experience

After speaking with customers and analyzing the more than 40,000 meetings hosted at Marriott’s hotels yearly, seven purposes for meetings emerged: Celebrate, Decide, Educate, Ideate, Network, Produce and Promote.

Rather than focusing just on dates, rates and room layouts, Meetings Imagined hones in on the specific purpose of the meeting to create and design a more engaging experience. While others may focus on just meeting logistics, Marriott is reimagining the experience for the next generation with its innovative concept that infuses a more sophisticated approach based on objectives and outcomes

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The importance of Listening

There are four ways in which we communicate viz. reading, writing, speaking and listening. All of us use the above skills on a day-to-day basis. During our school and college days which skills were predominantly tested? Our competency was predominantly tested on the way we scored marks during the examinations. The marks, the grade etc. depended on what we wrote during the examination. The writing skills depended upon the way we read and understood a particular subject. Some of us had to answer the Viva Voce or Orals wherein our speaking skills in answering the questions were tested. Later on as we planned to enter a professional life, we attended interviews. In short, our skills in reading writing and speaking were predominantly tested.

But then why so much fuss about listening? We have been listening to our parents, our teachers, our bosses, our friends etc. all along. Then do we really need to know what listening skills are all about?

Hearing is involuntary. As students, when a minimum of 70% attendance was compulsory to qualify for the examination, did we really listen to all the lecturers? Or were we physically present while mentally absent? Listening is voluntary where our mind plays an active role and thus can be termed as hearing with an attentive mind.

Empathic Listening is the highest and the most effective form of listening. The listener not only responds to the words and actions of the speaker, but also understands the feelings beneath the words/actions/body language. Empathic listening is listening with an intent to understand, where the listener gets inside the other person’s frame of reference and sees the world the way the other person sees it.

For example, a guest who enters a lounge bar may have a reality of how he may quench his need for a hot brew and a light snack to tickle his taste buds. However the Lounge captain may look at this guest as just another ‘bill’ and how his order can help him towards his revenue objective.

If the Lounge captain is preoccupied with his operating reality without bothering about that of the guest, the communication may not be effective and he may try to push high-end beverages to the guest. On the contrary if he is able to look from the guest’s perspective, the Lounge Captain may fully understood the guest’s need for a coffee and light snack – thus paving his way towards an effective relationship.

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Travel Trends 2014

Luxury travel agent network Virtuoso has released its annual trend report suggesting that while multigenerational family travel remains the top trend, active and adventure travel is the dominant trend predicted for all travelers in 2014, especially in more exotic destinations.

The 2014 Luxe Report also found that the rise in longer trips (eight days and longer) to international destinations held steady from 2013, and suggests that when necessary, travelers are willing to book lower room categories to stay in nicer hotels. Italy continues its reign as the top destination for international travel in 2014, followed by South Africa, France and Australia. This year, New Zealand makes an appearance on the list as well. Italy remained the chart-topper for families traveling in 2014, with England, Hawaii, Costa Rica and Mexico rounding out the list.

As in past reports, the motivation behind high-end travel continues to be seeking authentic experiences, rest and relaxation and spending time or reconnecting with loved ones. Re-discovering previously visited destinations and exploring new destinations were new additions to the list this year. Not surprisingly, the list mirrored the most popular destinations for romantic travel, which continue to be Italy, French Polynesia, Bali and France. This year the Maldives joined the list of exotic locations.

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