Defining the Wellness Economy: A Comprehensive Exploration with a Spotlight on Wellness Tourism
very gratifying to be working in an industry where we are defining what the industry is it's not something that I've kind of dreamed of when I study economics this is all things Fitness and Wellness hosted by Chrissy van together we're uniting industry thought leaders and fitfluencers on the mission to inspire Innovation and encourage people to live a life Fit and Well brought to you by the British Columbia personal training institute learn how to train gain and retain clients visit bcpti.ca today on the all things Fitness and Wellness podcast we're diving deep into the changing landscape of Wellness with a Keen Eye On World Wellness weekend now for those of you in the wellness business who are part of the wellness industry you're probably aware of the seismic shifts happening you see Wellness isn't what it used to be it's no longer a luxury it's a necessity a priority in our lives this transformation is backed by some astonishing stats from the global Wellness Institute did you know that in 2018 the global Wellness economy was valued at a staggering 4.5 trillion dollars that figure alone underscores how we're redefining our approach to health and well-being but what exactly does Wellness Encompass today it's not just about hitting the gym and certainly doesn't mean choosing a salad over a burger Wellness now spans various facets of Our Lives from nurturing mental well-being and Stress Management to embracing sustainable living and mindfulness practices it's a holistic Journey that may makes a significant impact and today we've got the perfect guide to navigate this Wellness Revolution our special guest Ophelia Young Senior research fellow with the global Wellness Institute with over two decades of experience she's been at the Forefront of research and Consulting in Dynamic Fields Ophelia's qualifications include a ba in economics from Smith college and a master in public affairs from Princeton University which underscore her academic proudness and commitment to Excellence her ability to decipher the complexities in Trend shaping the wellness industry has made her a trusted Authority and guess what she's here to share her insights with us before we get to it be sure to hit like And subscribe we have new podcast episodes weekly featuring industry thought leaders and influencers plus we're continuing our gym and wellness Haven tours with inspiring founder stories I'm your host Chrissy van and this is atfw yeah well Ophelia I'm so happy that you're able to join us before we get into it though maybe explain to people that your background wasn't within the wellness industry it is your expertise though that is really Making Waves and changes so my background um I'm actually an economist um and a development Economist that had studied a lot of Industries so um eventually no one has just became um like sort of specialized study for me and some of my colleagues and so specifically we specialize in looking at defining what is the wellness economy what is the wellness industry and what it encompasses and also measuring the size of the global Wellness industry and when it comes to creating those definitions how important is it to propel an industry to have those so clearly defined but the definition is important for coming up with a figure for the industry um so like for example just going back to the very first industry we measured uh it it's the spa industry which we did for the very first time in 2008 and back then actually there was no agreement on what is part of the spa industry so that you know people are really squabble because their industry Association and they you know they have their membership and they set their rules and you know who belongs who didn't um and so we just felt that well you know this is in America maybe we Define it that way in Japan maybe a different way and other countries have their hamam is it a spa you know so there are so many kinds of places that provide Mind Body services that we decided we're going to use inclusive definition and just say there are all kinds of places where people may consider they are getting like spa services so as long as the customer feel they're getting those Services well it's a spot to them you know it's not for the industry to decide and and strangely once we well we have to Define it before we can say how big it is because it's a big you know tedious Economist project right if you don't know what Enterprises you're including you cannot say what are you measuring so that is for us you know it's important to Define but once it's defined everybody's okay everybody's happy and then they just thought okay you know we we didn't need to say who it's who is not and everyone is just happy to know that they're part of this whatever size industry because the size of it gives them like the shape like this is Who We Are so it's interesting because we've defined various Industries we've done a full golf industry in the US and uh so you know I mean in some other Industries well defined right like how big is the automotive industry or Pharmacy but in a lot of the wellness sectors it is not and to kind of put a definition around it and put a number around it um helps businesses help investors it may not be that important to Consumers but you know but consumers Drive everything of course well on that perspective from the industry perspective how valuable is this research to those that work within Wellness especially considering as you mentioned previous to that a lot of definitions were undefined um so it's it's interesting we're not part of the industry in that we're not operating in you know a business right like a wellness business so we are economists studying it so we don't always um you know on a day-to-day basis encounter people who use those numbers but when we do because sometimes we will visit some new entrepreneurs maybe they're planning a business or there are some new kind of Wellness business like a wellness club you know a few years ago we visited some of the ones that started in New York and that has since really you know balloon but um I remember back you know and visiting some of these entrepreneurs and they well when they meet us they will be so excited because they said we use your numbers and every pitch deck we have and so many people entrepreneurs looking for Capital use these numbers in a pitch deck and that's when I realized wow it's really for you know not only the existing businesses but for people who are looking for an entry and think of new ways that you know they can create new services a new value well when it comes to the wellness economy we know we consistently see article after article about the fact that this space is a growing space so can you give me a picture of the size of the wellness economy currently in regards to monetary value and where some of the trajectories are headed we had the whole 2020 the Copa year which it's very confusing for all the industries because everything pretty much the whole world everything took a die so we always like to take 2019 it's as most industry you know you kind of look at where was the peak before and in 2019 we valued that at a 4.9 trillion dollars wow and in 2020 it took a dive to uh 4.3 trillion so you know it just it came down quite a bit because it it includes um Industries like um Wellness tourism and spas and and physical activity Fitness and as you know with the closure of businesses people you know are not able to visit those Enterprises right it's like restaurants industry uh like the overall Hospitality so so that to the dive so um it's interesting this year we are updating our numbers uh so we will have 2021 and 2022 figures so I I think the biggest question is whether we have returned to the form of peak or maybe exceeded it that's usually Benchmark to be seen for sure for those obviously within the wellness industry they'll be familiar but what would be the branches I mean you obviously spoke to Wellness tourism which I know we're going to dive into a little bit here but what are the other branches that are kind of encompassed within that term Wellness so we have uh 11 of them we had the original 10 was uh like I mentioned Wellness tourism and Spa pretty obvious and there's a adjacent one the um hot springs the thermal Springs industry um then we have physical activity um of which fitness is apart but is much bigger than that Wellness Rue estate which is the right of healthy homes and you know building of these communities with health in mind uh we have um personal care and beauty of course you know and that's really huge because it covers everything from what you think of skin care and Beauty all the way to all the lotions and even toothpaste I mean that that's all part of personal care we have healthy eating nutrition um and we have complementary and traditional complementary medicine and we also have workplace wellness and we Define a new sector a few years ago on in the covet year mental Wellness right and I mean that one's really become more important than ever and so many players coming into that sphere really really important I think it's more even the awareness of what that is um as opposed to mental health which we use Mental Health as the work firm mental ill health so so we we're talking about mental wellness and we're not talking about you know we're not focused on Mental Health disorders that are you know people go to a psychiatrist psychologist so in regards to that how do you define mental Wellness what was the definition that was agreed upon there and what kind of Industries would that Encompass so we run a lot of psychology and literature um and also and the sort of Happiness field because it's like mental Wellness is that happiness you know what's well-being what's Wellness I mean just these questions all the time so our definition is mental Wellness as an internal resource that helps us to think feel connect and function and it is an active process that helps us to build resilience to grow and to flourish so it's it's like a more of a focus on resilience um on um flourishing and growth but there is also a cognitive aspect because to keep your mind sharp um you know like if you're an executive or you're a game you know a gamer uh or you want to be in the Flow State that's that's where talk about you know mental your cognition and also there is a lot of um concern now um with you know people aging is is like the brain you know it's like the decline of your cognitive functions right all kinds of sort of brain degeneration disease so like you know there are all kinds of things so people are talking not we're not talking about just being um anxious or not anxious or happy or not happy although they're a part of it too we have an entire report on defining mental Wellness for that reason because we um even though as I said Mentor we want to Define mental Wellness as not just lack of mental illness we want to look at it as you if you have a diagnosed mental illness you can still move up on the Continuum of mental Wellness you can still be happy and content and feel you have a you know good relationship and feel you know Joy right like those so it's not like you either or and you could also have no diagnosed Mental Illness but you're just sort of languishing the awareness is now so you know had risen so much that we're looking at many things also from the lens of mental Wellness um for example if you ask people why they exercise they're less about they're just like oh I want to get into a certain shape I don't want to lose weight most of them want to feel good whatever it is like lower the stress or feel they're strong or acquiring some skill have some personal goal you know people are describing exercise from a mental Wellness perspective right and then I think that a lot more people are aware of healthy eating as you know the gut microbiome the gut brain access you know these things people did not talk about five years ago now it's just everybody's saying like got brain accidents for my own like but they were never not like scientific you know words are now everybody's like 13 year olds not talking about so so now people are aware like they can you know they certain food may help them with their moods um so and then sleep you know it's very interesting so like now people are talking about even architecture as um having an impact on your cognition on your mood and being in nature so a lot of these Wellness modalities are being kind of integrated because you're looking everyone is looking at it in a more holistic way which is you know it's definitely like we're we have moved forward in a sort of collective understanding well it really does highlight why it is such a mammoth industry from an economic perspective in dollars it's not surprising to hear the trillions figure and it is true one leads into the next like even when you mention corporate Wellness well now you're hard-pressed to find a corporation if they have people in office the amount of times they're bringing yoga into their spaces or I know sound baths become more prominent here in a lot of Vancouver businesses giving their employees just spaces to have a break for themselves to connect with self ultimately in turn they end up with happier healthier employees they're doing better at their jobs and it becomes better for us in our homes it's just this constant effect it's really great when it's industries that are making such profound differences in people's lives because I do think that there's such a substantial ripple effect but I know another element that was one that when I reached out I kind of highlighted I wanted to speak to was the wellness tourism and Spas because as you mentioned even before the definition there we know that Spas have existed forever but I really see there is such a tremendous shift happening in consumer Behavior over seeking out types of experiences so talk to me about the wellness tourism economy and what we have seen in regards to growth and consumer Behavior the numbers don't really tell a good story because of the covet year and then you know we have to completely gone go back to the previous level of you know activity and wellness tourism when we actually came up with the definition and study this sector um it's actually about almost 10 years ago long long time ago and before that most people think of Wellness tourism as being a pretty sort of exclusive activity like oh you're some really rich people let's go to some destination Spa you know spend you know ten thousand dollars for two weeks you know which is somewhere it was some very fancy yoga or maybe you know Yoga Retreat or yeah people think of it as those kinds of activity and which it is that is part of it and the people who really feel their belong there is the very high-end Resort and spas and you know where we said so we Define it as they're including really two kinds of visits one is that the visitors well in his intention Drive the entire trip so you are booking that you are the researching destination you're going that for your Wellness whatever Wellness reason so that is the purpose of the trip so that is the that is what most people understand is understood as well as tourism so that is we said that's one group another much bigger group is the people who may be doing something else like going for a visiting friends and family family would go on some trip but they they're bringing their Wellness intention and their Lifestyles with them so they might be making certain decisions when they are you know picking hotels or going to eat what do whatever this when they're spending money they there's some Wellness value driving some of those decisions maybe not all of it not all the time but the whole trip we said it is a secondary Wellness tourism so it's interesting when we first put out that definition and then we Define that industry we gave it like I don't know I forgot 400 million I I forgot what was the size but um uh no 400 billion sorry um and and people were some people were kind of um they said we've really exaggerated it they said you cannot include the hotel room and all the food spending when the hotel is not a wellness Hotel they're not eating all the healthy everything I know we said this sector is not just the yoga studio they go to all the healthy food store this sector includes I said Airline and we were predicting that about eight years ago nine years ago when people have yeah you know they were disagreeing with that definition they said it's it's like no no you cannot tell them we're like no you you forgot there are many many things in your journey even including your transportation when you feel I want certain kind of vehicle maybe environmental Consciousness is part of my value my Wellness value I want you know even Uber has that where you can pick a sustainable vehicle but this is we were saying this eight years ago and nobody like they they kind of took it some people took issue but some people saw that figure and get really excited and I really like to believe that that's drew a lot of the hospitality big brands in and now we know even air I think Qantas Airline is the first one that's going to build their circadian rhythm into their lighting and their food right um and there are different other airlines in their business class I mean not your general economy but they're building in some of the wellness programming now so so it was interesting there was a space for wellness almost in everything we do well and you're so right when it comes to the big hotel Brands because I know a bunch of them have specific rooms that you can book now that have the yoga mat hanging on the wall and either technologically integrated or in their system where you can do those workouts in your actual hotel room and as I say maybe several years ago for the elite that was perhaps an option but this is now I think one of them's within a standard IHG chain you know so you really were at the Forefront of that yeah so a lot of them are now have healthy food options and also well they have some programming it's you know on their on the TV um and but um it's it's almost standard that they have really good light blocking Shades now true that was another thing and and the windows if they it's a renovated Hotel they're going to have better noise you know kind of noise proving Windows because if you don't sleep well forget it it's like you know nothing Nothing's Gonna help so and and some hotels will have even circadian lighting but that you know it's like you can get higher and higher end in these things but it it's becoming more and more standard so which is a good thing it's like everybody should expect that level again I do think when we speak especially Wellness tourism but with a lot of the different sectors that you listed off there from the 11. it can often feel like wellness is an exclusive thing whereas the conversation I think is Shifting enough where you're like no Wellness can be your walk outside in nature that is a very healthy thing to do it is definitely there's a trend toward premiumization I kind of hate that word but that that's the word that's is there's a premium Market that is getting kind of extreme in most Wellness sectors you know from Real Estate to tourism to right like super high-end like things for a skin care or your procedures so there's there's definitely that going on um because it's it's kind of easier maybe easier to differentiate and get a higher profit margin um and then there's a lot more but there is a lot more affordable products for the mass Market too my when it comes to Wellness tourism Are there specific destinations geographically that you really see as the up and comers or ones that are a solid example of where they're really thriving people are really they're really seeking nature like destinations that they can experience nature so so kind of like beautiful mountains and lakes and bodies of water a lot of people are seeking those things so you can you see a lot of Investments by um all kinds of hospitality companies to create from clamping to very high-end hotels and resorts in those areas like national parks you have a lot in Canada we have a lot here but you know the hospitality companies were not looking at those before uh but that there's definitely you know that that aspect people really feel it's like it's if there's like a premium to being able to reach those spaces definitely well and you've seen the impacts of that already here a lot of destinations are learning how to Pivot and better manage this broader interest because to me I'm like yes I love the outdoors and truthfully the mountains are right here I was in them this weekend I'll be back again this week I really value my nature time and I love that people are discovering that but I think that there's going to be some cautions and learnings as we see that type of Interest expand and especially be monetized when there are companies that are bringing more people that maybe don't know kind of the the unwritten rules to leave it either as you found it or better than you found it better yeah I think this it's a it's just the sudden volume I mean it's funny for for Americans to hear the Canadians think they're overwhelmed by the number of people always like oh my God you know yeah but they have 10 of our people in the same land mass but but it I think it's more it's like a sudden surge right there's enough I mean we live in the continent where really there's enough nature for everyone is it equally accessible like in a you know an equitable way maybe not you know people may not be able to get there but I think there's enough space if we're you know if we're it's better managed uh and have better visitor education so that's definitely a trend and I think related to that nature Trend a lot of outdoor sports um there's a lot of people are bringing like voting that in to you know it's their vacation so you know you can say is that just Sports tourism or is that Wellness I think they're kind of almost merging because the the people who are going to those places they are doing some pretty you know power of power you know I don't know of tracking or you know they're they're doing things that they maybe you want to challenge themselves physically my my own kids are not bad so it's just like what are the six Peaks I have to climb when we go to Sedona you know that kind of thing like oh God social media though has had a tremendous impact of that which again is like the curse and the blessing because how incredible for them to be seeking those experiences you know and it's they they see and the interesting thing is people are doing it also for their mental Wellness right it's like I need a challenge I kind of you know I gotta this is what I I want to see if I can hit that um you know that is like my goal so so they're all kind of emerging so that that's definitely like a thing no I agree I was in um Los Angeles actually just thinking as you brought that up and obviously we all know that pickleball fastest growing sport in America and just taking Everywhere by storm I know that there's some controversies there if you live near a pickleball court you're not in love with the sound but if you are somebody that maybe tennis wasn't 100 your jam but you were great at pickleball it's really really fun to try but I was at a resort that basically turned their rooftop into a disco pickleball court and to me I was like excellent marketing for sure from a social media perspective it was so visual so fun but on top of it great way to get people that are traveling that perhaps that's something that they want to do that might be the particular reason why you book that hotel yeah and I I think it is pickleball is an interesting uh interesting sport in many ways uh right because it somehow it's more accessible in terms of skill level for people so if you're like me like totally terrible cannot do tennis you can probably like do enough you know putt at the ground and and play and and it's also a good sort of a starter like experimental sport when you're traveling I mean tennis will be harder but pickleball you know this it's like you know it's like okay maybe try on it for an hour right don't like it no forget it right it's just less intimidating and I think uh it the whole the the thing about the skill level is then when you have a family even like multi-generation right the grandparents with the kid they just do the slow way that's so true on some of these things when there's there are a lot of uh um sort of intergenerational travel now I mean there's so much value in that when people are leading by example right when you have the whole family together those are skill sets that those kids then are going to grow up and so on and so forth and when we know we're up against a physical inactivity crisis the numbers as I'm sure you know are quite staggering on that front so anything that's going to propel more people to get moving in any capacity is well worthwhile yeah and sometimes the the people go on a holiday and they had a good experience they get introduced to something and you know it doesn't happen all the time but sometimes the things they experience during the holiday they actually it's like it it can be a shift that they bring back home so in relation to that the the sort of you know the nature of sports there is also an um slowly emerging trend of people wanting to train light Pros when they're not froze right but there are usually people at a pretty fit level but they kind of want to go to a place where they are feeling like you know they're training like a pro because it's like I don't know between fantasy or aspiration right yeah I've seen actually a few pop-up Fitness caps and things like that there was one in Croatia that popped up on my feed the other day and another in Thailand where why literally it was to go and do exactly that and it wasn't how you see previously let's say there's people that are looking to do a weight loss Journey or things like that it was not marketed in that capacity at all it was quite literally like come out work hard on the beach yeah yeah but it's the whole thing about like you know like a pro it's just kind of appealing so maybe some of them are and you know inviting coaches that are might have you know coached some really you know National level team on something um and again it might be fulfilling a fantasy but it's an aspiration it's people like to push themselves and again I would relate that more to mental Wellness than actually you know usually those people are probably had you know certain level of Fitness it's really mental right taking yourself to a different level more challengingly it's so fascinating to see the evolution in the space we kind of started off here speaking to the fact that it is global Wellness weekend coming up so where do you feel the focus should be as we travel into this weekend one of the drawback of the so much attention and wellness is some people feel that it's become another burden like I need to do these things or then I'm not keeping up with other so and so and I'm not fit you know I I it should not be another another thing to make you feel bad another thing to a burden so I would say it's really you know what brings you Joy that in any of those Wellness bubbles or any of these modalities what brings you Joy that should be part of your Wellness Journey because you do not want to force yourself to do things that you don't like just so you stay healthy you know you have to find the things that work for you so for some people who might be calling up a friend and go on a walk and you know Sandy park right yes I'll just go to the flea you know maybe go walk a little faster and walk a little longer that's your goal could be that it could be a global Wellness day or some people might feel okay maybe I just want to try this thing I just always thought I'm intimidated you know buy Pilates or something you know so maybe just you know get get someone and go and right so whatever makes you feel it brings you Joy that you want to experiment or want to dive into I it is really it's not should not be something very you know and exclusive it should be affordable accessible and that makes you happy well and I think as as you mentioned in the beginning there with the definition of these 11 different branches and obviously we know within each of those you could get more and more granular I'm sure but it just speaks to the fact that there are so many things that we can do for ourselves and as you say it's about discovering what resonates with us and that could be as simple as doing your morning gratitude and simply saying thank you when you open your eyes it can quite literally be that little and more than likely if you start to dive into small habits in your life you're going to want to attract more and more Wellness elements because it does feel good find your Wellness tribe yes yeah that's better you might meet some people um and it could be fun and just start you know I I met so many people doing yoga you know I just I call them my yoga friends but they're just like my friends though yeah people on a map next to you and then after a few years I know okay well that's you know who are you you know it is so true it's such a great way to build community when it comes to the global Wellness Institute and obviously you're doing incredible research when is this next report going to be unveiled uh it will be unveiled at the global Wellness Summit in Qatar in in early November amazing yeah so we'll we'll see some new numbers well and I'm sure the industry as a whole whether you're an entrepreneur getting started with your business or somebody within the business this report I imagine is going to be one of the most important ones that you've released considering we are coming off the heels of such a I know it's so overused but unprecedented time because it really has been yeah hopefully it's uh you know it's gonna be good news and I I think it'll be good news well that's good and kind of as a lasting thing for those that understand what is the role of the global Wellness Institute what do you kind of hope that people gain from the fact that a obviously you make all of this incredible research accessible yeah so Global Wellness Institute is a spin-off from the event Global Wellness Summit and the global Wellness Summit Summit Street Wellness industry leaders and and because there's so much activity that comes out of the summit that people want to work together the global Wellness Institute was created to be like a home for those activities and so we do all work under the global Wellness Institute and serve the summit so that our research is available and to to the public so you know people everyone can go look into it and and we have not only industry numbers but we kind of dive into right think of how do you define mental Wellness how do you define Wellness real estate and we have heard that people in the U.S building industry
have been looking into that and then thinking about healthy buildings you know you don't know what uh what it affects like what industry will get into it even a few years later very gratifying to be working in an industry where we are defining what the industry is it's not something that I've kind of dreamed of when I study economics where like you're going to go you know be defining an industry and it is so it is kind of a fun of is so true and especially because it's constantly evolving so that the first one you were kind of saying like having especially like as a professional Economist having to figure out the definitions I was like oh that must be so daunting because I'm sure it's so subjective to so many people but when I hear it from that perspective yes you're you're trailblazing within an industry and one that is evolving very quickly like you have 11 branches now and I'm sure more to come down the line there might be more to come yeah yeah like we've resisted adding mental Wellness for a while but you know we added it in the right time but yeah but we're economists if you can't Define it you cannot measure it so so we're kind of bound we have to be specific we're not allowed to be this it includes everything it's everything you know it's not you cannot oh that is so true well I really appreciate you taking the time to provide a little bit of insight and I look forward to the report in November and learning a lot more about where the industry has been and where we're headed thank you for the work that you do yeah thank you you've just listened to the all things Fitness and Wellness podcast hosted by Chrissy van this episode was brought to you by Fitness World your Fitness your way be sure to hit like And subscribe we have new podcast episodes weekly featuring industry insiders and influencers together we're on a mission for everyone to live a life Fit and Well [Music]
2023-09-19 23:44
