5 Travel & Spa Trends

Here’s our take on 5 trends that’ll influence travel and spas in the coming 5 years:

FOODEX Think of people who travel in search of unique culinary experiences. These gastro explorers will go to Shanghai in September for hairy crab season, hunt for the best ramenshops in Tokyo, go on food and wine trails in search of seasonal culinary delights, plan their itinerary around restaurants not historical sites, or sign-on for cooking courses in Tuscany and Provence.

CELEBRATION DETOX More people are opting for more meaningful ways to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries and milestones than just your conventional holiday. They’re replacingchampers with colonics; hen parties for power hikes; partying with pampering. Personal milestone events remind people they’re in need of an annual body tune-up.

INTA-MEET Instead of travelling across the world to see friends and family, time-stressed individuals are cutting travel time by holidaying together at half-way points. This allows them to catch up with their loved ones as well as see a new destination.

CLUB MEDICAL It’s our MICE version of the medical tourism trend, where groups of people travel together for medical procedures — for instance, Hong Kong tour groups going to Korea for plastic surgery, girlfriends getting cosmetic procedures together in Thailand, couples getting partner face-lifts. One can say there’s strength in numbers, or misery loves company especially post-surgery. Also think of it in reverse – highly-skilled foreign doctors are who are starting to come to you to perform specialized procedures.

SPEED SPA-ING In our quest for value for money, treatment times are getting shorter but more results-driven. Also tandem treatments (think facials with pedicures) are in vogue to maximize our lack of time and demand for immediate results.

Catherine Feliciano-Chon