What Do Wellness Travellers Want?

We talked to Dervla Musgrave, founder of Compare Retreats, on the findings of their latest survey on wellness travel.

 Dervla Musgrave, Compare Retreats

What are some key findings of the survey?
We titled this report ‘Mental Health Retreats, Plastic Free Policies, and The Maldives’ because those are the three findings that really caught our attention. Wellness travellers are prioristing mental health over their physical and spiritual health, demanding that properties have plastic-free policies in place and are dreaming of going on wellness retreats in The Maldives. In addition the top three ways that our readers find retreats is through Google Search, Instagram and friend referral. In addition people want to go on yoga, fitness, meditation and spa retreats but are less inclined to go for the sole purpose of weight loss. The Maldives, Bali and Thailand are the top three most desired retreat locations. And, to finish on a romantic note, the majority of wellness travellers we surveyed want to go away with their partners. There is a lot more information in the report but that is a short summary of my favourite findings.

Photographed: Six Senses Laamu (Maldives)

What’s the purpose of conducting this survey?
To find out what wellness travellers really want. I studied finance and have always been drawn to numbers so statistics and data are very important to me, especially as we write so much content and are always on the lookout for raw data we can analyse. You can predict what you think your customers might desire but unless you ask them you will never know. We were curious if people were prioritising their mental health, where they wanted to travel to for wellness retreats, who they wanted to retreat with, and so much more. With this data not only can we tailor our offerings but we can also share it with our wellness retreat partners so that they know what different demographics are looking for.

What’s the mission and vision of Compare Retreats?
Compare Retreats mission is to help wellness travellers find the best retreats in the world that deliver the results they promise. Our booking platform offers a concise edit of the leading luxury wellness retreats in the world that have been vetted by our global team of certified health and professionals. Our reviews, interviews and expert insights also provide in-depth information about the world of wellness retreats so that guests can make informed decisions before investing their time and money into an experience. It’s all about quality over quantity and helping people improve their body, mind and spirit through wellness experiences.

How do you see the future of the luxury wellness industry, especially in Asia?
The Asia outbound traveller is the most exciting type of client we have because there are so many wellness retreat options a few hours away. We see more state-of-the-art wellness retreats opening in Vietnam, The Maldives and even Hong Kong and the competition in the wellness retreat market fuelling innovative new programmes and experiences. Mental health will come into focus in the coming years with retreats adding more mental-health elements into existing programmes or creating dedicated retreats to help clients nurture their mind. I also feel that less will be more in the future of luxury wellness travel and am excited about fasting and silent meditation retreats in beautiful properties. I also cannot wait for modern meditation and custom-built wellness centres to open in Hong Kong and Singapore. The wellness influencer marketplace in Asia is becoming more saturated and this personal referral is a very important lead-generator for us. Many of the health and fitness professional experts we work with have strong social media platforms, which is an added bonus for our retreat partners.

For a copy of the findings, please email insights@catchonco.com.

Catherine Feliciano-Chon