What is the future of spa & wellness? Let’s talk about some of our predictions for the immediate and less immediate future.
We’re talking about the spa of the future in this month’s issue of Spa Executive – and there is so much to explore, from the spa in the metaverse to the immediate future of travel and wellness.
Here are four predictions about the future of spa and wellness.
Spas will become centers of longevity and life extension
In an interview with Spa Executive a few years ago, futurist James Canton predicted that spas will become centers of life extension and that we will have access to a whole new field of consumer genomics targeted at prevention and predictive health.
While this has yet to come to pass, it will, said Canton. He explained: “A fusion of next generation wellness and health informatics is going to create a new era for spas. The information to which we will have access will allow spas to design personalized programs for enhancement and prevention. If I’m going on vacation for a week to a spa, I want to get to the next level of my health and wellbeing. I don’t want to just lose a few pounds, or just relax. I’d like to get some insight so I can live an extra, vital 20, 30 or more years.”
Genetic engineering tools will allow us to edit out potential threats like Alzheimer’s or certain types of cancers.
“The spa of the future is going to look very different,” says Canton. “People are going to go to a spa and have a completely different kind of experience, one that really rejuvenates their health and wellbeing, and enables them to do more, live longer, and be healthier. I think that spas could lead a revolution.”
Some spas will likely just continue to do what they do today, while others will meld new available technology and data with the traditional experience to varying degrees.
Spas may even become human design clinics
At the ultimate degree of this, spa, longevity, and health enhancement merge into human design clinics. Canton called this “Human 2.0” and describes it this way:
“You have a spa treatment, a Botox treatment, you get rid of your wrinkles, a little lipo, a breast augmentation, maybe take care of those cancer cells, you get a great massage, a rigorous workout, a few cybernetic enhancements for that hip that’s not been doing so good. They upload some new stuff for you. The inborn nano-device inside of you identifies certain genes that are going to express certain diseases, and we neutralize them. Early Alzheimer’s might be edited out.”
Wellness travel will go next level
Renewed interest in wellness since the beginning of the pandemic will lead to a surge in wellness tourism and travel – provided it remains safe to do so. Health “guru” and “spiritual advisor,” Deepak Chopra, told Bloomberg that travelers will seek out experiences that relate to spirituality. “Of course people want to reinvent their bodies and resurrect their souls,” Chopra said. “But they’re looking for a reconnection to existence.
“In the future, we’ll see travel combine wellness with exploring nature in all its amazing diversity: birdwatching, walking through rainforests, connecting with the life in the savannah, spiritual sites like Bali. You’re going to see an influx of wellness travel for more than one reason.”
Travelers will seek out personalized and life-changing wellness travel experiences that will include exquisite elements and next-gen technology, from interactive smart rooms to immersive art and healing journeys. Travel will include the metaverse and people may be able to experience some of these journeys without leaving home. They will certainly be able to check out a hotel, resort, or destination before booking with AR & VR technology. People will spend their money on experiences rather than things.
Technology will enhance every experience
Speaking of technology, there’s an ongoing struggle between technology and wellness, how tech can enhance this aspect of our lives, and how much is too much. But nobody can argue that exciting things aren’t happening.
In the best and most exciting examples, nature and tech will unite to form entirely new and amazing experiences. Spas around the world are embracing this idea. For example, at Fairmont Century Plaza, where the spa unites ancient modalities with sophisticated technologies “to transform our awareness of what our bodies can achieve.”
Guests, for example, can enjoy the Oakworks SoVi Vibroacoustic System integrated into the Oakworks Curva Lounger Anti-Gravity Chair or Britta Table.
The vibratory and auditory technology is said to deliver healing modalities to guests or add soothing audio that complements spa experiences. According to a media release, “The proprietary vibroacoustic technology promotes relaxation and stress management, as well as enabling customized and touchless treatments.”
And, Carillon Miami has been adding touchless wellness services to its menu, including, recently, the BallancerPro, a lymphatic drainage suit “known as the ‘Rolls-Royce’ of its genre, designed to boost wellness and the immune system, relax the body, reduce water weight, improve tone, detoxify, and speed recovery from workouts.”
One spa that integrates the items on this list is Sha Wellness Clinic in Alicante, Spain (pictured above). At this futuristic wellness center guests can get a blood analysis with a certified technician to help determine their body’s toxins, chronic and degenerative diseases, cell function and oxygenation, and the state of their immune system in real time (via Wired). The clinic combines traditional methods with more cutting edge innovations that include two brain treatments: brain photobiomodulation and transcranial current stimulation.
She’s CEO told Wired that the treatments attract many of the world’s decision-makers and people who live “stressful lives” and are designed to help them boost their brain activity and up their work productivity. Programs that include the treatments start at $4,000.
In more predictions, robots will become a part of the spa experience and the hospitality experience in general, catering quietly and quickly to guest needs where appropriate. Spa will move to the metaverse and offer immersive virtual experiences. Guest journeys will be seamless and uninterrupted with contactless check-in and check out, ease of booking, and virtual and secure intake forms.
Travel and hospitality will cater to a variety of wellness needs and use technology to meet these guests wherever they are, whether that be in the real world or somewhere in between, on their own terms.
Spa Executive is published by Book4Time, the leader in guest management, revenue and mobile solutions for the most exclusive spas, hotels, and resorts around the globe. Learn more at book4time.com
I love that there’s such a positive view on spas and how they can be so helpful for someone well being. My partner has been very stressed recently and I want to help them in any way I can. I’ve been looking into spas and their benefits on overall health to see if they might want to try something like that.