The wellness trend of the moment sees hospitality and wellness closely connected with the surrounding environment. The trend was already perceptible in 2019, but the so-called ‘Covid years’ have accelerated this increasingly strong link between Wellness and Nature.
Today, tourist hospitality is also aligning itself with this need and evolving into “open-air” stays and activities, using nature as a wellness tool as well as a place of experience.
At last, an important concept has spread widely: tradition, innovation and the enhancement of environmental and cultural resources become the way forward in formulating an offer capable of capturing the interest of customers. This applies irrespective of whether we are talking about accommodation facilities or SPA environments, spa treatments, cosmetics, etc.
What SPA clients look for
In avant-garde spas and wellness centres, the architectural layouts, treatments, activities, style choices, and culinary proposals all dialogue with nature and the surrounding environment in new ways. It is a symbiotic and reversible relationship, capable of welcoming and satisfying increasingly demanding customers. The Zen Generation, i.e. the customers of today and especially of tomorrow, demand a strong interconnection between the surrounding space and the digital sphere.
A growing trend: retreats or wellness retreats surrounded by nature
Recent surveys show that many of those travelling or planning a period of rest and relaxation are tend to prefer retreats in secluded, quiet places, far from the hustle and bustle. In short, there is a greater desire for nature (+31%) and tranquillity (+29%). One example: in the first four months of 2022, sites dedicated to outdoor tourism recorded a 150% increase in the flow of searches compared to 2021 and an 8% increase compared to 2019.
The new hospitality and wellness venues must enter into symbiosis with nature through intelligent architectural solutions. Attentive customers prefer facilities that are perfectly integrated into the natural environment and connected to digital ecosystems powered by renewable sources. In this case, the difference is no longer the price of the offer but rather the zero impact on the territory.
How to design a SPA in the in nature
Specialised architects and designers who are attentive to the new tourism/wellness trends are oriented towards redesigning gardens and open-air spaces that can be used for sports and wellness activities. Design and new style proposals therefore conquer green spaces and often create an absolutely harmonious and relaxing connection between indoors and outdoors.
Certainly, the secret to a successful spa project in nature is to have a unique and innovative concept in mind that is characterising for that spa and becomes the common thread of the entire customer experience.
by Elisabetta Farneti
