People will take fewer trips but travel more deliberately
SPA FORESIGHT™
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FINDING CALM
11. Mental wellbeing We’ve written at length about mental wellbeing, but it has never been as important as it is today. Even before a year that left us dealing with a global health crisis, job losses, civil unrest and isolation, the world was already crying out for help with mental health. So it’s no surprise that the Global Wellness Institute has named mental wellness as a US$121bn (€101.6bn, £91.8bn) segment of the global wellness economy. Self-improvement, meditation, mindfulness, nutraceuticals, and sleep are all part of this sector – and areas where we expect the spa industry to see significant growth.
MAKING IT COUNT
12. Slow travel With most of the world putting travel plans on hold in 2020, the trend towards a new kind of ‘slow travel’ is emerging – one that, much like the slow food movement, emphasises quality, depth and local flavour over fast-paced quick travel fixes. People will make fewer journeys, but will travel more deliberately, taking
those bucket list trips while they can. And with the headache of masking and testing required before most flights, guests will want to make sure their destination is worth the effort. As providers of luxury spa and wellness experiences in some of the most exquisite locations in the world, this bodes well for our industry.
Research shows exercise can help people survive COVID-19 by promoting the secretion of the antioxidant EcSOD
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COVID PROTECTION
13. EcSOD – exercise to protect from the effects of covid-19 Professor Zhen Yan at the University of Virginia set out to find out why approximately 80 per cent of confirmed COVID-19 patients have mild symptoms and do not need respiratory support. Yan found regular exercise may reduce the risk of complications in people with COVID-19, as well as offering the potential for alternative treatment approaches. He studied an antioxidant called extracellular superoxide dismutase (EcSOD) that’s 54 spabusiness.com issue 1 2021
released in the body during exercise. His work “strongly supports” the possibility that higher levels of EcSOD in the body can prevent or reduce the severity of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) – one of the worst outcomes of COVID-19. EcSOD hunts down free radicals, binding to organs and protecting tissue. “Our findings strongly support that enhanced EcSOD expression from skeletal
muscle, which can be redistributed to lung tissue, could be a viable preventative and therapeutic measure in reducing the risk and severity of ARDS,” he says. Research suggests that a single session of exercise increases the production of the antioxidant, with cardiovascular exercise thought to drive the highest immediate levels of EcSOD production. Strength training increases muscle mass, also playing a part in the equation.