Wellness and Adventure is where this Private Equity Founder would Invest $1 billion. Let’s Discuss Why.

“Consumers are spending a higher proportion of their discretionary income on activities and experiences than ever, according to panelist Greg O’Hara, founder and senior managing director at private equity firm Certares Management LLC .?When asked where he would invest $1 billion,?O’Hara says in wellness and adventure” reports a PhocusWire article titled “Traveler’s Demand for Experiences Requires Industry Rethink ” on the panel discussion that took place at the World Travel and Tourism Council’s Global Summit 2022 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The fact that travelers are spending more money on activities and experiences than ever is no surprise after what we have gone through over the past several years.?People were gifted the time to reevaluate what matters most to them and for many people, that’s our time. Whether that is their personal time alone, time with their family and loved ones, time working on something that they are actually passionate about, or time that makes them feel enriched and fulfilled rather than burned out, unappreciated, and undervalued.

Travel is an activity and an experience that people are valuing. Yes, travel was always valued but since the pandemic, travel has catapulted to the top of people’s list of how to spend their time.

But they’re not traveling just to travel.?People are putting more thought and purpose into where they go, what they do, who they go with, and how long the travel for.

Travel is transformative. Travel is healing.?We always knew that but now, we are finally seeing a light shined on tourism as a tool to transform and heal (along with to learn, grow, cope, connect, be inspired, feel alive again, etc)

While traveling the globe solo to 84 countries, I had thousands of conversations with travelers where I realized a commonality among why people truly traveled.?It wasn’t to just sightsee, relax in a spa, or dine at a 5-star restaurant, instead, people truly travel to feed their mental, physical, spiritual, social, intellectual, or professional wellbeing.

“People are making decisions about travel based on what they want to do, not where they want to go,” says O’Hara in the PhocusWire article.?

In my Travel Coach Network, travel coaches empower people to set intentions for their trips first based on why they are actually seeking an “escape” or simply, a vacation.

It’s about shifting how we view, use, and talk about travel.?Rather than a luxury activity or a one or two-times-a-year experience, or just a vacation and them back to your daily routine again, it should be about using travel as a tool to better our wellbeing, better our life, better our relationships, and better our professional goals. Decades of research has proven this.?Now, we need to implement it and take action.

“A shift away from the purchase of goods toward investment in authentic, local experiences has gained momentum over the last few years - and that has important implications for the travel industry” says PhocusWire.?

Well, that’s a no-brainer as well, isn’t it??The foundation of tourism is people and place.?People being the culture, local community, storytelling, and traditions. Place being the land, environment, local foods, wildlife, and nature.?

All of these elements of travel (as I call them), are what draws people to a destination in the first place. It’s far more than just how white the sand of a beach is or how crystal blue the waters are, because let’s face it, those are all around the world.?Instead, the authentic, raw, and real experiences of a destination are what tourism and hospitality companies are lacking on promoting.

All of these elements of travel (people, place, human connection, nature, local foods, culture), are what feed our hunger to travel. People have been craving travel for years now, therefore, it’s no wonder why we are seeing a shift in consumer behavior towards more wellness and adventure.

In my previous article , I shared how a recent survey by the Global Wellness Institute found that what was most important for wellness travelers when selecting a wellness destination were local healthy food and nature and wildlife.?Those were double the selection of spas and fitness experiences.

So, if “the industry needs to understand that the customer is different, and therefore the offer should be different” according to Sébastien Bazin, chairman and CEO of 雅高 , then why is more money being poured into spas, fitness centers, wellness centers, and treatments when it comes to wellness travel rather than focusing on amplifying the authentic wellness experiences that involve culture, human connection, local community, local foods, and time in nature while helping travelers get in tuned with what type of transformation, outcome, solution, or feeling, they are seeking from a travel experience at the point of booking?

If you resonate with all of this, let’s do something incredible together.