Each year, the Global Wellness Summit (GWS) identifies new trends that will have a meaningful impact on the $4.2 trillion wellness industry. Significantly, this is the only wellness forecast that draws from the insights of the 600+ executives who were delegates and presenters at the 2018 Global Wellness Summit. In addition, the GWS Trends incorporate the perspectives of renowned economists, medical and wellness professionals, academics and leaders across all sectors of the wellness industry.
Each of the eight trends speaks to topics that push the health and wellness envelope in unprecedented ways. We predict that these very new directions in wellness will grow worldwide and become big business in the years ahead.
This year, we take a close look at what the medical profession is prescribing—and while you might think that would be complicated to understand, it’s actually a walk in the park. With overtourism to the same old places being the #1 issue facing the travel industry today—unwell for both locals and tourists—will wellness tourism be an antidote, pulling people to less trafficked, healthier destinations? Will “choosing undertourism” become the new eco-tourism and ethical consumer wave? (So the Mona Lisa can keep smiling.) Get ready to have a new respect for your nose and what your olfactory sense can do in conjunction with your brain, such as take you back to happier times. Say goodbye forever to one-size-fits-all diets and hello to personalized nutrition—your DNA will lead the way and help you find the foods that work for you.
It’s time to rethink fashion, not only personally but also societally. From the supply chain to the chain stores, what we wear and what it means is taking on (and off) a life of its own. And speaking of a life of its own, we are looking at China—it’s extraordinary growth and wealth and what that means for wellness in the world. We’ve gone deep into the depths and looked at how dying is finally becoming part of the wellness conversation and how everything around death is suddenly getting rethought: from what a healthy end-of-life looks like to a surge in eco-friendly and creative burial options. But, whatever you do, don’t stress: There are going to be so many more options for meditation than ever before, and hard science will confirm the benefits of different types for different goals.
1. Well Fashion – Way Beyond Athleisure
A new era of sustainable, ethical, intelligent, healing, more inclusive and meaningful clothing is on the rise
2. Wellness Takes on Overtourism
Worldwide, more than 1.3 billion people travel internationally annually, up from 500 million trips in 1995. The problem is, they all want to see the Mona Lisa.
3. Meditation Goes Plural
No more singular, generic “meditation.” People will get clearer about the core meditation types and their unique brain impacts—just as this explosive market will bloom into many varieties
4. Prescribing Nature
There is enough science about the health benefits of nature to get the attention of the medical profession. Nature as medicine
5. MediScent: Fragrance Gets a Wellness Makeover
A new understanding of scent’s crucial role in our physical and emotional wellbeing is transforming how we think about, nurture, and use our sense of smell.
6. China – Uncovering the Wealth in Wellness
China’s unprecedented economic growth, political influence and technological advances have transformed the country into a global powerhouse. Given the size of the market and its growing middle class, China’s influence is now impacting the global wellness industry.
7. Nutrition Gets Very Personalized
Diet confusion, new tech and the “power of me” propel personalized nutrition into mainstream
8. Dying Well
It’s called the “death positive” movement, and everything around dying is getting radically rethought—from making the experience more humane to mourning and funerals getting reimagined to people actively exploring death as part of a mentally healthy life. Finally, a “better death” is becoming integral to the idea of a “well life.”
About the Global Wellness Summit: The Global Wellness Summit (GWS) is an invitation-only international gathering that brings together leaders and visionaries to positively shape the future of the $3.7 trillion global wellness economy. Held in a different location each year, Summits have taken place in the U.S., Switzerland, Turkey, Bali, India, Morocco, Mexico, Italy and Austria.
For full report: https://www.globalwellnesssummit.com/2019-global-wellness-trends/
