Are European Wellness Retreats The Next Travel Trend?
5 min read
More people seek life-changing travel experiences beyond the typical sightseeing itinerary for pleasure and temporary relief from the daily grind. Wellness retreats can provide life direction, promote healing, and foster personal development and this travel trend is rapidly increasing in popularity to find inner peace.
What is Wellness Tourism?
Individuals worldwide are increasingly engaging in holistic wellness travel. This proactive practice is different from medical tourism, which focuses on receiving medical treatment or dental care at a more affordable price but may not correct an underlying condition or stressor.
Instead, travelers visit retreat centers, such as Ahom Health Oasis, which promote physical and spiritual well-being without medical intervention in a serene atmosphere, making it easier to find yourself. These centers are commonly found near popular tourist destinations and major airports for ease of accessibility.
Amenities and activities at wellness destinations usually include:
- Informational talks
- Massage and sauna
- Meditation
- Thermal pools
- Weight loss and detox
- Yoga
Many report that these alternative healing methods improve their quality of life and help them overcome various challenges impacting their health, mind, and spirit.
The Global Wellness Institute forecasts an industry-wide average annual growth rate of 16.6% through 2027. Contributing trends include family wellness holidays, burnout recovery retreats, indigenous healings, and seeking calmness.
Wellness travel is a fast-growing trend as people combine lifestyle improvements with travel to favorite domestic and international tourist sites.
Europe is currently the most significant wellness tourism market, as European and international travelers alike strive for centuries-old experiences. Demand is increasing as people look for a new perspective when visiting iconic destinations that are more likely to promote inner peace and healing.
These retreats are different than the standard European wellness-focused activities that people take to destress, reconnect with nature, or ponder life’s future, such as backpacking Europe, walking the Camino de Santiago, or enjoying luxury hotels and spas like the rich and famous.
In most cases, you attend an on-site seven-day retreat that can be all-inclusive with various channeled activities to pinpoint a specific condition or promote general wellness. Meanwhile, it’s still possible to sightsee outside the retreat dates to visit local landmarks or for further relaxation before returning home.
Indigenous Holistic Wellness
There is a growing worldwide interest in implementing Indigenous cultural traditions into wellness retreats. One reason is that celebrities such as Elon Musk, Aaron Rodgers, and Lindsay Lohan are touting their personal breakthroughs from these millennia-old practices.
Serbian-born entrepreneur Milan Milic, a founder of 13 companies and a self-made millionaire, shares a similar experience after attending his first retreat in 2018 and breaking an approximate 30-year struggle with drug and alcohol addiction. He also attributes this encounter to being able to experience a fulfilling family life and a financial breakthrough.
“I was in poor health and mentally at the end of my rope. But one night changed my life completely,” says Milan Milic. “The night in which I was able to free myself once and for all from my fears, traumas and mental blocks through indigenous plant medicine and shamanic rituals and draw new life energy.”
Milan Milic
Milan Milic
Milic continues, “As a result, I finally made my financial breakthrough, today I successfully manage several companies and live a happy and fulfilled life with my lovely wife and two wonderful children. My mission is now to help people like you to develop their full potential and live a life of freedom and fulfillment.”
Specifically, attendees can participate in all-inclusive retreats for seven days at Ahom Health Oasis located 45 minutes outside of Barcelona. Retreat activities focus on helping participants release themselves from fears, injuries, and traumas along with gaining new visions of the future to become happier, freer, and more loving.
One of the retreat’s Indigenous practices is three days of Ayahuasca, an ancient South American herbal medicine. It is administered by an experienced shaman to provide a safe Ayahuasca retreat. Simultaneously, you avoid the burden of traveling to hard-to-reach countries where this medicine has been administered for thousands of years.
While Ayahuasca is still relatively unknown across North America and Europe, more Westerners are showing interest in its potential benefits to detoxify the body. Moreover, Partnership to End Addiction mentions Ayahuasca retreats and ceremonies as one method of promoting mindfulness and treating substance abuse or mental health challenges stemming from previous trauma.
In addition to a full-service European retreat center, Milan Milac dreams of setting up a holistic herbal medicine clinic in the heart of the Amazon, where many Indigenous practices originated.
Barcelona Wellness Retreats
Ahom Healh Oasis hosts all-inclusive holistic wellness retreats near Barcelona, Spain, appealing to travelers seeking self-discovery, healing, and freedom from addictions. This retreat center is easy to access as it is situated 45 minutes outside of the major international city.
Guests stay at a relaxing villa with comfortable rooms overlooking Spain’s green countryside, an infinity pool and sauna, and on-site chefs. Most importantly, participants enjoy guaranteed privacy during the retreat.
Instead of primarily visiting this prominent Spanish city to walk La Rambla, admire the Guadi-inspired architecture, or enjoy some of the best places to eat in Barcelona, participants participate in a seven-day retreat with multiple wellness activities.
The retreat center has a 14-person team including doctors, psychologists, and experienced holistic staff to provide 24/7 on-site support.
A typical seven-day all-inclusive retreat includes:
- Breathwork
- Ecstatic dance
- Full-body massages
- Herbal medicine
- Integration talks
- Meditation
- Psychological face reader
- Sound healing
- Yoga
Participants also enjoy vegan and vegetarian food prepared by three on-site cooks as a plant-based diet usually improves the effectiveness of the various healing activities.
Additionally, attendees can receive three months of ongoing support with weekly Zoom sessions. The first month is in preparation for the retreat and the following two months are post-retreat. This hands-on attention is a distinguishable advantage that makes these retreats more rewarding with long-lasting benefits.
A retreat center can serve as a sanctuary for finding inner peace, attaining a deeper self-understanding, and unlocking a vision for future ambitions to generate positivity. Participants can also renew their energy levels, receive expert advice, and develop a sense of community and belonging.
Combining these components during the retreat with comfortable amenities and the multi-month support at home can provide abundant mental health benefits.
Final Thoughts
All-inclusive wellness travel retreats are gaining popularity as people seek to overcome various physical, emotional, and spiritual challenges at idyllic destinations. Europe is a growing hotspot for this adventure as travelers yearn for more than traditional sightseeing to encounter a better future and escape from the busy modern world.
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