Africa’s tourism industry is ideally placed to benefit from the current interest in wellness travel, reveals the WTM Global Trends Report 2016, in association with Euromonitor International, released today (Tuesday 8 November) at World Travel Market London.
The report states that safari holidays, one of the continent’s most important segments, are increasingly including yoga, spa and meditation as part of the itinerary.
The idea of “wellness in the wilderness” also resonates with travellers seeking unique and authentic experiences, resulting in a demand for spiritual travel with an adventure component.
Furthermore, the Global Wellness Summit found that in 2014, wellness travel – defined as travel with a purpose of improving health and wellbeing – was growing at 74% more than regular global travel.
Another factor in the rise of Africa’s tourism is the emphasis on sustainable and reduced footprint holidays, with increasing importance placed on ensuring the benefits of tourism are directly and indirectly shared with the local economy.
Euromonitor International, Head of Travel, Caroline Bremner, said: “Time spent with loved ones, including oneself, was consistently ranked as most important by respondents in our 2015 Global Consumer Trends Survey. Time is becoming crucial in a world where everything moves fast, so a safari in the middle of nowhere with loved ones is the ultimate form of wellness travel.”
Mindfulness travel is a fairly new concept that looks to capitalise on the emotional and spiritual benefits of tourism. It is complementary to the wellness trend and is another opportunity for Africa.
South Africa and Kenya are embracing this trend, but Euromonitor International believes the entire region could benefit. The great animal migrations seen across Botswana and Tanzania could be the focus of a wellness or mindfulness travel experience.
World Travel Market, Senior Director, Simon Press said: “Wellness in the wilderness combines a number of emerging travel and consumer trends, and Africa lends itself to adventure and relaxation in a natural environment which can also satisfy the demand from travellers for a sustainable and responsible experience.
“The Africa region at WTM London 2016 will showcase a number of suppliers and destinations combining safaris and wellness, many of which are at the forefront of what is an increasingly important segment.”
WTM London is the event where the travel and tourism industry conducts its business deals. Buyers from the WTM Buyers’ Club have a combined purchasing responsibility of $22.6 billion (£15.8bn) and sign deals at the event worth $3.6 billion (£2.5bn).
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About World Travel Market London
WTM London, the leading global event for the travel industry, is the must-attend three-day business-to-business exhibition for the worldwide travel and tourism industry.
Almost 50,000 senior travel industry professionals, government ministers and international press, embark on ExCeL – London every November to network, negotiate and discover the latest industry opinion and trends at WTM London.
WTM London is the event where the travel industry conducts and concludes its deals. WTM London will generate around £2.5 billion of travel industry contracts.
WTM London is part of Reed Travel Exhibition’s World Travel Market events, which also includes Arabian Travel Market, World Travel Market Latin America and World Travel Market Africa. www.wtmworld.com
Reed Travel Exhibitions
Reed Travel Exhibitions (RTE) is the world’s leading provider of exhibitions in the travel and tourism industry. Its wide-ranging portfolio of events around the globe covers leisure travel, luxury travel, meetings, incentives and business travel, as well as golf, ski and spa travel.
RTE, which organises more than 22 events around the world, includes three divisions; World Travel Market, IBTM Events and International Luxury Travel Market.
RTE is a business unit of Reed Exhibitions.
About Reed Exhibitions
Reed Exhibitions is the world’s leading events organiser, with more than 500 events in 43 countries. In 2014 Reed brought together more than seven million event participants from around the world generating billions of dollars in business. Today Reed events are held throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Africa and organised by 41 fully staffed offices. Reed Exhibitions serves 43 industry sectors with trade and consumer events. It is part of the RELX Group plc, a world-leading provider of information solutions for professional customers across industries.
About Euromonitor International
Euromonitor International is the world’s leading provider for global business intelligence and strategic market analysis. We have more than 40 years of experience publishing international market reports, business reference books and online databases on consumer markets.
To receive your free 2016 WTM Global Trends Report copy, please register here: http://go.euromonitor.com/WTM-London-2016.html