5 ways to diversify the wellness industry – NBC News, June 24, 2020
Nutritionist Maya Feller explains how, “If COVID-19 has taught us anything, it’s that racism, not race, is an underlying risk factor for poor health outcomes…That’s why my industry, the wellness industry, matters so much right now.” She discusses the dramatic lack of representation of black people in wellness and suggests five ways to change this.
The end of tourism? – Guardian, June 18, 2020
A thoughtful, in-depth argument for how the tourism industry needs to be reinvented post-pandemic, with strategies that say “good riddance” to overcrowded cities and rubbish-strewn natural wonders. The virus allows us to imagine a new future: to diversify, to localize, to reduce travel’s dependency on the carbon disaster that is global aviation, and to tax tourism’s excesses. In general, we need to stop thinking of tourism as a quick source of money and a natural human right, but rather as an integrated, planned part of a nation’s economy and a luxury.
Who will the COVID unicorns be? – SIFT, June 3, 2020
This is an interview with Pascal Cagni, who used to be Steve Jobs’s Europe guy at Apple and is now running a VC with a recipe for investing after Coronavirus. What is this recipe? Focus on (1) the “stay at home” winners (remote work, cyber-security), (2) the “Never again” start-ups (those aimed at making sure the consequences from the COVID-19 don’t repeat themselves in the future), and (3) the “make the world great again” opportunities (environment and wellbeing). Be aware of (4) the short-term losers (tourism, retail, luxury, etc.).
Why COVID-19 raises the stakes for healthy buildings – Forbes, June 8, 2020
The Harvard Business School Working Knowledge Group argues that the basics of a healthy building—ventilation, air quality, water, moisture, and security—are going to be must-haves in the near future, especially as the cost of implementing is low compared to the benefits. There will be substantially more public interest (whether for their workplaces, homes or travel destinations) in the healthiness of the spaces that they’re occupying.
Healthy.io, maker of a ‘medical selfie,’ is part of the new generation of Israeli health-tech companies – CNBC, June 22, 2020
Israel’s health-tech scene is on fire. Healthy.io is just one of the start-ups headquartered in Tel Aviv and moving into the US market. The company, which builds technology to make it easier for consumers to take urine analysis tests at home, already has relationships with the US. Discusses how health and wellness tech is poised for a boom during COVID-19.
The new escapism: Isolationist travel – New York Times, June 24, 2020
As travelers seek safety amid social distancing, the travel industry is adapting with outdoor trips, remote lodgings and private camps.
A Striking Stat:
Exercise prevents almost four million premature deaths a year (for people aged 40–74). But getting the recommended amount of weekly exercise varies dramatically globally: from 33 percent in Kuwait to 93 percent in Mozambique.
Source: Cambridge University analysis of 168 nations, published in The Lancet
