The GWI has created one “go-to” report for wellness tourism, combining the first-ever wellness tourism market research released in 2013 with updated data released in 2014. Wellness tourism continues to be one of the fastest-growing travel categories: revenues expanded from $438 billion in 2012 to $494 billion in 2013—a 12.7 percent growth rate that was 40 percent larger than originally forecast.
“Can Reading Make You Happier?”- The New Yorker, Ceridwen Dovey, June 9, 2015
Yes, it can! When we read stories, we draw on the same brain networks that are employed when we’re trying to guess at another person’s feelings, and studies show that people who read a lot of fiction tend to be better at empathizing with others (as well as sleep better and have lower levels of stress and depression). If we want to treat ourselves better, we can use “bibliotherapy”: an ancient practice that encourages reading for therapeutic effect.
Top 12 Countries for Inbound Wellness Tourism
Slicing the Global Wellness Institute’s 2014 research on wellness tourism always yields new insights. We have previously reported that domestic wellness tourism makes up 84 percent of this travel category’s total trips. But which nations are the winners in driving the most inbound/international wellness trips globally? READ MORE to find out the top 12 countries…
Productivity Is Falling Worldwide—Can Yoga Help?
Economist Thierry Malleret takes a look at an odd fact: Despite all the hype about technology and innovation, productivity is stalled, or falling, around the world—with India being one key exception. Critical, disturbing reasons—weak investment and cash hoarding by mega-companies in countries like the U.S.
Shifting to the wellness front, Malleret discusses how many businesses are now scrambling to increase productivity by rolling out employee wellness programs. And yoga is on the rise in those programs because a lot of anecdotal evidence indicates that “it works.”
So what about India and productivity? Malleret argues that any simple idea that India is more productive thanks to yoga is preposterous, but he explains how yoga is not only very much part of India’s cultural DNA but also how the new government is taking action. READ MORE about what India’s new prime minister is doing on the yoga front…making it more a part of “policy.”
Who’s Adding the Most Wellness Trips Each Year? Asia.
According to Global Wellness Institute research, no region is adding more wellness tourism trips each year than Asia-Pacific. The region now drives 152 million wellness trips annually—and is adding an amazing 32 million a year—meaning that Asia-Pacific is fast closing in on current wellness tourism trip leaders, Europe and North America. Read about the region’s powerful wellness tourism growth, and how the top 10 Asian markets stack up.
News: “Why Facebook Is the Junk Food of Socializing”
In this short piece (you can read it in three minutes!), a professor of cognitive science explains that when we interact with “friends” on social networking sites or through texting, “it can feel like we’re getting quality social contact, but we are not.” Research shows face–to–face interaction with other people—real people, right in front of us—is absolutely vital for longevity and happiness. In fact, it is a larger contributor than both exercise and diet.
