2018 will see a much more fierce backlash against Big Technology and the toxic properties of social media. More tech workers will speak out on how they engineer addiction – concerns about the negative impact of tech on mental health will come even further to the fore – and more people will take action to limit their screen hours.
Tourism is predicted to grow fast this year, making the backlash against – and the need to find solutions for – over-tourism a major concern. Especially in the wellness travel space…
At the 2017 Global Wellness Summit, Dr. Michael Roizen, the renowned integrative medicine leader from the Cleveland Clinic, explored “Living to 160” – how it’s possible and what it takes.
A Striking Stat: The U.S. spends almost twice as much on healthcare (as a percentage of its economy) than other advanced industrialized countries: $3.3 trillion, or 17.9% of GDP each year.
With global economic growth, more people in emerging markets are entering the middle class and as they do, they adopt “American” eating habits – in particular, consuming too much soda. This has meant skyrocketing obesity, and most experts agree that taxing “sugar bomb” beverages is the only way forward.
But this has led to increasingly violent clashes between countries/cities that propose taxes and “Big Sugar” that spends hundreds of millions of dollars to fight new legislation.
Read about how this battle will intensify in the next few years, putting the fight against obesity and sugary drinks at the very forefront of wellness.
An issue to watch in 2018 is whether more wellness-associated brands will have to enter politics and thus risk becoming embroiled in tricky partisan issues. Recent example: Patagonia, the iconic outdoor U.S. retail brand (embodying many qualities associated with well-being) recently filed a lawsuit against the current U.S. Presidential administration after it removed federal protection on two million acres of national parks land – and other companies have also taken sides on the issue.
These are challenging times for wellness brands. “Staying outside of politics” may be their favoured option, but it’s likely that they’ll increasingly be forced to take a stance and manage it from a reputational perspective…
