The world watched as Irma – the most powerful hurricane ever recorded over the Atlantic Ocean – destroyed cities and islands that were wellness resort heavy. One can argue whether recent hurricanes were caused by climate change, but no scientist would dispute that it acts as a major amplifier. And it raises serious questions about wellness destinations currently located (and future developed) in places around the world most susceptible to increasingly severe weather events.
Wellness Evidence Study: Is Everything We’ve Believed about High-Fat Diets Wrong?
For decades, the medical world has argued that low-fat diets are the key to health. But a large new study (135K people, 18 countries) provides fresh evidence that that may be damaging info.
Compared with people who ate the lowest 20 percent of carbohydrates, those who ate the highest 20 percent had a 28 percent increased risk of death. People with the highest 20 percent in total fat intake had a 23 percent reduced risk of death. And higher fat diets were also associated with lower stroke risk.
Wellness Architecture: 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale to Celebrate Vibrant Public Spaces
Next May’s important Venice Architecture Biennale, whose theme is “Freespace,” will go beyond the visual aspects of architecture to focus on its human impact: meaningful public spaces and architecture’s role in nurturing daily life.
GWI Launches Digital Wellness Initiative
The GWI has just launched a Digital Wellness Initiative, which will bring together leaders from wellness, healthcare, technology, government, and education to serve as a think tank evaluating research and advocating for policy on the healthy use of technology – so that we have the right guidelines that allow us to maintain our non-digital humanity in the age of technology. The initiative chair is Jeremy McCarthy, group director of Spa & Wellness, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group
Must-Reads from the Wellness World (Week of September 12, 2017)
Eliminating Human Interaction – MIT Technology Review, August 15, 2017
Being immersed in apps and devices is reducing the amount of meaningful interactions we have with each other. These technologies bring many benefits in terms of efficiency and convenience, but run counter to who we are as human beings.
Impact of Terrorism & Political Instability on Tourism Shows Some Surprises
Over the past years, we’ve analysed the negative impact that the trifecta of “security concerns + political instability + terrorism threats” have had on diverse travel/wellness markets. But a look at countries like the UK and Turkey show that there is nothing “inevitable” about that trifecta, with some new, positive data indicating that it can be overcome.
