TLEE Spas + Wellness Reveals 2023 Trends
As industry insight leaders, each year, our team shares our thoughts on the key drivers behind a more holistic approach to wellness for the upcoming year. From diversified programming to accommodate personal wellness journeys and fitness goals, a greater emphasis on communal experiences, and viewing wellness as a catalyst for high-performance living, our 2023 trends release is here.
Embracing Mindfulness and Spirituality
While the traditional spa mindset centered upon the physical and emotional dimension of wellness (think relaxation and rejuvenation), a more evolved and expansive viewpoint shifts the focus towards awareness, knowledge, and empowerment, which creates transformative experiences that deepen personal practices, including mindfulness and spirituality.
In their pursuit of holistic well-being, the modern wellness consumer seeks out experiences to tune out the noise of our increasingly remote and digital 24-7 lifestyle, to reconnect with themselves, and become more attuned to the energy around them and higher consciousness. At a new luxury resort in Jamaica, TLEE Spas + Wellness has created a multipurpose decompression and gathering space called “The Temple” to explore spirituality beyond traditional religion, through the lens of sound and music.
Deepening the Wellness Experience with Music and Sound
Sound meditation is gaining awareness, with an influx of environments, equipment, and modalities to reset the brain through acoustic and vibrational therapy. Included as part of a high-tech recovery circuit involving cryotherapy and infrared treatments, an integrated session at The Spa at Equinox Hudson Yards utilizes the Spa Wave Table from Gharieni that delivers vibro-acoustical therapy to help guests shift into deep rest mode to improve focus and mental clarity.
Given the growing validation and recognition of the diverse benefits of sound and music, our team continually seeks out creative solutions that leverage design, technology, and service programming to harness sound’s healing power and its positive impact on performance, recovery, and cognition.
Sustaining High-Performance Lifestyles
In 2023, we expect a push toward sustaining high-performance lifestyles. For those taking a proactive approach to wellness, spa is the vehicle to balance peak performance with recovery, restoration, and regeneration. At the Halehouse Spa at Stanly Ranch Auberge, highly customized wellness programs designed to improve performance and recovery. The spa features a Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber after which guests shift into a restorative sauna session, followed by prescriptive bodywork or customized skincare.
Workplace Wellbeing
People have been seeking more empowerment and control over their own wellness since the pandemic, inspiring new thinking around workplace environments in the spa industry. At Grand Wailea, the full redesign of their iconic spa is engineered to deliver diverse experiences that pay homage to nature, culture, and authentic healing practices steeped in the soul and spirit of Maui. In addition to redefining the facility and guest experience, TLEE Spas + Wellness future-proofed the environment from a staffing and operational perspective.
Alongside optimizing physical spaces, spa operators should nurture physical and emotional well-being within their workplace culture, through personal growth and a collective sense of purpose and mission.
The Rise of Wellness Clubs
Wellness is no longer considered a solitary pursuit, and after periods of social isolation, people are embracing experiences that connect them to like-minded people and practices. This relationship between self-care and community has given rise to new wellness offerings and business models that espouse a social dimension: through decentralized planning that encourages exploration and discovery and robust communal facilities with an inherent social sensibility.
Bathhouses are prime examples, morphing into urban sanctuaries and private wellness clubs. The rise of wellness-oriented membership programs within urban hotels and resorts are another manifestation of the social movement: creating more robust business models with multiple revenue streams and attracting attention and interest among travelers and locals looking for diverse experiences with more opportunities to interact.