Yahoo Finance How your next vacation could be a 'fitcation'
For many Canadians vacations are an excuse to laze around, partake in an extra round at the buffet table during the day, and enjoy an extra round of drinks at the hotel bar at night.
But for a growing number of vacationers who don’t want to end up with a round belly along with an unfortunate sunburn, their vacations have become fitcations.
Wellness tourism has been on the rise for years and took in US$493 billion in revenues in 2014 alone, according to a report from The Global Spa & Wellness Summit. Revenues from wellness tourism grew 12.5 per cent between 2012 and 2014, and are set to continue their upward trajectory, according to the international organization.
Stretching the mind and body on vacation
Here in the Great White North there has been an increasing interest in vacations that offer opportunities to exercise and eat healthy food, according to industry insiders.
The co-owner of Cabot Shores says there has been an uptick in people taking vacations with a focus on fitness since he opened his retreat with his wife back in 2004.
“There is a very strong interest,” said Paul Weinberg, in a phone interview with Yahoo Canada Finance. “There has been a change among young people, they are very interested in health food.”
His wife, who helps run the retreat, is a passionate vegetarian. The resort on Cape Breton, N.S. features food from an onsite garden, as well as fresh seafood from the nearby Atlantic coast. This focus on fresh, local food is a big draw for many guests, says Weinberg.
Out near the Pacific coast in B.C., The Salt Spring Centre of Yoga has also seen an uptick of vacationers interested in both health food and healthy living.
The centre started back in the mid-1970s and at the time was viewed as a fringe option mainly for “old hippies.”
“Back then it was a little under the radar,” said Piet Suess in a phone interview from the centre on Salt Spring Island, B.C. “It was seen as pretty counter-culture at the time.”
Suess, who grew up at the centre for the first few years of his life and recently returned to work as the centre’s manager, says thanks to the recent popularity of yoga and yoga-lifestyle brands, such as Vancouver’s Lululemon Athletica Inc., yoga retreats have now moved from the fringe to the mainstream.
Yoga has become a worldwide phenomenon, with men and women of all ages come flocking to Salt Spring Island wanting to “deepen their practice.”
The centre offers a range of options, including three-day getaways that cost in the range of $300-to-$500 for lodging, yoga classes and food, featuring a lacto-vegetarian yogic diet.
Out at Cabot Shores there is also a range of options for fitcationers, including everything from hiking to kayaking to yoga to snowshoeing.
Pumped-up for the future
Weinberg, who is currently on a hiking vacation with his son in Utah, predicts even more interest in fitcations from millennials in the years to come.
Suess agrees, noting that the next generation of travellers is very interested in living an active, healthy lifestyle even during their vacations.
3 Tips for Fitcation First-Timers:
Not ready to spend your entire vacation doing downward dog? No need to stress out, most major cities and even small towns now have at least one yoga studio where you can pay a day rate and an extra fee to rent a mat.
There’s no need to commit to hiking the entire time you’re on vacation. But if you want to be able to button up your shorts at the end of your trip consider devoting a day, or half-day, to hiking. Pop by the tourist office and ask for maps and tips for nearby hiking options.
Vacationing in a city with no hiking trails nearby? That’s no excuse not turn your vacation into a fitcation. Skip riding the subway from destination to destination and walk to each spot on your itinerary. Need to go farther afield? Many cities have bicycle rental options so you can pedal around while working up an appetite before dinner.
