Wellbeing Escapes founder Stella Photi on wellness trends and new product
Stella Photi, founder and managing director of Wellbeing Escapes, reveals the destinations that are selling well for the operator and discusses the rise in popularity for wellness breaks since the start of the pandemic
How is business doing?
We’ve been trading throughout the pandemic and are currently taking bookings every day. Our clients are different in that they are people who are desperate to go and deal with something; they are very stressed, have a mental health issue or they feel they’ve put on too much weight during lockdown and want to lose it. Many are OK to travel and happy to quarantine – as our offering is higher value, people are less sensitive to those costs.
What destinations are doing well?
Europe is doing well for now. We have a lot of choice in Portugal, options in Spain and Greece and quite a lot in Italy, as well as other major European destinations, and also Eastern Europe, which is good for healing waters and medical wellness. The UK is behind the rest of Europe and there still aren’t enough wellness options here, so we have a bit of a product gap.
What sort of resorts do you have on your books?
We have around 90 resorts and we usually try to test them all and get into real detail about what they offer. We sell anything from high-end, worldleading health resorts – such as the SHA Wellness Clinic in Spain or Chiva-Som in Thailand – to more affordable outdoor and active resorts such as Monchique in Portugal or rustic yoga retreats in Sri Lanka. We want to make wellness more accessible to people so have a range of mid- to high-end product.
Who is your typical client?
A woman aged 40+. We get lots of women solo travellers who aren’t necessarily single, but want to go and focus on themselves for a week. We’ve had more couples booking with us recently, perhaps as the woman has convinced their partner to come along! We’d like to encourage more male solo travellers, and we’re also keen to appeal to more families – I see a real opportunity there for parents who want to bring up their kids in a healthy way, and have plans to launch a family programme.
Do you think wellness will increase in popularity as a result of the pandemic?
I do. When we had our first lockdown in March, to support our client base I introduced “Wellbeing at Home”, a free weekly resource where we do a Zoom event with a wellness expert who is interviewed or does a demonstration. It grew organically and we now have a big community and still run the events. For a lot of people joining these events, wellness is new to them. It tends to be older people joining, who are 45-50+. I think everyone realised how fragile their health is during the pandemic and more people took an interest in becoming healthier as a way to boost their own immunity, and realised that what we’re talking about can be enjoyable, interesting and fun. I think interest will grow and people who would never have considered Wellbeing Escapes in the past will do so because their priorities have shifted. More and more people are looking to have a healthy lifestyle at home and maintain that when they go overseas.
Are there any booking trends?
Weight loss is popular, as people want to shift lockdown weight. People also want to wash away the stress of the pandemic and reboot and refresh themselves, as many have suffered mentally during this time.
What new product are you excited about?
There’s a new Six Senses Resort in Ibiza that looks fantastic. There’s also Palazzo di Varignana located in the countryside near Bologna in Italy, which looks lovely and has a new wellness offering – they’ve brought in an Italian celebrity nutritionist and health coach and put together some great programmes.
What is your message to agents?
We continue to work with agents and supported them during the crisis, offering refunds when they asked for them. My tip for agents is to not be overwhelmed by the wellness concept and to contact us so we can give you introductory product to promote. Our Wellbeing Booster packages are great for clients who are new to wellness and provide a great starting point. Agents are welcome to join our weekly Zoom events, and we are always open to building new relationships with them.
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Place of registration: England and Wales.
Company number 08723341.
Registered address: 6th Floor, 2 London Wall Place, London EC2Y 5AU
