Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts is celebrating its commitment to physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing on Wellness Day June 13.
Properties across the brand's portfolio are inviting consumers to experience a day of ultra-wellness, by combining a variety of distinct wellness offerings into packages. Affluent consumers are more likely to pursue a healthful life than they were a decade ago and the rise of the organic movement in all its various forms is a testament to this.
"Travelers coming from near and far want a way to improve health, happiness and productivity," said Ben Trodd, regional vice president and area general manager at Four Seasons. "We all want to look and feel good, and enjoy a higher quality of life. That's the new standard of living.
"Now we're looking at taking an even more comprehensive approach to our wellness offerings," he said. "Global Wellness Day is a great initiative that also presents us with a wonderful opportunity to gauge how important programming around overall well-being is to our local guests and if we should consider offering meditation classes and healthy eating workshops for them in the future.
"We are fortunate to welcome back a lot of return guests, especially in the summer, including business travelers who stay with us monthly, sometimes even weekly. We see a great opportunity to create an even higher level of awareness about the importance of eating well, exercising, and meditating, and play a more integral part of their ongoing wellness program."
Living well
Wellness Day is celebrated globally the second Saturday of June. People all around the world are called to channel their urges to live a healthier and fuller life into that day's activities in the hope of sparking sustained change.
Four Seasons is creating frameworks throughout its portfolio to enable guests to achieve positive results.
From yoga to healthful eating to spa experiences, the brand is striving to provide guests with a reprieve.
At the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, a Four Seasons property in Beverly Hills, CA, guests can participate in a full day of rejuvenation from 5:30 a.m. to the early evening.
Rooftop at Beverly Wilshire
The day begins with rooftop sunrise yoga and continues to spa treatments, healthful cooking lessons and spiritual workshops. Throughout, guests can enjoy fruit water, Pressed Juicery cold-pressed juices, tea, nuts, raw veggies and other healthy foods.
Four Seasons Las Vegas is focusing on the restorative qualities of green tea throughout its Wellness Day activities. The property is also inviting guests to sunrise yoga and spa treatments.
Four Seasons Las Vegas yoga
Four Seasons San Francisco is revamping its breakfast menu to include wellness smoothies and kale and quinoa based salads. Yoga and other mind and body exercises will also be available to guests.
At Four Seasons Jackson Hole, WY, guests can structure a day of wellness around standup paddle boarding or biking.
View of Jackson Hole, WY
Guests at the brand's Orlando, FL, property can participate in rhythmic drumming. All proceeds from the drumming activity and sales from its wellness-oriented menu will go to the charity Global Green USA, which strives to secure clean drinking water for all of earth's inhabitants.
Numerous other properties in the brand's portfolio are hosting wellness day activities.
All guests and fans of wellness are invited to join in the social media conversation with the hashtag #FSWellness.
Other directions
Four Seasons has gradually built a reputation as a promoter of wellness.
Late last year, the brand unveiled a program called “Energy by Four Seasons” to promote daily well-being among guests.
The motivating force behind many travel plans is the desire to get away from all the noise of everyday life, which arguably becomes more intense and taxing as technology progresses. Four Seasons aims to capture this urge with a heightened focus on energy and wellness across its portfolio. (see story).
A recent report by Marriot Rewards Credit Card found that conscientious traveling is most pronounced among the millennial generation. In addition to healthful living espoused by Four Seasons, these travelers expect brands to be ethically inclined.
"Other generations may not assume millennials would use their most precious assets, their time and money, to give back to charity and the global community," said Vibhat Nair, general manager of Chase Card Services, Wilmington. "But this survey points to how today’s millennial travelers may just be changing this mindset.
"Results from Marriott Rewards Credit Card survey reveal 84 percent of millennials would travel abroad to participate in volunteer activities, compared to 68 percent of gen-Xers and 51 percent of baby boomers," he said. "Surveying the same traveler segment in 2014 showed millennial travelers value rewards and perks from travel services, and now we’re seeing how they could be using those rewards for a larger purpose."
Final Take
Joe McCarthy, staff reporter on Luxury Daily, New York