By Marek Nantl

 Wellness is a word very often used these days. Where did it came from? It started to be popular within the Usa and than extend to old continent where it is related more with pampering and sport than with medical treatments. The growing recognition of wellness helps health spas to acquire new visitors who spend there shorter time.

Where did wellness come from? This expression so often used in reference to tourism was first employed by an Us medical doctor Halbert Louis Dunn. This man occupied himself with study of trends affecting physical condition of local inhabitants. He found out that when the life expectation increased, People were more endangered by means of civilizational illnesses than by the contagious types. This finding made him create the term wellness as the opposite to the term illness. Dunn's idea of wellness included not only the physical health but additionally social and spiritual wellbeing.
Wellness acquired acceptance in 1970s while e.g. John Travis emphasised the need for the responsibility of a person for their own wellbeing. He created an eight month program where visitors not just enhanced their strength and also learned about new eating practice and educated tips on how to achieve a number of relaxation techniques. Donald Ardell was the person who made wellness available to masses. He accomplished that as well via leaving out the spiritual aspect of wellness.
Wellness then got to Europe where it is usually linked rather with pleasure than with alternative medicine. Thus wellness is these days associated with doing physical activities or going to spa resorts etc.

As time in our century seems to rush faster than ever before, spa resorts comply with this novel situation. Spa Resorts currently propose various shorter spa getaways. While in 20th century spa getaways in Spa resorts lasted six to eight weeks and used to be compensated by insurance firms today some fifty per cent of spa resort visitors pay the stay themselves. Those spa visitors help to reinforce the market with spa services. Five years ago there were barely 10 - 20 per cent of these ready to pay for a wellness break in a health spa resort but the present pattern towards shorter spa vacation allows to change the ratio.

Author is wellness & Spa resort getaway specialist with focus on Czech Health Spas. More information & advicen about appropriate destination spa resort could be found at Spa-Resorts.cz

Wellness