The rise of wellness travel has been one of the most talked about segments in luxury travel in recent years, and a new survey underscores the importance of such offerings for the wealthiest of travelers.
The 2106 Luxury Travel Report from Resonance Consultancy, a Vancouver-based firm that monitors consumer trends and helps new resorts and communities plan their brand and development strategies, shows that fitness and health are top of mind for the so-called one-percenters — in Resonance’s report, travelers with household income of $400,000 or more and net worth of $8 million plus — and that that amenity appears much more important to them than vacationers in general.

Despite their means, however, the survey shows that the most important amenity for them, like U.S. travelers in general, is free WiFi. Second is privacy, followed by a swimming pool, a beach, hotel restaurant and a fitness center. Even though fitness centers aren’t at the top of the list, they still are twice as important to travelers in the top 1% of household income and net worth than the general traveling public, with 40% of the wealthiest ranking them in the top five of a list of 28 amenities, compared with 20% of all travelers, according to the study.
Wellness programs didn’t fare quite so well: only 13% of the top 1% ranked wellness programs as a key amenity, putting it near the bottom of the list along with casinos, kids programs and tennis. But that might not tell the who...