Visitors to a Swiss ski resort cleanse their chakras, bed down in sleep suites and swap alcohol for CBD drinks - welcome to wellness tourism
- Most guests at the Alpina Gstaad in the Swiss Alps are there for wellness treatments – from massages and tai chi to Ayurveda – CBD drinks and the juice bar
- Spending on wellness tourism – to reduce anxiety or head off burnout, for example – is expected to top US$1 trillion annually by 2025, a research body says
The Swiss resort town of Gstaad – pronounced “Shtahd” by those in the know – needs little introduction. It’s a snow-globe billionaire’s playground that prides itself on its understatement – unlike its glitzier sister resort town, St Moritz.
Inside the town’s picturesque traditional weathered wood chalets, you may find a full “iceberg” renovation – four storeys added below surface, perhaps with a heated swimming pool or a dance floor. Elizabeth Taylor, Roger Moore and Prince Rainier of Monaco have all owned chalets here.
The town also caters to non-skiers. Those who take their winter holiday in the French Alps at resorts like Courchevel and Chamonix tend to be serious about their skiing, rising early for a full day on the slopes; in Gstaad, 30 to 40 per cent of visitors do not come to ski.
This is the observation of Tim Weiland, the German general manager at The Alpina Gstaad, a five-star hotel that opened its doors in 2012.
Snowflakes have begun to fall as we arrive and the tree-lined pistes are beckoning with their icing-sugar snow. Expecting a queue, we rush for our ski fitting. We needn’t have.