Editorial: Re-imaging a Life After Covid-19

When we launched this special issue “Re-imaging a life post-COVID-19”, we set out to explore the myriad of mid- and long-term scenarios and strategic responses needed to enable individuals, communities and Spa and Wellness businesses around the world to adapt to life post COVID-19.

We did so with an open mind, boldly encouraging discussions and reflections on the challenges and opportunities that the present crises may afford us, forcing us to think and act differently- as both individual and social beings- in relation to the role of health and wellbeing in our lives, and the way Spa, Wellness businesses and related industries can cater for these needs.

The key questions that have driven this special issue have been: what challenges have we, as individuals, as social beings, and consumers and industry operators faced as a result of the pandemic? Importantly, what lessons have we learnt so far and how can we take advantage of them?

It is now two years since the first outbreak of the coronavirus disease, and whilst many societies have speedily embraced medical advancements such as vaccines as a way out of this global health crisis; many more are still grappling with “ad-hoc” lock downs and general social and economic unrest.

Undeniably, the COVID-19 pandemic has had, and it is still having impacts on the ways we as individuals and as consumers go about our everyday lives, continuing to redraft our very sense of being in the world, our values, beliefs and normative behaviours. In pre-pandemic times, concerns about individual and societal health, and wellbeing were beginning to drive many of us to proactively make lifestyle and product choices aimed at improving our mental, physical wellbeing and indeed quality of life (GlobalData, 2021). Yet, the spread of the coronavirus disease across the world has accelerated these trends in a remarkable way. Findings from the McKinsey (2021) consumer survey report show, for example, how buying products, services and indeed experiences geared to improve personal health and wellness are on the rise. Throughout these challenging times, we have learnt to adapt and devise new ways of becoming healthy. We have had time to reconsider the importance of nutrition, fitness and even our own appearances as we grappled with the idea of working from home and staying at home even during our precious leisure time. We have found ways of staying socially connected with our family and friends. Importantly, we have learnt that taking time for ourselves is essential to our overall wellbeing. Mindfulness is now not an esoteric concept, the preserve of the few. Meditation and relaxation-focused apps have burgeoned during this time, offering us that much needed opportunity to cater for our psychological and even spiritual wellbeing. In this operating context, Deloitte (2021) predict that by 2040 60% of the overall consumer spending will be directed towards proactively improving health and wellbeing. This looks both impressive and extremely promising from an industry point of view, particularly as the Spa and Wellness industries have been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Degrees of social and physical distancing measures have challenged (and to some extent continue to) the very raison d’etre of many wellness business providers, increasingly laying bare the need for organisations to be more resilient but also more agile and innovative. The acceleration of consumer attitudes and demands for health and wellness is showing how this market offers ample room for growth for a wide variety of industry players that are capable and willing to invest in it. Indeed, these industries are becoming more and more competitive with new entrants disrupting traditional wellness products and services in each of its many subsectors: from wellness tourism to spa tourism; workplace wellness; personal care, fitness, mindfulness, healthy eating, nutrition, traditional health and complementary therapies (Welltodo, 2020).

The articles, opinion pieces and research notes included in this special issue largely reflect the challenges and importantly the ongoing adaptative individual, societal and industry responses to the global health crises highlighted so far, providing points of reflection and offering insights into the possible mid- and long-term implications for a life post COVID-19.

The impacts of COVID-19 at individual and societal level: lessons learnt and opportunities for a better future

Offering a view of human behavioural responses to the viral outbreak the paper by Eluwole, Arikewuyo, Lasisi, Arikewuyo and Adeyemi draws attention to the profound impacts that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on wellness, especially in its initial stages of hard lock downs. The paper examines social relations and specifically how married couples have responded to periods of protracted proximity and their ability (or not) to devise coping mechanisms to enhance relational resilience. Whilst context and time specific, the authors argue, that the quantity and quality of these relationships impact our sense of wellbeing, health, happiness and our abilities to “cope” with both adversities and uncertainties not just as individuals but also as couples. These are important considerations that must surely be used as a springboard for larger studies aimed at better understanding the mid and long terms impacts of this crisis across all types of relations, may these be with friends, family and work colleagues.

The impacts of the pandemic on our sense of wellbeing are similarly explored in the works by Habeeb and Kotera in this special issue. Focusing specifically on the practice of mindfulness as a tool to aid psychological wellbeing, Habeen highlights how the pandemic has given us an opportunity to reflect on the importance of slowing down and being more conscious as both individuals and societies. The pandemic, the authors argue, has taught us many lessons and among those (perhaps the most important one), the need to be mindful of the present; the importance of “learning to be wholly and without reservation in the present moment, whatever it contains, without being forced to flee from it by the impulses of the mind” (Habeeb, in this special issue). Thus, in this context, mindfulness has emerged as a practice and an important tool to aid us in our quest for wellbeing and perhaps also as an important driver for rethinking the types of products, services and indeed experiences that we may want to engage with during our leisure and tourism times as we gradually renegotiate our return to a sense of normality.

On a similar note, Kotera reminds us how the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the urgency to tackle issues such as depression, anxiety, loneliness and a general sense of hopelessness. Using the example of healthcare and caregiving workers who have selflessly devoted themselves to care and support for individuals in the darkest hours of the pandemic, the author questions the effectiveness and robustness of current mental care services and the support mechanisms to address growing mental health concerns. In this context, Kotera suggests, webinars teaching self-care and compassion towards oneself may not only be beneficial to help these individuals navigate these challenging times but may also drive new, and more effective approaches to mental care support for all society, potentially leading to better and long-lasting mental health care outcomes in all aspects of our lives including the workplace.

COVID-19 and the industry: Challenges and opportunities

The contributions included in this special issue also offer interesting discussions and insightful analyses of the key issues wellbeing industries have faced and arguably still face worldwide. Choudary and Qadir remind us how whilst the global pandemic has inevitably affected all industries, the Wellness and Spa industry together with those industries that rely on the provision of wellbeing experiences such as tourism and hospitality, have all practically come to a standstill at the same time as our need for health and wellbeing became greater. Yet, as the authors argue, many businesses have turned physical, psychological, societal, legal and at times political constraints into opportunities showing innovative approaches to manage the crisis and indeed deliver much needed wellbeing practices, and experiences even in times of hard-lock downs. As an example of this Bagheri and Abdi (in this issue) compares the ability of traditional, small accommodations (eco-lodges) and 4*/5* luxury hotels to respond to the COVID-19 crisis in Iran. This paper shows how business agility, innovation and stakeholders’ collaboration rather than business size, marketing and financial capabilities have proven beneficial in guiding these businesses’ responses during the crisis. By rejecting recovery strategies in favour of co-designing products, and experiences such as nature based, bicycle, and agriculture tours in collaboration with local communities, ecolodges providers have withstood the immediate effects of the crisis better than 4*/5* hotels, in a region already heavily affected by supra-national, national and industry constraints.

The importance of recognising and involving local communities in the strategic rebuilding of the wellness tourism industry operations post COVID-19 is a topic further explored in the work by Vasudevan and Kumar in this special issue. Exploring the impacts of COVID-19 in Kerala, the authors argue how any post COVID-19 recovery strategy and future policy making should focus on understanding the perceived benefits and relevant value perceptions of tourism by the local communities. In tourist-dependent regions, any form of tourism including wellness tourism is often promoted for its induced economic benefits. In these contexts, local communities’ views and attitudes are often assumed to be as welcoming as tourism businesses. However, the authors argue, these are potentially flawed assumptions as the increased health risk and safety concerns generated by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic may cause local communities to resist or resent any policy making and industry attempts to re-attract inbound tourism. Learning the lessons and prepare for a more resilient future for industries and societies that rely very much on tourism and wellness tourism as a strategy for economic diversification and socio-cultural development is also the focus of Sivanandamoorthy’s work in this special issue. Discussing the challenges that the Sri Lanka wellness tourism industry faced especially at the onset of the pandemic. The author shows how much of the industry, society and political structures have been ill-equipped to deal with the inevitable halt of international tourism flows despite low levels of infections registered in the country. In this operating context, the author argues, any such attempt at re-building wellness tourism must start with the recognition that the pandemic has offered an opportunity to rethink current business practices. It is only by building more resilient and innovative industries that we will be able to successfully service an increasing demand for health, wellness and wellbeing experiences.

Concluding remarks

Overall, the articles, opinion pieces and research notes included in this special issue offer important insights as to the spread and the impacts of the new coronavirus on individuals, societies and health and wellness related industries across the world. As we learn to live with this new virus, the authors remind us that now is the time to fully reflect, not on how the disease came to be in the first place, rather on what we have learnt and what else we need to learn in order to build a better future and effectively address other challenges that may arise for the Wellness industries.

Acknowledgments

We would like to express our gratitude to all the authors who proposed their work, and all the researchers that reviewed the submissions to this special issue.