Alta Thoughts (November 2023)
By Rakesh Patel
Wellness is a sector I know well, both personally and professionally. My mother has been an inspirational yoga wellness pioneer since the 1980s (picture of her book above), my brother runs a yoga school in London, and I did my first detox therapy at 16 years old.
From a professional perspective, we at Alta Capital have invested in wellness assets in Asia, specifically the Vikasa yoga wellness retreat, brand/OpCo and academy in Thailand. The post-Covid recovery in the wellness business has been strong, as people search for holistic ways to repair and evolve their well-being.
It is nice to see validation for investment in the wellness sector in this latest report from GWI. They report that the sector in 2022 was already 14% larger than 2019, at $5.6 trillion. And is forecast to grow to almost $8.5 trillion by 2027.
If you would like to know more about Alta’s wellness investments or our family back story, please reach out.
Mainstreaming Net Positive Hospitality Summit 2023
It was great to attend this important and thought-provoking Summit held by the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance. With travel and tourism accounting for 8% of green house gas emissions and employing 295m people, the SHA is leading a critical change in the sector.
Some of the key takeaways included: shifting net positive into the core of strategy; standardise sustainability frameworks shifting away from territorial acronyms; more focus on the “S” in ESG, better communication and story-telling to encourage buy-in; education and upskilling through training tools and technology; a rapid response to the youth who are pushing for change.
Lululemon’s Third Annual Global Wellbeing Report Reveals the “Wellbeing Dilemma”
Lululemon’s Annual Global Wellbeing report is revealing. It concludes that whilst people are increasingly prioritising their wellbeing, few are achieving an improvement. The so-called “Wellbeing Dilemma”.
67% of people make wellbeing a top priority, yet 44% feel it is impossible to achieve, with items like cost, time and social pressure, creating barriers to progress. This is manifesting in missed work/school days and 2/3 of Gen Zs dealing with mental stresses.
There is hope. 77% say they have a significant responsibility in taking on their own well-being. 41% are prioritising spending more time with their loved ones. And more than 1/2 are trying to express their full range of emotions.
