Why do you travel? To discover diverse cultures? Taste culinary traditions from across the world? Perhaps it’s a bucket list adventure or a wildlife encounter that has always captured your imagination. August marks the start of whale watching season in Cape Town, don’t forget!
Whatever drives you to pack your bags and step out the front door, global travellers are increasingly putting wellness at the heart of their journeys.
It’s a trend that began before the global pandemic, but in the years since – with ever more value placed on our physical and mental wellbeing – it has become a central pillar of luxury travel.
According to research by the Global Wellness Institute (GWI), wellness tourism accounts for $651 billion in travel spending worldwide, while a 2022 survey by the Virtuoso luxury travel network revealed that one-fifth of travellers are driven by health and wellness.
The concept of wellness is evolving too. While once that meant little more than an in-room massage, today travellers look to the great outdoors as much as the growing appeal of dedicated wellness spas.
Take cold water swimming, which has grown from a niche wellness trend to a widely-embraced practice worldwide. There are many benefits to cold water swimming, with exposure to cold water stimulating the body's circulatory system and boosting metabolism. The sudden temperature change also triggers the release of endorphins and adrenalin, leading to improved mood and reduced stress levels, and can help in relieving muscle fatigue after exercise.
Dutch athlete Wim Hof – also known as The Ice Man – has done much to popularise the practice, and in Cape Town it’s become a popular routine for locals who flock to the city’s numerous tidal pools. Three of the finest – Camps Bay, Maiden’s Cove and Saunders Rock – are just a short drive from Ellerman House.
Recognising the health benefits of cold-water immersion, the Ellerman House Spa recently installed a Polar Plunge pool to allow guests to enjoy the health benefits as part of a larger wellness journey within the spa.
“We are always looking for innovative ways to evolve our wellness offering a Ellerman House, and the Polar Plunge pool was a natural next step,” says Spa Manager Vicky Dennett. “Cold water immersion fits perfectly with our ethos of holistic wellness and allows guests to access a pastime that is usually enjoyed outdoors, within the more accessible setting of the Spa.”
If the notion of an icy plunge is a little too challenging, look to the Japanese concept of ‘shinrin-yoku’, or forest bathing. Research has shown that forest bathing can lower blood pressure, reduce cortisol levels, and boost the immune system.
Table Mountain and Signal Hill, which frame Ellerman House, are filled with wooded valleys and mountain slopes covered in the endemic ‘fynbos’ vegetation of the Cape Floral Kingdom, and a guided walk through the diverse flora of this World Heritage Site allows guests to consciously slow down amid the rhythms of nature.
Ellerman House’s Head Chef also incorporates fynbos into his menu, where wellness is a central pillar of his ever-changing seasonal offering.
“Even though our menus change daily, and are filled with global inspiration, we always ensure there is a deep sense of place in the culinary offering at Ellerman House,” says Head Chef Kieran Whyte. “Whether it’s foraging for wild herbs in our gardens and on the mountain slopes, or working with sustainable artisanal fishermen and small-scale farmers to deliver hyper-local and seasonal produce, we infuse a sense of organic wellness into so much of what we do in the kitchens here.”
From the indulgence and nourishment that comes with considered fine dining, to icy dips and soaking up the healing power of nature, just because you’re on holiday doesn’t mean you have to leave being healthy at the door. However you choose to define it, we place a sense of wellness at the heart of your stay at Ellerman House.
