There’s no doubt that 2020 has been a year filled with turmoil, anxiety, stress, and sadness for the global travel industry, and the world at large.
But we’re sending you this message with hope for the new year, and profound happiness.
Happy aptly describes how we feel at Great Wellness Getaways as we wrap up this annus horribilis. After much deliberation, we made a bit of a pivot mid-year and rebranded from Wellness Travel BC to Great Wellness Getaways (https://greatwellnessgetaways.com/), to more aptly convey a renewed vision of wellness travel.
COVID-19 played a vital role in our decision to rebrand. The quiet throughout the travel industry rolled from weeks into months, and it has been deafening. We chose to step back, watch and learn from tourism and hospitality peers as they tirelessly adopted and adapted to new health and safety protocols – and new ways of doing business. Our industry’s survival through 2020 has come at a high cost in human and financial resources; however, the collective efforts to save BC’s visitor economy have been inspiring and show that we are strong and resilient.
With the pandemic we have witnessed the idea of wellness – mental, physical, and spiritual – flowing naturally into the mainstream’s consciousness. This has created silver linings in many tourism operators’ playbooks. Personal wellbeing has come to the forefront as so many individuals strive to improve their lifestyle and find true balance, guarding health and wellness above all else.
Our rebranding to Great Wellness Getaways aligns more closely with this new reality, and our goals for 2021 and onwards. With our engaging storytelling through podcasts and digital marketing, we want to inspire the travel industry and travellers to explore wellness and its healing transformation – locally only for the coming year, yes, but in 2022 and beyond to explore the world and all of its wellness offerings.
Deepest thanks go to the small yet mighty team that helped us polish and grow our concept – Gayle Morris (Founding Co-Partner of our previous incarnation), Rob Wilson (Web & Digital Strategist), Art Factora (Media Producer/Engineer) and Ashleigh McRaine (Social Media Goddess). While Gayle and Ashleigh have moved on to other projects, we are grateful for their unfailing belief in wellness travel. Their contributions aided immensely in where we are today.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts to you, our audience [our wellness travel partners], for your continued support. Wellness travel is here to stay, and isn’t that wonderful?
Warmest holiday wellness wishes of love, joy and good health for you and yours,
Cheryl MacKinnon
Founder & Executive Producer, Great Wellness Getaways