Yoga Vacations Banking on Wellness Trend

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Yoga Vacations Banking on Wellness Trend

By Villigran

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/09/11/ap4106490.html

NEW YORK - Don't just take a vacation. Change your life.

That's the concept resorts are selling to a growing number of people

for whom an exotic getaway just isn't enough. The purveyors of yoga

and wellness vacations promise more than mere relaxation; they

promise transformation.

Ask why someone would choose a yoga vacation - and the meditation,

body contortions and discipline that goes with it - and the answer

repeats: People go for life-changing experiences.

Three years ago, Tiffanie Archie, a senior project manager at an

online financial services firm in Washington, D.C., decided to take

a vacation to the Miraval resort outside Tucson, Ariz. Miraval - in

which AOL co-founder Steve Case bought a majority stake in 2005 -

aims to take the spa experience into something more spiritual and

holistic. For $500 a night including lodging, meals and services,

Archie said she found what she was looking for: " An opportunity to

go somewhere and be quiet and focus on myself and let the stress

melt away for a bit. "

Archie, 31, says she returned annually to Miraval for the horseback

riding, spa and adventure activities but she didn't try a yoga class

until earlier this summer. Hooked, she took a second, monthlong

vacation.

Now Archie says her vacation has become about more than de-stressing

from work and daily life. It's as much about " finding inner peace. "

From luxury hotel resorts to rustic retreats, yoga offerings and

yoga-centric vacations have increasingly become a carrot to lure

vacationers that want more than a fabulous place to stay and

entertainment. The past five years have seen growth in yoga

vacations that is emblematic of a larger trend in the travel

industry, says Kay, spokesman for the Travel Industry

Association.

" Wellness and fitness fits right into that pattern of an ever-

broadening array of niches that the travel industry is catering to, "

Kay said. And, like so much in marketing today, it's driven by

retiring Baby Boomers concerned about their wellness and with the

income to do something about it, he said.

Marketing and research firm Ypartnership said its latest survey of

affluent travelers - the top 7 percent of U.S. households, or those

that bring in more than $150,000 a year - showed 30 percent of

respondents named yoga as their favorite spa program or service.

Massage was the most popular with 65 percent.

Yoga vacations come in many incarnations. The high end can range

from packages at luxury resorts to all-inclusive vacations to India,

Chile, Bali or elsewhere. The spectrum of choices includes more

austere retreats that offer the bare bones - more meditation than

amenities - and cost much less.

The Feathered Pipe has been offering yoga retreats at its ranches in

Montana since 1975. Back then, yoga was little known in this

country, said India Supera, co-founder and executive director. The

people who came were mostly young and open to the groovy new thing.

They stayed three weeks for $500, she said.

Today, the Feathered Pipe still offers mostly weeklong retreats at

its Helena and Wolf Creek, Mont., ranches. But now the center also

leads luxury yoga vacations abroad. In October, the Feathered Pipe

will bring about 30 people on a 10-day, $8,000 trip to a resort in

Kerala, India, headlined by popular yoga personalities Rodney Yee

and Colleen Saidman.

Supera chalks up the growing interest in yoga vacations to the

spread of the yoga practice itself in the U.S.

" People have felt so good from doing yoga - we'll have everybody

from rock stars to people who have saved two years for this

vacation, " she said.

The number of retreats being offered is booming, the hard part is

figuring out what kind of retreat to choose, said Ferretti,

senior editor of Yoga Journal.

Ferretti suggests first-timers think about where in the world they'd

like to go, then ask their local yoga instructor about the teachers

at the retreat destination. There are also teachers who will

organize and lead their own group trips abroad.

" I think even if you're a beginner and you're really open to the

yoga experience, you want to be sure the retreat is geared to you, "

and isn't too challenging, Ferretti said. " Most of us have never

done yoga four hours a day for seven days. "

Others say it's also important to consider the styles of yoga

practiced at the retreat, as well as the level of discipline

expected, as yoga retreats vary widely in size, scope and purpose.

Ted Mc started his business, Adventure Yoga Retreats, in Santa

, Calif., in 2005 with the idea of combining the market appeal

of adventure travel with yoga. The idea was to market to " the people

who know yoga is beneficial but who aren't yogis ... tap into a

whole market of people who travel, who love to be healthy. "

He began that year with two retreats. The next year he organized 14

retreats; this year Mc's (nyse: MCD - news - people ) business

will lead more than 20 retreats that combine yoga with surfing,

whitewater rafting or trekking. An upcoming $3,000 retreat to Africa

pairs safari and yoga.

People don't just want a break from the office, they want vacations

that can change their lives, said Ken , owner of Retreats

Online. The Internet listing service advertises yoga getaways in the

U.S. and abroad for between $100 and $500 a day.

" People are dissatisfied with their life for some reason and they

want to get a fresh start, " said. " So they go to a yoga

retreat or a detox retreat so they can learn how to get (life) going

in a different direction. "