BodyHoliday CEO Andrew Barnard Interview

It’s not that wellness has suddenly emerged. It has actually been the fastest-growing segment in hospitality for about eight or nine years, with compound growth of around 6% annually. When you look at that over time, you can clearly see the direction of travel.

What’s driving that growth, from a business perspective, is consumer demand. It reflects a broader cultural shift towards wellness being integrated into our values. Coming out of COVID, there has been a heightened awareness of the importance of health, not just being healthy, but maintaining a strong overall state of wellbeing as part of everyday life.

It goes beyond longevity; it is about the ability to live well on a daily basis. People increasingly understand this idea of ​​living, feeling and performing optimally, and it has become much more front of mind.

Beauty is also a significant factor. Social media has amplified both visibility and expectation. People are constantly exposed to ideals around appearance and self-image. That, in turn, has made how you look and feel about yourself a much bigger part of the conversation.

All of this is contributing to the sector’s continued growth.

2. Many brands now use the language of wellness. In your view, what separates a serious commercial proposition from a marketing-led trend?

I can talk about this from the perspective of wellness tourism, but wellness now extends across almost every aspect of life, from food and exercise to the quality of air in your environment, how we design our homes and cities, and how people choose to live day to day.

From a commercial perspective, it is being driven by consumer demand. This is what people are actively looking for, and importantly, what they are willing to pay a premium for.

Consumers are also far more informed now. They can quickly recognize whether something is genuine or not. If it is simply being used as a label, it tends to feel superficial. Whereas if it is properly integrated into the experience, if it is part of what you do day in, day out, then it has real credibility.

There is a clear distinction in the market. Brands that are built around wellness from the outset tend to be more serious commercial propositions, because wellness sits at the core of who they are and what they offer, rather than being a programmatic afterthought.

That is not to say that established hotel groups should not offer wellness. They absolutely need to, it is now the price of entry. But there is a difference between meeting the expectation of offering wellness through programs and facilities and delivering something that is genuinely transformative from check-in to check-out.

Ultimately, it comes down to whether it changes how people feel. If it does, then it is meaningful. If it does not, then it is likely to be perceived as a marketing exercise.

3. How have customer expectations changed in recent years, and what does that mean for leaders trying to build premium, experience-led businesses?

I think expectations have changed quite significantly. People are much more aware of their health and well-being, and now expect wellness to be built into their leisure or even business travel

Part of that shift is driven by time. As people have become busier, not less busy, leisure time has become more limited and more valuable, although AI may start to ease some of that over time. Where people once separated indulgence and wellbeing, they are now looking to combine the two, because they simply do not have the time to treat them as separate experiences.

That can range from simple activities like walking, swimming or being active outdoors, through to more advanced offerings such as diagnostics and health analysis. The spectrum has broadened, and expectations have expanded with it.

At the same time, people want to maximize the value of the time they have away and also maintain healthy habits they’ve established at home on the road. That is driving demand for more personalized experiences, often starting before arrival, tailored to individual needs rather than a one size fits all approach.

There is also far more choice in the market now. As the sector has grown, consumers are faced with a wider range of options, making relevance and personalization even more important.

Ultimately, they are not just looking for a holiday, but for something that makes them feel better, both physically and mentally. For businesses that mean delivering something that has a real impact. It’s not enough to look or sound good, it has to genuinely improve how people feel.

That requires consistency, and a clear understanding of the customer, to deliver something that is both credible and meaningful.

4. As demand grows, where do you see the biggest commercial opportunities in wellness travel over the next few years?

There is a lot of opportunity in how wellness becomes more integrated into people’s lives, rather than something that sits around a single trip. It is still evolving, both in how it is delivered and the types of experiences that sit within it, whether through technology, different environments, or new formats.

As the market continues to grow, it is also becoming more segmented. You can see a parallel with other industries, where you move from a single, standardized product to a much broader, more specialized set of offerings. The same thing is happening in wellness.

We will also see wellness move beyond being perceived as something only for the affluent. There is a significant opportunity in making it more accessible to a wider audience that is increasingly aware and actively looking for it.

There is often a misconception that wellness is the same as luxury. Luxury can be about pampering, but that does not necessarily deliver the kind of transformative outcomes that

wellness is about ultimately. At its core, wellness is about improving how people feel and function in a meaningful, lasting way.

That creates a clear commercial opportunity. As awareness grows, there is strong demand from a much broader market, particularly in areas like food and everyday lifestyle, where access is still relatively limited.

5. What are the biggest mistakes companies make when they try to scale a brand built around experience, trust, and personal transformation?

One of the biggest mistakes is trying to do too much. There can be a tendency, as brands scale, to broaden the offering in order to appeal to more people, but that can end up overcomplicating things and diluting what you actually do well.

The fundamentals of wellness have not really changed since the 1980s and 1990s. We know what works so if you start to over-engineer or overcomplicate the experience, you risk confusing people and ultimately missing the mark.

There is also a question of consistency. If the experience changes as you grow, you lose trust and when your brand is built around how people feel, that consistency is everything.

Another important point is whether what you are offering is sustainable beyond the experience itself. If people cannot take it home and integrate it into their daily lives, then it loses long-term value. That is something we focus on very strongly at BodyHoliday and StolenTime, ensuring that what we offer is not just effective in the moment, but can be carried forward into everyday life.

6.BodyHoliday is now entering a new phase of international expansion. What are the leadership and operational challenges that come with taking a distinctive brand into new markets?

The challenge will always center around maintaining the essence of what you do really really well while operating in different environments.

Wellness is not exactly the same everywhere, there are different expectations and different cultural nuances, so you have to be aware of that.

From a leadership perspective, it is about making sure our people really understand what the brand stands for and can deliver that in a consistent way. And ideally, they’re not just talking the talk, but walking the walk alongside our guests.

Operationally, consistency is key. But at the same time, you do need some flexibility to adapt to local conditions. Getting that balance right is probably the biggest challenge.

7. When you are building in a fast-growing sector, how do you decide which trends are worth investing in and which are likely to fade?

In a fast-growing sector, there is always a lot of noise, so you have to be disciplined.

There is little value in building your proposition around things that are constantly evolving. If you base it on the latest technology or a specific diagnostic, it can quickly be replaced or outperformed. It is not timeless.

The real opportunity lies in the fundamentals, the tried and tested elements aligned with long term human needs. Those are the things that endure.

That said, you still need to stay close to the conversation, understanding what consumers want and where the market is going, and making considered decisions about where to lead and where to follow.

Ultimately, it comes down to impact. If something genuinely improves how people feel, physically, mentally or emotionally, it is likely to have longevity. If it is more superficial, it probably won’t last.

And you have to stay true to what you do. You cannot follow every trend, you have to focus on what aligns with your core proposition. For us, that means helping people to enjoy all-inclusive wellness holidays. That means we’re focused on powering the quality of our customers’ lives today versus just ensuring the length of them tomorrow.

8. Looking beyond hospitality, what can CEOs in other sectors learn from the rise of wellness about changing consumer priorities and building businesses people are willing to pay a premium for?

Wellness is going to become increasingly important across all areas of life. People are looking for it in everything they do, whether that is in apps, physical spaces or products. There are still many opportunities to integrate it in ways we have not fully explored yet.

We will also see it evolve in how it is delivered, whether through things like gamification or by embedding it into environments where people already spend time, such as racquet centers, private clubs and other social spaces.

Workplace wellness will be a significant part of this. We spend a large proportion of our lives at work, and if that environment is not supporting how people feel, both physically and mentally, consumers will have less and less tolerance for it.

There is also a broader point around human connection. Not being together, not socializing and not having that interaction can be quite corrosive over time. Businesses that create environments where people, both employees and customers, connect and where there is a strong, cohesive culture tend to perform better.

Ultimately, that is what people are willing to pay a premium for: experiences and environments that improve how they feel and how they function, both individually and collectively.

BodyHoliday St Lucia

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