For those clients who want to combine a health and fitness break with a few days on the beach or in the countryside, operators offer a range of destinations in Europe and North Africa.
Cyprus specialist Amathus Holidays – which has a dedicated health and beauty section in its brochure – offers three-day add-ons and weekend breaks at five-star hotels in the resorts of Paphos and Limassol. On the menu are massages, seaweed wraps, reflexology and aromatherapy.
“There’s definitely a market for health and beauty breaks,” said marketing executive Lilianne Charitos. “The product is especially popular with couples. The husband goes off to play golf and the wife pampers herself with beauty treatments. Alternatively people will spend a few days on the beach first.”
A seven-day package including three days’ worth of treatments costs around £782. The deal includes charter flights and five-star accommodation with breakfast.
Panorama Holidays and Prestige Holidays offer clients the chance to soak away their stresses and strains in luxury hotels in the Tunisian resort of Hammamet.
Panorama offers three-night breaks in four-star accommodation for £225 for next winter. Treatments include thalassotherapy (sea water treatment), algae wraps and steam baths, which all cost extra. The deal includes flights.
Clients seeking a more traditional spa resort should look to north and central European countries such as Germany, Slovenia and Hungary, where spas have been used for centuries for recuperation and relaxation.
Germany specialists Moswin Tours and DER Travel Service offer the well-established spa resort of Baden-Baden in the Oos valley in the scenic Black Forest region of Germany. “Baden-Baden is the country’s most famous resort. It is an elegant, upmarket town. Famous former guests include the Duke of Windsor and Mrs Simpson,” said Moswin programme development manager Savita Seth.
Packages to the resort with Moswin cost around £679 for a seven-night stay. The price includes scheduled flights, rail transfers and four-star accommodation with breakfast.
Hungary specialist Danube Travel has put together short weekend packages for stressedout executives in Budapest for this summer. A three-night Touch of Spa package in the four-star Danubius Grand Margitsziget costs around £450. Included in the deal are flights and buffet breakfast.
Clients get a medical check-up and are then prescribed treatments such as a mud pack and underwater massage. The package also includes unlimited use of the hotel’s sauna, swimming pool and thermal baths.
“The country has more than 1,000 hot springs, as it sits on a huge thermal sea. Hungarians have a tradition of going to spas that stretches back hundreds of years,” said sales director Tamas Fabian.
Slovenia Pursuits offers 15 spa resorts in the country, including the town of Portoroz, which has been known as a health resort since the 13th century. A week’s half-board with flights from the UK costs around £500. Treatments are not included in the price.
The various treatments on offer include underwater massage, inhalation therapy, cellulite removal, mud pack and weight-loss programme.