WELLNESS FLEXES ITS MUSCLE

The wellness market is a multidisciplinary sector that’s fast gaining strength. We look at franchises across Pilates, fitness, rehabilitation and allied health that are smashing goals and setting their sights on a healthy future.

The wellness industry is booming globally. Here we shine a light on what’s happening in Australia and a spotlight on what wellness means.

So what do we mean when we talk about the wellness industry?

“I think there is an important distinction between health on one hand, and wellness on the other,” says Back In Motion founder Jason T. Smith.

“Traditionally, health has been about treating sickness, illness, pain and disease. Wellness has focused on delivering services that simply make people feel better.

“Wellness has grown to encompass the spiritual, emotional and even the intellectual, environmental, social and economic/occupational dimensions.

“As our societal awareness of the integration of ‘self’ emerges, we see a blending of the health and wellness spaces.”

Selina Bridge, KX Pilates CEO, says the wellness market “is in many ways undefined. It is very broad and can cover physical, mental and spiritual health”.

What we do know is that this multidisciplinary sector is growing apace. Figures from the Health and Wellness Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2021– 2026 show the marketplace accounted for $4.27 billion ($US3.31 billion) in 2020. Predictions for the next five years suggest a compound annual growth rate of 4.10 per cent to reach $5.47 billion by 2026.

Included in this are services based on wellness real estate, wellness tourism, health spas and thermal and mineral springs as well as personal care/beauty, nutrition, weight management, fitness and preventive/personalised medicine.

Key players in the Australian franchise sector include yoga and Pilates brands, allied health providers such as physiotherapists, alternative fitness options such as electro muscle stimulation, and rehabilitation services.

Matej Varhalik, SpeedFit co-founder and CEO, enjoys the constantly evolving nature of the wellness market.

“That makes it a very exciting market to be part of,” he says.