Sleep tourism sets completely new priorities when traveling: The focus is no longer on exciting experiences, but on as much restful sleep as possible. Find out exactly what this concept is all about here. So you will be relaxed enough to enjoy best aussie online casinos.
Quick changes of location, city tours, party and bar nights – when traveling, many tourists want to experience as much as possible and see as many impressive places as possible. There is hardly any time for relaxation. And perhaps we’d rather invest our money in exciting day trips than in a comfortable hotel bed.
It is not uncommon for vacationers to return home and need to recover from their vacation. But even that can be difficult if you have to go right back to work. Sleep tourism breaks with this concept. With this kind of traveling sleep and recovery are in the center.
Sleep tourism could thereby be interpreted not least as a symptom of our achievement society: According to GEO magazine, at least one in ten people in Germany is affected by chronic sleep disorders. A study by Techniker Krankenkasse reports that two out of three people feel stressed at least sometimes. A quarter state that they are frequently under stress. The number one stress factor is work, study or school. So it’s no wonder that there are more and more people who don’t want stressful trips for their vacation, but one thing above all: sleep.
WHAT IS SLEEP TOURISM?
In sleep tourism, hotels focus on providing you with the most restful and undisturbed sleep possible.
According to a report from CNN, sleep tourism is becoming more and more significant since the pandemic. This particular type of recreational tourism is characterized by hotels and resorts that specialize in meeting the sleep needs of travelers:
- The Park Hyatt in New York, for example, offers a sleep suite. This covers 900 square feet and is designed to ensure the most restful sleep possible with an intelligent bed that adapts to your needs, as well as a special room scent, sleep masks and other aids.
- At the Zedwell in London, the rooms are so well insulated that the background noise of the hotel and the city should hardly disturb your sleep. The hotel also does without televisions.
- The London hotel The Cadogan even has sleep staff to help you fall asleep. The “sleep concierges” offer meditations to help you fall asleep or special tea blends, for example. Extra heavy blankets and a wide range of different pillows are also available to make your stay as restful as possible.
- The five-star Mandarin Oriental hotel in Geneva goes one step further and works with a private sleep clinic. In a three-day program, employees examine your sleeping habits in order to help you sleep better and more deeply in the long term.
Numerous other hotels around the world have discovered sleep tourism for themselves and also use aromatherapy, certain sounds, yoga or massages, for example, to promote their guests’ sleep.
DOES IT WORK?
Using your vacation as a time-out for extensive rest and relaxation, and at the same time taking a closer look at your sleep patterns, is certainly not a bad idea. However, it doesn’t make sense to get a good night’s sleep in an expensive hotel for a short period of time and then return to your stressful everyday life. Instead of spending a lot of money on a sleep suite in the short term, if you have sleep problems, it’s better to make sure that your sleep habits change in the long term.
Sleep researcher Dr. Rebecca Robbins told CNN that this requires hotels to work with medical experts. Medical staff could also determine, for example, whether sleep problems are a symptom of a disease.
One major criticism of the current sleep tourism industry, however, is the financial aspect: hotels and resorts that specialize in sleep are usually very expensive, making restful sleep a luxury good that is apparently not equally accessible to everyone.
Moreover, from an ecological perspective, it is problematic when people take long flights to be able to test a new exquisite sleep hotel. To save on CO2 emissions, we therefore recommend choosing relaxing hotels and resorts near you that you can easily reach by train or bus. Another advantage is that you won’t have jet lag, which can disrupt your sleep patterns, and you won’t have to go through the stressful checks and waiting times at the airport.