Wellness: The New Tourism Wave

By: Margarita de los Ríos

Photos: Luis Zamora and cortesy

Tourism generally brings to mind lots of movement, change, and displacement, along with a touch of stress. Nonetheless, we have all undoubtedly dreamed of calm moments and the chance to disconnect from the world, to take a break, and to reclaim our physical and mental well-being.

This yearning became urgent after the pandemic, sparking the recent boom in tourism that nurtures a person’s connection with their inner being, often called wellness tourism.

The trend has already arrived in Panama. Traditional spas are gradually being phased out in favor of holistic centers that not only treat bodies, but also cultivate emotional, psychological, and spiritual well-being. More and more hotels are adapting their facilities for wellness retreats, making good use of this country’s incredible locations.

Wellness tourism is a new trend in which leisure time is seen as an opportunity to regain the harmony of body, mind, and spirit. Destinations are creating environments conducive to reflection and seclusion, and Panama is no exception.

Gustavo Villamor, director of the La Coralina Island House holistic center in Bocas del Toro, arrived in Panama with thirty years of experience as a therapist, as well as having served as a consultant for holistic centers in different parts of the world. He notes that holistic centers treat an individual as a whole, bringing together therapies based on Eastern medicine; bioemotional-spiritual guidance; and therapeutic, sports, or sculpting massage, which helps explains why La Coralina employs 35 people just in its spa, including psychologists, physical therapists, osteopaths, and of course, estheticians.

Villamor chats about this as we stroll to the hotel’s facilities. The hotel was built around the concept of the Hindu deity Sarasvati, goddess of beauty and music, who emerges from the swamp on a lotus flower. Everything here is geared toward bio-reprogramming amid Isla Colón’s dense forests and under the spell of the waves breaking on Pounch beach.

“When we were building the hotel, we knew that the therapy zone should take full advantage of the site rather than being enclosed. We constructed the yoga deck over a natural well where we buried 6,614 pounds of quartz. Can you imagine the energy there?”

Gustavo Villamor, director del centro holístico de La Coralina Island House, en Bocas del Toro, explica que los centros holísticos ven al ser humano como un todo y por ello reúnen terapias orientales, orientación bioemocional y masajes terapéuticos, deportivos y estéticos.

We wondered how much could be accomplished over the three or four days of a hotel stay. According to Villamor, something happened during the pandemic: “We had been repressed, and then our emotions poured out. There were transcendental conversations on Zoom, people reconnected, and a hunger for wellness emerged. Now we need time and a safe space for asking ourselves fundamental questions: What is my vocation, my calling?, What kind of legacy do I want to leave in this world? This can be achieved in a short time, paving the way for change.”

Bioemotional and Spiritual Unit

Spanish therapist and osteopath Luciano Lossendiere employs psycho-emotional therapies. He feels that, while pain may derive from an injury, it can also result from an imbalance in the body or from a psycho-emotional state. “We try to find out what came first, pain or bad posture. We look at their lifestyle, whether they sit all day, and how their digestive system works. Osteopathy analyzes the whole picture. Minor adjustments sometimes lead to major changes.”

Part of being a holistic center means involving the hotel staff and the surrounding community in the therapies,

which is why La Coralina runs open classes for the people of Bocas twice a day, along with the Bocas Surf Experience program. The surf program––led by Adriana Cano, who is a two-time runner-up in the Latin American surfing championship––offers classes every Saturday to 35 island children, some of whom are already ranked in the top ten at the national level. They also sponsor a program to restore coral, supported by funds from visitors to the coral reefs. As Villamor says, “If people do not take collective responsibility, it’s not holistic.”

The Retreats

Wellness tourism is also known for retreats, during which tourists follow a comprehensive therapy plan that might include sound, movement, relaxation, yoga, and self-awareness.

For example, this year La Coralina will hold 18 retreats with highly diverse themes.

Options for February include Elemental Godess, facilitated by Aurora Brenes, an expert in women’s yoga, who will lead a 4-day, 3-night retreat for women seeking to restore balance and harmony to their lives. In March, there is Anima Mundi, led by Ezequiel Leonard, and the April calendar features Pausa (Pause), a space where “pausing is not stopping.”

In Casco and The Valley of Antón

The wellness trend has reached Hotel La Compañía, which occupies the former monastery of the Sociesty of Jesus in the Old Quarter of Panama City, has been a notable wellness destination since its inception.

The current spa is located in the Spanish wing of the hotel, which dates back to 1688, and offers services inspired by the rich history and architecture of the property, always using natural ingredients.

However, this spa’s offerings are just a prelude to the new venture that will open in the coming months, nestled in the mountains of El Valle de Antón.

La Compañía del Valle will be an art and wellness house that also promises a cutting edge spa.

Built on the grounds of the former Hotel Los Mandarinos, this highly anticipated project is expected to become a true holistic center in this part of the country.

In the Heart of the City

Sofitel Spa Panamá

Nestled in the historic heart of the Old Quarter, the Sofitel Spa Panamá blends ancestral rituals with modern techniques. The aim is to redefine wellness through treatments designed to balance body, mind, and soul.

The experience is based on three axes: Harmonious Balance, which combines muscle tension-releasing massages with healing vibes from Tibetan singing bowls and herbal massage balls; Mineral Miracle, inspired by ancestral techniques such as Thai massage, with Himalayan hot stones and facial cleansing; and Legendary, which captures the essence of the sea through the relaxing sound of Wavedrum and Tibetan singing bowls. It ends with a refreshing peach and crystal exfoliation, and a four-handed massage that synchronizes rhythm and movement to revitalize the skin and the soul.

In the Gulf of Chiriquí

On the other side of the country, on the Gulf of Chiriquí, the Islas Secas hotel has set up a wellness program based on disconnecting from everyday life to become one with nature by walking through tropical jungles, plunging into waters teeming with marine life, and relaxing at a spa encompassed by jungle.

At Islas Secas there is no television, and therefore no TV series or movies. The daily schedule features yoga at dawn, soothing environmental sounds, nature walks, and coral reef dives.

The idea is to forge deep connections during a unique opportunity to reflect, rejuvenate, and fully relax.

In Veraguas

Panama’s offerings in this arena are expanding, The Sansara Resort hotel, on the Veraguas coast, promides a space where
“travelers can reconnect with nature, themseives, and others.” The resort hopes to become a sanctuary that promotes health, full awareness, and personal transformation.

To this end, the hotel organizes retreats and offers the facilities to outside retreat leaders for their own programs. There are options for wellness, yoga, adventure, fitness, surfing, corporate, mindfulness, and healing retreats.

More information

Hotel La Coralina Island House

acoralinaislandhouse.com

reservations@lacoralinaislandhouse.com

Tel. (507) 851 0800

Hotel Sansara

sansararesort.com

Tel. 1 888 215 3092

Hotel La Compañía

hyatt.com › la-compañía

Tel. (507) 302 8888

Sofitel Legend Casco Viejo

sofitel-legend-panama.com

info.legendpanama@sofitel.com

Tel. 507 302 4300

Hotel Islas Secas

islassecas.com

Tel. 800 377 8877