Nearly 50% Report a Rise in Sleep Tourism Due to Tourists’ Lack of Sleep

People’s lifestyles have become increasingly tiring. They are often exhausted from the pressure of work, social life, and personal commitments and reach burnout. As a result, their health suffers, resulting in sleep disorders, mental health struggles, and more.

In detail, sleep disorders have been a common issue among the present generation. Nearly half of the respondents (49.26%) have sleep disorders. And insufficient sleep, being an essential part of leading a healthy life, presents many consequences.

The COVID-19 pandemic specifically contributed to hundreds of people’s sleep problems owing to an irregular sleep schedule and lifestyle. Hotels and spas consequently refocused their goals to serve those suffering from sleep issues, what many now refer to as sleep tourism.

Sleep tourism is a new term for those traveling or going on a vacation to improve their sleep. Sleep tourism is a new concept and has been gaining popularity in recent years. For this reason, Real Research, an online survey app, launched a survey seeking public opinions on the rise of sleep tourism. Here are some of the survey’s intriguing findings:

• 44.81% say lack of sleep affects mental and physical health
• 72.11% say they are suffering from Insomnia
• 43.65% have been to a hotel for the sole purpose of sleeping and had a ‘great’ experience

Respondents’ Average Sleep Hours

Sleep hours may vary from person to person given their lifestyle, daily duties, etc. Accordingly, our Real Research surveys revealed that 36.59% get an average of more than eight hours of sleep, whereas 21.72% get exactly eight hours, 15.78% get seven hours, and 15.42% get six hours of sleep. Others get five hours (5.77%), four hours (2.01%), and three hours (1.47%) of sleep.

Surveys also asked about sleep quality, as sometimes, it’s not about the quantity of sleep. The responses described their sleep as being peaceful (44.13%), deep (19.56%), satisfactory (17.67%), interrupted (7.63%), uncomfortable (5.87%), or unsatisfactory (4.65%).

As far as sleep is concerned, it takes effort to fall and induce sleep; for some, it may require pin-drop silence (36.29%); for others, it may need complete darkness (19.86%), comfortable bedding (19.9%), a noise-drowning machine (5.53%), soothing sounds to relax (4.14%), and using their phone (4.06%), etc.

Sleep Deprivation, Sleep Tourism, and More

Sleep tourism is a new but growing trend. In fact, 62.64% were found to be aware of sleep tourism, whereas 22.92% are aware but do not know the details. 14.44% are not aware at all.

People resort to sleep tourism when their health is affected due to a lack of sleep. As such, there were other reasons respondents resort to sleep tourism– 44.81% said lack of sleep affects their mental and physical health overall. The rest said it results in low energy and performance (19.46%), anxiety (15.83%), depression (6.8%), low mood (4.86%), and tiredness (4.73%).

49.26% have sleep disorders, and 34.1% voted to say they do not. Specifically, 72.11% have Insomnia, 9.22% have Narcolepsy, 6.94% have Sleep Apnea, 4.7% said they have Restless Legs Syndrome, and 2.41% said Sleep Paralysis.

As there was a boom in sleep tourism, so did the sleep tourism hotels in the industry. When asked what sleep hotel respondents were aware of, 47.38% said Park Hyatt, New York, Bryte Restorative Sleep Suite, 19.67% said Mandarin Oriental, Geneva.

Others (9.83%) also said Rosewood Hotels & Resorts– Alchemy of Sleep, Hotel Figueroa (5.49%), and Zedwell- London’s first sleep-centric hotel (4.29%).

Hotels are accommodation types where many stay for various reasons, but possibly more for sleep. When asked about the same, 43.65% said they have been to a hotel soley for sleeping and had a great experience. 19.2% did stay at a hotel for sleep and had a satisfactory experience, while 24.19% have not but want to experience it. 12.95%, however, say it is not for them.

Reasons the Travel Industry Re-focused on Sleep

There are multiple reasons the travel industry shifted to focus on sleep and sleep tourism instead. One of the reasons is tourists’ lack of sleep (48.92%), longer delays in bedtime (22.2%), the importance of sleep on one’s well-being (11.63%), staying out late in the night (9.44%), and hotels updating the hotel experience.

How effective is sleep-focused travel (sleep tourism)? 44.8% say short-term sleep-focused travel is highly effective, whereas 22.4% say it is only somewhat effective. Contrastingly, 3.48% say it is somewhat ineffective, and 1.65% say it is highly ineffective.

Lastly, the survey asks respondents whether it’s likely that they will visit a hotel for the sole purpose of sleep. 41.26% say it is highly likely that they will, 19.34% say it is somewhat likely, 6.77% say it is somewhat unlikely, and 4.82% say it is highly unlikely.