Travelling to beautiful places can be the best medicine for some. In today’s time and age when stress and anxiety can cloud your mind, a break into some far exotic property for relaxation can be the best possible solution. Atmantan Wellness Centre, which was honoured with the ‘Best Wellness Centre’ (West) award by the Ministry of Tourism on World Tourism Day 2022 has of late become a celeb-favourite place to unwind. From Malaika Arora to Ankita Lokhande – many stars have been to the wellness centre and taken some time off their mundane daily life. Nikhil Kapur, co-founder and director at Atmantan Wellness Centre in conversation with Zee News Digital, shared his views on the importance of Wellness Tourism, health facilities and what celebrities usually look out for: 

Q. How is Atmantan different from any other exotic resort property in India?

A. We live in a world where good health is a prerequisite for happiness, and Atmantan has been created with the sole purpose of transforming the health of individuals. Curating the personalised offering and delivering results is what differentiates wellness resorts from others. Atmantan being at one end of the wellness spectrum offers deep transformative retreats that enhance the body, physiology, and mind and the walk down the path of self-discovery.

Our team of 300, along with our 22 Doctors, are specialised in the various alternative sciences, and together they all dispense our integrated approach. Here we incorporate evidence-based protocols from the alternative healing schools of Ayurveda, Naturopathy, and Functional Medicine along with energy healing, oriental medicine, yoga and fitness, all of which help us treat and manage chronic ailments for our guests.

Our care starts right at the time of enquiry for admissions, where our team of specialists understand the health objectives and guide the people on a complimenting programme and duration. (Incidentally, we also have to turn down admissions once in a while, when guests come looking for solutions to their ailments that we are unable to help with due to the advanced nature of the disease or the complication of the condition e.g. A stage IV Cancer, contagious skin conditions, chronic kidney diseases etc.)

Atmantan is a place of life-changing transformations and offers personalised wellness to all our guests, and this is something not everyone is able to create. After all, a result-oriented transformative wellness solution is not a one-size-fits-all. My wife and I are both passionate wellpreneurs who have the academic knowledge & the experience to build a team of highly skilled professionals who deliver wellness of the whole self. True wellness is one that addresses the body, its physiology, and the mind and also takes one on a path of self-discovery; This deeper understanding and our integrated protocols are what help Atmantan differentiate from the others as an innovative and result-oriented wellness solution.

Q. What do you think about ‘wellness tourism’?

A. People’s attitude towards their well-being is changing for the better. They are making the effort to keep themselves fit and healthy and are signing up with gusto for gym & yoga memberships, ordering organic and farm food etc. Thus, when these evolved people travel, they choose destinations that are an extension of their urban lifestyle. This is exactly what then blossoms into healthy or healing holidays, which is in turn fueling wellness tourism.

While the west has traditionally had more wellness travellers looking for deeper programs, this has changed in the past 2 years; We now see a surge in Indian tourists as well who are all coming out to address their wellness needs. Regarding our Indian guests, those looking for longer transformative programmes, the average stay per guest has increased from 6.2 nights (pre covid-19) to 11 nights (in the past 12 months) per guest per stay!

As we continue to have complex lives, so has our expectation, and wants out of a holiday have also increased manifold. Hence, demand for life-changing transformative programmes, and deep experiential packages are on the rise.

Q. How has the response to the health facilities and wellness packages been at Atmantan?

A. We have witnessed an overwhelming surge in demand for our services in the past 18 months. Atmantan is the preferred wellness solution centre as we have a highly skilled team who delivers results! Our result-oriented, integrated treatment programmes for chronic lifestyle ailments like Hypthyroid (incl. Hashimoto’s Thyroid), PCOS, IBS, Diabetes, Arthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Migraine, Sleep issues, many autoimmune conditions and stress management are extremely popular with guests looking for a lifestyle correction, especially in the new normal.

Add in to our skilled team is the complimenting multi-speciality infrastructure, luxury spaces, and state-of-art facility, all of which are tucked in the folds of the virgin Mulshi valley on a crystal hill… all this has been exactly what people are looking for as they choose to prioritise their health.

Q. Do you have plans for expansion to other cities as well?

A. Yes, we are actively assessing opportunities and are looking at both wellness centres in India and overseas.

Q. Many celebs have visited your property, any special memories to share?

A. Our guests love the privacy that Atmantan offers them, so this is not a subject where we can share too much information. However, I must share 3 aspects about celebs that most people may or may not realise…

(i) Celebs talk about their transformation. They know when they talk about their lives, it helps create more awareness of how natural/alternative sciences can actually treat one, without any side effects. We truly believe that each time a celeb speaks about his/her health issue and how were addressed it at Atmantan, she/he does so with a strong sense of noblesse oblige as they are choosing to positively influence and benefit others through their life journey.

(ii) While celebs like all others are short on time and want quick results (and hence like many of us tend to tread the allopathic way), what we have seen is that they all are more natural and organic conscious and even very well informed about alternate healing methods; they hence tend to spend more time on their wellness here at Atmantan than an average traveller.

(iii) Some of the popular wellness goals that the celebs travel to us include treatment of gut-related issues (Detox), inflammatory conditions, certain skin ailments, weight loss, rehabilitation and emotional healing.

Q. Do you think wellness tourism is not promoted enough?

A. I believe we are getting some mileage with how our Prime Minister, Narendra Modiji has been actively spreading the message of India being the hub of all types of wellness and ancient sciences of Yoga and Ayurveda. He believes and propagates that India is the ultimate land of healing as it is. Today, the need for a solution for our mind, body and spirit is that much more urgent and we all need to do more when it comes to promoting Yoga, Ayurveda, Naturopathy and Spiritual sciences globally.

That said, both the central and state departments can contribute further but planning and executing a unified campaign that puts India as the top-of-mind choice for any wellness traveller! The goal of this campaign should be such that it promises India (the land of Prana) as the one-stop solution for all things related to wellness.