The Rationale

One of the key consequences of the global pandemic is that sustainability as well as wellbeing related issues have become more part of reality than probably every before. What appeared to be a distant goal now became an everyday issue. Young generations especially consider sustainability as a major concern.

So far probably one of the main barriers of sustainability was its abstract nature. Both industry and consumers tended to look at it as a concept that brings limitations and constraints. Sustainability is never completed as a task, which also made it somehow difficult to define and to adapt in everyday life.

Along with sustainability wellbeing has been considered as an academic subject. Altough wellness has already become a popular concept that also has often been looked at as a new and lucrative business opportunity.

Here is the opportunity to change all this.  Sustainability may be easier to be understood if we called it ‘responsibility’. Responsible business practices and consumption patterns could very well be the easiest ways to implement the noble concept. Responsibility as a term suggests that ‘I do have a role in all this‘. Such reference can become a rather effective trigger point both for businesses and for consumers.

We can take the next step and move away from the sales-focused ‘wellness’ label and look into the very core of what wellbeing actually is (see recent study by HTWWLife & Wellness Tourism Association). Wellbeing tends to look at the world from the individual’s point of view. The concept of wellbeing understands that one’s wellbeing is influenced by many factors, both soft or hard factors. One of the accpeted definitions suggests that ‘Wellbeing is a state of being or a feeling which is achieved by connections with family or community, with an emphasis upon making the best of life by self contentment and less stress’. We look at leisure or travel as activity that can contribute to the creation or the improvement of wellbeing such as feelings of contentment, satisfaction and happiness by supporting, facilitating and initiating the improvement of mental and emotional health, work-life balance, self-realization, and the ability to connect with oneself and others. We want to highlight projects, developments and destinations that do the same.

At HTWWLife we strongly believe that the objectives, targets and goals of sustainability and wellbeing are actually similar but still different interpretions of the same very concept. Now, this is time to shed light on these similarities. This is why we introduce the concept of Responsible Wellbeing, i.e. infusing wellbeing-improving solutions in any stage of the guest journey and practicing responsible business approaches.

The 99 Lighthouses Projects aims at championing the best examples from all around the world.