Setting up a Retreat?
Life. It can be extraordinarily difficult. It really can. Our contemporary society propels us rapidly from one time-consuming task to another and we are all under enormous pressure to be excelling in our careers, as parents, as thoughtful friends, siblings and managing to keep our houses clean and children fed. No wonder one in four people experience a mental health issue of some kind each year in England. In the past 12 months, in particular, we have seen several of our clients come to us with their idea of setting up a retreat. Their reasoning? For all of the reasons above… and another, very wise business diversification project to capture the inflated number of British tourists which will (when allowed!) descend into our UK countryside looking to escape the never-ending lockdown situations we’ve all been faced with.
The leisure industry has been facing dramatic upheaval in the UK but is now set to bounce back with vigour (due to restricted foreign travel). Glamping sites, B&B’s and hotels are all bracing themselves for a record year. 2021 could be the perfect year for you to jump start a powerful transformation and slingshot your existing B&B or Farm business into a retreat centre. Why? Because we need more than a “holiday”. We need healing. We need therapy. We need nurturing. We need a mental and physical overhaul to overcome the hardship and struggle which many of us have endured.
Setting up a Retreat experience for UK Tourists not only provides you (and them) with overnight stays, but weaves in an element of activity and healing which can be of enormous benefit to your guests. You have a plethora of choices when it comes to your offering. Retreat experiences are expanding out from the basic yoga or fitness retreats that created this trend but are taking new and emerging offerings each year, as many extraordinary hosts & speakers create genuine transformational experience. When setting up a retreat, you can incorporate as many or as few practices as you feel there is a market for. Retreats span all areas of life: from personal growth to active travel adventures to spirituality to women’s empowerment to consciousness and everywhere in between.
When considering setting up a retreat, it is important to assess which of the practices/experiences/workshops you would like to deliver and whether there is (a) a market for these courses (b) that you have no local direct competition (c) that you have access to course leaders and facilitators (d) whether you will run accomodation options or provide day courses only.
You may already have an existing glamping or leisure site and might be concerned that many others are hurriedly setting up new sites to capture the new influx of UK tourists – so the competition is going to be tough this year. But, of the landowners considering setting up a retreat may be few and far between. Experiences, not just overnights, are becoming increasingly popular. This is apparent by the transitioning of the popular travel agency model AirBNB. Sensing that experiences are a perfect bolt-on to overnight stays, the AirBNB experience was launched.
Recent articles such as this one https://www.countryandtownhouse.co.uk/travel/meditation-retreats-uk/ and this one https://bookretreats.com/s/wellness-retreats/united-kingdom are worth a read, they could give you some insight as to what is currently available in the UK before you embark on setting up a retreat of your own.
It’s worth considering whether this is a seasonal offering or a year-round business. The seasonal tourism should support an excellent attendance and guest rate, but if you wanted to maximise this opportunity, a year-round building might just increase the viability of your offering and bring you a stable income and more sustainable long-term revenue model for you.
Ultimately, it all comes down to how much value YOU find, in a retreat centre. If you, like us, feel that an experience holiday is setting you apart from your competition, giving your business a whole new identity and creating value in transformational experiences, setting up a retreat on your land is the most natural thing for you to do.
If you need a building – you know who to call! A circular Temple might just be the platform you need for your sensational workshops and events.
Copyright © Rotunda Eco Build Ltd.