East Coast Wellness Retreat Launches New Travel Agent Program

As consumers continue to become more knowledgeable and comfortable with alternative therapies, the wellness travel sector is introducing more alternative therapy-focused programs and retreat packages.  One U.S. destination on the forefront of the movement is The Art of Living Retreat Center and Shankara Ayurveda Spa in Boone, NC. Surrounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains, the destination offers a wide variety of year-round Ayurveda-focused programs and packages and, for the first time since opening its doors in June 2012, the Center is offering a travel agent program and a travel agent fam trip in the last weekend of March.  

“Ayurveda is yoga’s sister science, the science of life,” explains Kimberley Rossi. the Center’s Director of Spa & Business Development. “Through knowledge that is more than 5,000 years old, Ayurveda teaches us how to be in balance, how to be the best version of ourselves, how to be happy, healthy and whole through simple adjustments to our daily routine.”  Even a weekend can be a great introduction to Ayurveda and to experiencing some of its benefits, she said.

The new program offers travel agents a 10% commission when they book a selection of designated packages. These two and three-night programs include a couples’ retreat, a girlfriends’ or mother/daughter getaway and a Restart Short Cleanse, created especially for those who need a “reboot retreat” but are time-challenged.  One of the more unique offerings available in the agent program is a Happiness Retreat designed (according to a news release) “to find the vast untapped potential within, using the transformative power of Sudarshan Kriya, an ancient Vedic technique to get participants ‘unstuck.’”

Packages include accommodations, vegetarian meals, yoga and meditation classes, and at least one 60-minute Ayurveda spa treatment. They range in price between $595 and $1,412 per person.

And, even though Art of Living provides complimentary Wifi, the peaceful, serene mountain setting combined with other holistic offerings makes it a good spot for a Digital Detox, another trend under the wellness travel umbrella.

“We find that most of our guests are looking for something more substantial than just an experience or a short term fix,” says Rossi. “They want tools and techniques that increase vitality and decrease stress, and that they can apply in their daily lives. We are experts at providing this.”

For more about the new program or to participate in the fam, please contact Kimberly Rossi at krossi@artoflivingretreatcenter.org.