For many of us, it can feel like there’s never a buzzing phone too far away — or someone or something tugging at our attention. And, although the Christmas holidays are supposed to be a time to kick back and relax, we know the silly season sits solemnly in this reality.
These seemingly relentless prods of a busy life have sparked the rise in a tourism trend in the country, and Aussies and tourists alike are booking these types of holidays in a bid to find the elusive downtime we all crave.
Enter ‘silent tourism’ — holidays where travellers lock their phones away and tiptoe toward relaxation. It’s not a new concept but the sudden uptick has been notable, one holiday provider told Yahoo News.
“People are becoming much more aware of personal health and mental wellness” Kate Gibson from The Hike Collective in Perth, one of many businesses that offer silent tourism holidays, told Yahoo News.
“It’s ‘how can we use our downtime to recharge’ rather than going on holiday and having an immersive cultural experience, which is great, but maybe not rejuvenating,” she said.
More travellers flocking to ‘silent tourism’ retreats in last year
Gibson has witnessed a notable spike in the number of travellers showing interest in silent tourism retreats and believes social media and our phones are largely behind the surge.
“We had mainly attracted local visitors but over the last 12 to 18 months we’ve seen a lot of interstate and international travellers heading towards silent tourism,” she said. “With social media, everything is surface level and that lack of a connection is growing more and more significant. We want a deeper connection rather than chasing the next Instagram post.”
Social media and phone use have been linked to mental health struggles. Source: Supplied
Since its inception, social media has had a finger pointed at it when discussions about the country’s worsening mental health rates are flagged. There have long been links to increased stress and anxiety with increased phone use, according to the National Institutes of Health, and now with over 20 million Aussies — almost 80 per cent of the — population using social media, it’s no surprise many are locking their phone away when they’re trying to relax.
“We ask our guests to treat the trail like a flight path and switch phones to airplane mode,” Gibson said.
“The pace of life and of travel is getting faster and faster and you feel like you have to fit in more and more. This is kind of the opposite of that, it’s a slow down.”
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