Hospitality group Banyan Tree Group has launched a new wellbeing brand named Banyan Tree Veya in response to the pandemic.

Veya aims to address a world with an urgent need for reconnecting mind and body on a daily basis.

Opening today (18 March), the flagship Banyan Tree Veya in Phuket is a wellbeing-centred resort that offers bespoke programmes, built within Banyan Tree’s existing Phuket resort.

The brand claims Veya’s programming has an emphasis on ‘embodiment therapies’, built on the Banyan Tree’s eight pillars of wellbeing. The Veya experience is led by certified multidisciplinary wellbeing hosts around a three-step protocol of awareness, discovery and sustenance.

“With our hyper-stimulated modern life, our nervous systems struggle to truly relax and therefore, rest,” says Ho Ren Yung, senior VP brand and commercial of Banyan Tree.

“Veya’s ethos #OwnYourPresence guides our mission of inspiring individuals’ to travel inwards and become conscious of how their daily actions, thoughts and emotions interact with their physical being.”

Veya is one of five new brands launched by Banyan Tree in 2022. Throughout the year, it'll also introduce new brands Garrya, Homm, Escape and Folio.

Banyan Tree explained that each new concept is a response to macro and regional trends in travel accelerated by Covid’s impact such as a greater desire for wellbeing and sustainability-minded travel offerings.

Looking ahead, the group will unveil 19 openings in 2022 – including three Banyan Tree locations, one Banyan Tree Escape, two further Banyan Tree Veyas, six Angsana properties, three Dhawa destinations, two Garrya resorts and one Homm location.

The openings will be spread across the Maldives, Thailand, China, Indonesia, Cambodia, Mozambique and Saudi Arabia.

The Veya experience

The Veya journey begins with a private consultation with wellbeing hosts, certified and trained in Eastern medicine, naturopathy and coaching.

After an assessment against the brand’s codified wellbeing approach, a personalised itinerary is created aligned to each guest’s needs and priorities, centring on embodiment therapies and somatic practices.

These include:

• Mindfulness practices: Classes designed to raise sensory awareness through breathwork, sound therapy and guided imagery meditation techniques in natural environments.

• Somatic movement: Intuitive forms of dance, yoga and classes that focus on the internal experience of movement to release chronic tension patterns and calm the nervous system.

• Weightless activities: A new range of signature therapies unique to Veya – combining rehabilitative floatation with body stretch massage techniques and meditation sound therapy into a restorative sensory experience.

• Lifestyle learning: Workshops aimed at introducing wellbeing rituals into daily life such as creative therapies, integrative nutrition and classes such as Positive Resilience to help guests bring the retreat experience home.

AccommodationDesigned for optimal rest, Veya villas feature organic cotton bed linen, a pillow menu, black-out curtains, aromatherapy options and circadian rhythm technology.

In addition, each villa is equipped to enable wellbeing practices in the privacy of the room, with amenities including a wellbeing minibar, yoga mats, sound therapy bowls, exercise stretch bands and more.

Nourishing cuisine

Veya showcases plant-forward cuisine that weaves together Asian and Mediterranean influences in a creative, flexitarian approach that respects ingredient provenance.

Menu signatures include bowls, broths and reinterpreted local dishes around a fuel-balance-repair daily sequence. Resident nutrition sommeliers assist guests in curating a tailored menu during their stay to fulfil dietary needs and preferences.

The wider experienceGuests at Banyan Tree Veya Phuket will enjoy exclusive access to a new Wellbeing Center featuring Thailand’s first-ever White Room for sensory detox and meditative practice, and a traditional herb farm-pharmacy workshop opening soon.

Flexible Veya credits allow guests to customise their wellbeing journeys with options to access the spa, private classes, dining and retail products.

Prior to departure, a journey reflection consultation is offered to guests. This includes recommendations about personalised programmes and lifestyle practices to help guests continue their wellbeing journey at home.

Lee Woon Hoe, senior assistant VP and executive director of wellbeing, concludes: “The pandemic has brought unprecedented stress and trauma to our generation, the full impact of which remains to be fully assessed. However, many of us are reassessing our purpose and approach in life.

“The Banyan Tree Veya team of resident wellbeing specialists and external experts aim to guide, encourage and celebrate with our guests in discovering this new conscious way of living.”