Sleep Becomes India's Newest Luxury Pursuit
With most urban Indians sleep-deprived, wellness resorts are marketing rest itself as a curated, trackable and increasingly expensive experience
Synopsis
India's urban population is among the world's worst sleepers as well as the first to get up, leading to a new "sleep tourism" phenomenon that offers sleep as an experience worth paying for, and records! Sleep is now a luxury, with sleep consultations and wearable trackers and curated retreats. What was once a basic human requirement is now associated with privilege and self-optimisation – sleep consultancy and wearable trackers, curated retreats.
A lack of sleep in the City!
India's lack of sleep is extreme when compared with other countries. According to the Indian Journal of Sleep Medicine, a study by Nielsen on the global sleep habits revealed that 64 per cent of India's urban population wakes up before 7 am which is the highest in the world, and 61 per cent of them sleep for less than seven hours a day.
Another industry estimate suggests that the figure is even higher – a Philips research showed that 93 per cent of Indians are sleep deprived.
The crisis is given institutional weight in the formulation by the World Health Organisation. A lack of restorative sleep has been recognised by WHO as a public health concern and not just a lifestyle problem.
Rest as a Marketed Commodity
In this context, tourism to sleep has become a specific tourism-based business, known as “sleep tourism,” or “napcations.”
Restored in the 14th century, the fort at Six Senses Fort Barwara, Rajasthan provides a Sleep Program, which lasts for three, five or seven nights, with a dedicated Sleep Physician on site, wellness screenings, Yoga Nidra sessions and ongoing sleep tracking.
The irony in the trend has been noted by commentators. One analysis notes that sleep "seems no longer to be an act of rest, but a performance of privilege, with brands more and more packing sleep interventions with clinical science language.
As a people, we've always been about diet and fitness and now we're becoming more aware of the importance of sleep, says Dr Robbins, a sleep researcher quoted in the same report.
The Market Scale
The world is hungry for sleepy travelers and it's an appetite that has gained momentum. HTF Market Intelligence estimates the global sleep tourism market at $640 billion and will surpass $1 billion in certain luxury areas by 2028.
According to the market analysts, the category is growing 12.6 per cent annually – and the research Mintel shared with Skyscanner indicates that 43 per cent of wellness travellers want to get more restful sleep on vacation.
India's Positioning
India's current wellness tourism ecosystem provides it a natural edge in the burgeoning sector. Himalayan health retreats in Rishikesh, Dharamshala and Ananda offer Ayurvedic medicine along with yoga and meditation to restore sleep balance, offering a holiday for people who want to relax and enjoy a holiday that is not sightseeing based.
Technology has been a part of the experience. Many luxury wellness resorts now have wearable sleep monitors or smart beds that will automatically adjust the mattress setting based on the number of rest cycles that a guest experiences, to transform an intangible experience into quantifiable and shareable data.
Outlook
As India's professional life goes round-the-clock and basic sleep is being compromised, how can sleep become a premium, measurable commodity—when is it working to solve the structural problem of sleep deprivation, and when is it just selling the symptoms for the rich?