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The international wellness spotlight will fall on Dubai this September and October when the emirate hosts two major conferences and exhibitions which could open up new horizons for integrative medicine.

In September, Dubai will host the 8th International Conference and Expo on Natural and Alternative Medicine and a month later the curtain will go up on the 7th International Conference & Expo on Traditional and Alternative Medicine. We anticipate some of the outputs of these two events will feed into another major Dubai gathering in October – the 12th World Congress on Healthcare and Medical Tourism.

In selecting Dubai for these events, the organizers have endorsed the emirate’s potential, and hopes, of becoming an international wellness destination.

Dubai Healthcare City’s plans to host the world’s largest wellness concept – the waterfront WorldCare Wellness Village - in its Al Jadaf expansion is a strong statement of intent. The free zone village is planned to be significantly larger in scale and offerings to any current wellness properties in Europe and the US, which will surely have a galvanizing impact on the rapidly growing regional and international demand for evidence-based and holistic care.

The Dubai Healthcare City Authority says the village is a physical response to a need for increasing access to preventative care to improve wellbeing and lower healthcare expenditure in the long term.

Spiraling healthcare costs worldwide associated with the global trend towards longer lifespans is on the agendas of governments everywhere and an early and sustained approach to wellness promotion is key to addressing the issue.

The WorldCare Wellness Village will be anchored by a 100,000-sq ft. Wellness Center that will focus on prevention and management of diseases such as obesity, hypertension, diabetes and other physical conditions. It will provide diagnosis and treatment plans, offering comprehensive medical programs built around patient education and lifestyle change. More than 100 healthcare and allied professionals are expected to work at the Center.

The village design though goes beyond just integrated medicine offerings. It acknowledges wellness as a lifestyle and includes customized, eco-friendly living spaces designed to serve wellness and rehabilitation needs through features such as therapy zero-gravity pools, personalized spas, and rigorous exercise and diet facilities. The approach acknowledges that commitment to wellness improves quality of life and sense of community.

The UAE is definitely on the path to success as it gears itself to be the global hub for wellness, and to achieve happiness for its nationals and residents – evidenced by the appointment of the world’s first minister of state for happiness.

And it all makes perfect sense – economically and socially. According to the Global Wellness Institute, the global wellness industry is now a $3.7 trillion market. The potential of wellness hasn’t gone unnoticed by the international investment community either. ‘Integrative medicine practices and businesses are now finding their way onto the portfolios of the new brand of ethical investors looking for a way to make a difference while making money. But beyond the sheer economics is the mounting evidence that wellness improves communities by enritsching lives.

Demand for wellness products and services in the UAE and the wider Middle East is on the up and up, if the response to Enritsch.com is anything to go by. Since launching onto the online scene less than two years ago, the online health and wellness portal has attracted a highly engaged following of over 72,000 people seeking improvement in their life. The platform provides tools and resources to help people across a wide range of disciplines from alternative medicine to fitness regimes. They can also reach out, free of charge, to highly qualified experts who can advise on a range of issues from eating disorders to panic attacks.

And interestingly, our following shows that the pursuit of wellness spans a host of nationalities, wide age groups and both genders. Much as the UAE’s population, wellness is cosmopolitan and inclusive in its appeal.

Dubai’s new wellness approach will also add momentum to the international debate. To ensure wellness delivers on its huge potential for creating enritsched communities, it requires that all facets of society be involved.

Wellness is already being recognized as having productive results in the workplace – but it’s needed in the home, in the school room, in university halls, down on the farm, in the manufacturing sector and the corporate boardroom – everywhere.

Wellness covers not just the way we eat, exercise and take time to relax, but a 360-degree holistic approach to how we look after our minds, through social engagement, as well as our bodies. Just think, if we began instilling these practices into school kids and, having sparked their interest, they followed the advances through life and into whatever career they chose – what sort of universal shift we might see!

Dubai’s entry into the wellness arena could be a catalyst for change regionally and internationally. Its can-do mentality, ability to see challenges as opportunities. And the city’s announcement to develop The Mall of the World, which will include a full-scale ‘Wellness District’ - makes it a force to be reckoned with in its quest to lead the global wellness race.