“What does healing mean to you?” – this is how Anne Biging, Founder and CEO of Healing Hotels of the World, chose to wrap up our interview. The question only reaffirmed what Beau Monde Traveler had discovered after speaking with Anne for such a short time: she has a real passion for aiding people in the pursuit of their highest, happiest and healthiest sense of self. As frontrunner of the only global brand for healing hospitality, we consider Anne to be one of the travel industry’s pioneering forces. In this exclusive icon profile, Anne speaks on the company’s origins, the importance of transformative healing experiences and her hopes for the travel industry going forward.

Healing Hotels of the World is a travel company that highlights a global collection of lodgings dedicated to holistic health and healing. With close to 100 trusted hotels and resorts united under the Healing Hotels umbrella, the healing traveler is sure to happen upon a property that best matches their personal healing needs. But these hotels are about much more than a regular vacation with occasional visits to the spa. With each and every member hotel selection, Founder Anne Biging strives to offer travelers something that will enrich their lives for the long term: a fulfilling, transformative healing experience that fosters a more holistic lifestyle.

Prior to founding Healing Hotels of the World, Anne dabbled in a variety of different careers, including destination marketing, hotel consulting, public relations and journalism. While travelling, Anne revealed that she grew tiresome of conventional luxury hotels: “There’s nothing really interesting… it’s gold and it’s big and it’s impressive, but it didn’t touch my soul.” Anne pondered over what she would do differently if she were to grow her own hotel empire. This, combined with her long-standing interest in exploring alternative ways to help people beyond western medicine, was the early foundation of Healing Hotels.

The seed had been planted in Anne’s mind. All it needed now was a bit of watering. Hired to promote India as a destination, Anne stayed in the country’s self-proclaimed “best spa resort” – Ananda In The Himalayas. Clearly living up to its reputation, Ananda was the final layer that inspired Anne to turn her vision into a reality. It was then that she really saw the potential to create an entire brand of healing hotels. In 2006, together with Elisabeth Ixmeier, Anne Biging co-founded Healing Hotels of the World. The brand has since expanded to include an annual Healing Summit and a digital magazine called Just Breathe. In 2019, Anne was named ‘Woman of the Decade in Business and Leadership’ at the Women’s Economic Forum (WEF).

At the very core of their vision, Healing Hotels of the World emphasises that they are not just a brand, but instead form part of a worldwide healing movement. When healing is fortified on an individual level, it has the power to support the widespread betterment of the world. Speaking on meaningful, transformative experiences, Anne Biging explains that these are dependent entirely on the individual and the particular patterns within their lifestyle that they have unearthed as an area in need of healing. There’s an entry point, and once you open the door, you’re already one step further on the road to healing: “That moment when you say, I take on responsibility, then you will find the  people who will help you. And then, the transformation starts.”

“The word healing really means to become whole,” says Anne. It’s about pinpointing the areas in one’s life that need filling, may it be related to body, mind or soul, and committing to filling that gap so that one can embody their true, healthy self. This is why all of Healing Hotels’ partner resorts are so different in terms of their programming. There are 21 Healing Focus selections to choose from, with Stress Release, Detox and Nutritional Consultancy being among some of the more popular choices.

At Ananda In The Himalayas, the focus is on Ayurveda, meditation and yoga, while Buchinger Wilhelmi Bodensee in Germany is geared more toward weight loss. If one is hesitant to make a decision on their own, Healing Hotels also offers a Healing Concierge service, available to be provided with one’s personal health and wellbeing goals, preferred destination, and even favored climate and culture. This information is then analyzed, and the concierge makes a recommendation based on each client’s unique specifications.

There is a strict criteria that Healing Hotels’ partner hotels need to meet. Both prior to selection and while united under the company umbrella, member hotels and resorts undergo regular monitoring to ensure that they are still up to standard at every level. This includes checking that all products and materials used are organic and sustainable, confirming that all hotel staff are being well-treated and, of course, maintaining the high-quality experience of the guests. “From the moment you are picked up from the airport… you will be  treated as a human being and not a credit card,” says Anne.

Healing Hotels of the World innovatively caters for those who are travelling for a variety of different reasons. Their website features both a Resort Collection and an Urban Collection. The Resort Collection is for those seeking a travel experience which is fundamentally centred on healing. The Urban Collection, however, is geared more toward those travelling for business or a quick weekend fix. Based in urban city centres, these hotels assist the healing traveler in maintaining their holistic lifestyle even when it is not at the forefront of one’s visit to a particular destination. It’s about bringing the opportunity for healing with you, wherever you go.

Anne is passionate about all the hotels that form part of Healing Hotels of the World. She reveals that she is often asked which one is her favourite, and it is a question she is not fond of. “They are all so beautiful in their own way.” However, when Anne conjures up images of the places she herself has felt most at peace, there are a few hotels that come to mind. Ananda in the Himalayas, the brand’s founding hotel, is one of them. A few of her other top picks include Euphoria Retreat in Greece and Shou Sugi Ban House in the Hamptons.

When asked what her biggest hopes are for the travel industry going forward, Anne’s outlook was positive. She hopes to see travelers being more selective about their movement, considering the risks to Mother Nature before simply jetsetting from continent to continent. But most of all, Anne is hopeful  that people will be making the conscious decision to embark on a journey that is ultimately beneficial to them and their overall health and healing. Anne says, “People want to travel and will travel, there’s no question, but it will be nicer because we will be travelling with purpose.”