This week: Sleep is the first step in hospitality wellness. Also: devolution and arts fundraising, Hyrox-ready gyms, and surf parks as mixed-use destinations.

“Sleep is Layer Zero,” was something Keith Dickey from YouMind said on our recent “Sleep as a KPI” episode on The Future of Hospitality podcast. Basically, we were debating if sleep is even that important to travelers, because it is not often expressed as a guest’s primary goal when they are selecting a hotel. But Keith rightly said that regardless of a guest’s conscious motivations, sleep underpins all aspects of a guest’s wellbeing.

He described sleep as “layer zero” for healthy emotional regulation and stress management. This week’s Leisure Roundup takes a look at cultural shifts in the arts, in fitness and in sports. All of these aspects of leisure drive wellness, but sleep is layer zero.

Jeremy

What devolution means for the future of arts fundraising
England’s devolution is shifting cultural investment toward place-based priorities such as regeneration, skills, tourism and health, while raising the relationship-building and evidence burden for smaller organisations. Design participation programmes around a genuine local need, build cross-sector partners early, and make impact evidence part of the experience infrastructure without contorting the artistic mission. (Arts Professional)

Not hitting your step goal? Pick up the pace
An observational analysis of more than 100,000 UK Biobank participants associated both daily steps and peak 30-minute cadence with lower all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, while not proving that pace causes the difference. Walking-led programmes can offer optional brisk intervals or paced loops for time-poor guests alongside slower, longer routes that remain accessible to people with knee, balance or mobility constraints. (CNN)

Study Finds These 4 Areas of Fitness Are Linked to Living Longer After 65
In a Taiwanese observational cohort of adults aged 65 and older, balance/agility, lower-body strength and cardiorespiratory fitness showed the strongest associations with lower mortality risk among the assessed capacities. Active-ageing offers should combine safely scaled strength, balance/agility and aerobic formats, using qualified staff and fall-risk screening where assessment is involved rather than promising longevity. (Health)

Vasa Fitness Joins Hyrox’s Growing Gym Network
Vasa Fitness will install official Hyrox training environments in an initial 10 clubs, adding competition-format equipment and using Hyrox Training Day open houses to introduce the format. This offers a blueprint for turning a periodic participation sport into a year-round facility proposition that serves members and prospects without making the experience exclusive to racers. (Athletech News)

Hospitality’s guest-experience gains are operational, not ornamental
Benchmark J.D. Power reports that satisfaction with North American third-party hotel management companies rose 14 points year over year, to 696 out of 1,000, in feedback from 5,642 guests. Its central lesson is that guest experience is compounded through investments in properties and staff training, with the hotel room and common areas still presenting substantial room to improve. (J.D. Power)

Studio KO transforms "basilica-like" tram depot into Tashkent art centre|
Studio KO’s Centre for Contemporary Arts Tashkent turns two former 1912 tram-depot/diesel-station buildings into a hub for exhibitions, education and research, using a compressed-to-expansive visitor sequence and a courtyard with food, children’s activity and exhibition space. Cultural operators can treat circulation, social amenities and flexible gathering spaces as a single coordinated experience that encourages anticipation and dwell time. (Dezeen)

Inside the serpentine world of Javier Senosiain’s Quetzalcóatl Park
Quetzalcóatl Park uses serpentine paths, an amphitheatre, organic structures and a stained-glass-roofed spiral greenhouse to make movement through its evolving landscape a sensory journey; access is limited to guided reservations, with small events also possible. Operators can use capacity control to protect fragile, in-progress settings while creating distinct bookable layers through guided exploration and intimate events. (designboom)

Surf Park Summit 2026 Draws Largest Audience Yet
Surf Park Summit highlighted the shift from surf parks as standalone facilities to mixed-use hospitality, recreation and entertainment destinations, with Atlantic Park Surf incorporating a hotel, concert venue, apartments, retail and dining. Treat the surfable wave as an anchor and measure utilisation by persona, daypart and season across the broader offer, while embedding safety and conservation in the operating plan and guest experience. (WavePoolMag)

Sports tourism booms in Overland Park
Visit Overland Park’s pursuit of multiday sport events accompanies a visitor economy in which travel from at least 50 miles accounted for 37% of restaurant revenue, and recent wins include the 1st Phorm Monster Games and NIRSA National Soccer Championships. Design the full tournament trip across hotels, flexible food and beverage and participating retailers, tracking rate, occupancy, restaurant capture and repeat contracts together rather than judging demand by a mega-event alone. (Axios)

Featuring exciting updates from Leisure Alchemy clients and partners.

The Sustainable Stay: The latest episode on The Future of Hospitality podcast looks at sleep and recovery.
“Hotels measure ADR, guest satisfaction, and reviews, but almost never measure whether the guest actually slept.” Arjan Eikelenboom brings together a few experts, including YouMind CEO, Keith Dickey, Luxury Wellness, Spa and Hospitality Strategist, Javier Suarez, and Leisure Alchemy CEO, Jeremy McCarthy to discuss the role of sleep in a hospitality business. (The Future of Hospitality)