How Suzelle Snowden Made Fitness a Five-Star Amenity
Snowden changed the way resorts think about fitness and wellness, and she’s just getting started
Long before fitness and wellness became staples of the resort and hotel guest experience, Suzelle Snowden saw their potential to reshape the travel industry. The idea came into focus in 1992 during a vacation in Jamaica, where she noticed beautiful landscapes and plenty of guests but no structured fitness and wellness programs or certified instructors to lead them.
Dynamic and entrepreneurial, Snowden saw the gap not as a problem but as an opportunity. No stranger to fitness—Snowden is an ultra-distance runner and former studio owner—she first took it on as a side project, partnering with a handful of instructors and resorts to bring fitness classes to vacationing guests.
“I didn’t even know it was a business; I was just helping,” Snowden says. “And then it snowballed—another hotel heard, then the whole chain said, ‘We need this in all our properties.'”
From Vacation to Vision
The concept quickly evolved into Fit Bodies, a business built on connecting certified fitness professionals with resorts to elevate their fitness and wellness offerings and create unforgettable, health-focused guest experiences. It caught on fast, fueled by the vacation mindset when travelers are more open to trying something new.
“During vacation, people are open-minded,” Snowden says. “People have freedom. They have time on their hands. They read three books. They’re bored out of their mind. Here’s this amazing yoga teacher from Wisconsin who throws a yoga mat out, and they’re like, ‘Well, I’ve never tried it, but why not? Nobody knows me here’ and so we have always given that feeling of confidence to the people at these resorts, so they can try something new and realize what it does for themselves—and our instructors are there to inspire them.”
More than 30 years later, the company has grown into a key player in the wellness travel space, partnering with over 100 luxury resorts, including Hyatt, Hilton, Marriott and Club Med, to provide guest-focused fitness programming led by certified instructors. More than 40,000 professionals have traveled and taught through the platform, offering everything from yoga and meditation to Pilates, Zumba and strength training.
“I think that the fitness industry now has so much opportunity to help everyone in the world understand this,” Snowden says. “We’re the ones that can do it. The doctors aren’t doing it. Nutritionists might not even be doing it. We’re taking this on to help people continue to move—and by doing it the way I do, which is on vacation while people are open-minded—it’s the perfect way to hit those strings, make people know what it feels like, and go back home and continue it. We always say you leave with a souvenir of wellness instead of souvenirs from the beach vendors.”
As the global wellness tourism market edges toward a projected $1 trillion by year’s end, Fit Bodies is seeing a surge in demand for its fitness and wellness programming. Great for business, to be sure, but for Snowden, it’s a testament to her long-held belief that something vital has been missing in the hospitality industry and she remains committed to advancing her mission, actively seeking quality partnerships and sponsorships with like-minded brands to meet demand.
“Absolutely every organization is opening their eyes to what we’ve been doing for 30 years,” Snowden says. “All of a sudden, the world has caught up. The hospitality industry has caught up with what I’ve been trying to do for 30 years. I’ve been singing it to the mountaintops, and they’re finally listening.”
A Front-Row Seat to What Guests Really Want
Snowden works closely with hotels and resorts to design customized fitness and wellness programs, taking into account timing, location, space and even assisting in the creation of dedicated fitness areas when needed. She also has a front-row seat to the fitness experiences guests love most, with yoga consistently topping the list, as well as Zumba.
Always keeping a close eye on fitness trends and how they can be woven perfectly into the vibes of a specific resort, Snowden was so impressed by Strong 30, a shorter version of the high-intensity cardio class Strong Nation with music created by DJ Steve Aoki, that she pitched a co-branded offering with Hyatt’s Breathless Resorts.
“It’s the most amazing program, and the 30-minute program is perfect for the hotels. Breathless is set up for adult groups of friends; it’s an adult-only, groups of friends type place,” Snowden says. “There’s a little bit of a party atmosphere to it. You get your full-body workout done by 11 a.m., and you’re off to breakfast and your day.”
Fit Bodies has also launched an education department offering specialized training, including a rare retreat certification, timed well with nearly 20 retreats planned this year—many fueled by growing corporate demand for wellness-focused team-building experiences.
“We’re getting a lot more of that coming through than we ever did before,” Snowden says. “We’re seeing more career building, but also team building, more finding ways to relax, to be able to produce more and getting people into a mindset of stress release and [improved] sleep habits.”
A Win-Win for Instructors
The other side of Fit Bodies offers a unique opportunity for travel-loving certified fitness and wellness professionals. With a network of over 50,000 carefully vetted instructors, the company connects them to more than 120 partner resorts. Instructors choose a weeklong teaching session, pay a modest fee to Fit Bodies, and cover their own airfare. In return, they stay at an often all-inclusive resort—arriving Sunday and teaching just a few hours a day, Monday through Saturday.
Instructors are also eligible to earn a certificate of completion and receive three credit hours for taking part in a teaching vacation, which has yielded a high satisfaction rate among Fit Bodies instructors, Snowden adds.
“The whole experience changes, from their impressions and their perspectives, and, as I’ve always said—and it’s the truth—I don’t think I’ve met one person that did it and said ‘I’ll never do that again,'” Snowden says. “Normally, they’re booking [again] before they come home.”
Expanding the Mission
Snowden also launched a supplement business, Forever Life Labs, initially introducing it to her loyal network. A wider rollout and additional health-focused products are in development.
For Snowden, passion fuels progress, and there’s no pause button in sight. She is planning to expand Fit Bodies into new regions and emerging markets, build strategic partnerships with even more global hospitality brands and incorporate cutting-edge wellness trends, including personalized retreats, holistic experiences and executive wellness programs.
“I’m not slowing down because there’s a big world out there that needs us, and the best way to reach people is on vacation, and that’s what I’m going to do,” Snowden says. “I’m just going to keep growing and make it bigger and bigger, and it’s still fired by my passion, and it’ll never change.”