The Global Wellness Institute’s Global Wellness Economy Monitor 2025 confirms what the industry’s most forward-thinking destinations have long anticipated: travellers are no longer journeying for escape alone, but for renewal, precision, and personal transformation.
The global wellness economy reached US$6.8 trillion in 2024, surging 7.9% year-on-year, and wellness tourism stands among its brightest stars. Now valued at US$894 billion, wellness travel has moved beyond recovery into an unmistakable ascent—projected to reach US$1.38 trillion by 2029.
Drivers of a Refined Wellness Movement
Across all markets, five forces are reshaping wellness travel with particular resonance for the luxury sector:
1. A Global Shift Toward Prevention
With an ageing population and rising chronic conditions, guests are investing earlier and more proactively in their health. Advanced diagnostics, personalised nutrition, and integrative medical guidance are becoming foundational elements of modern retreats.
2. Mental Wellness at the Forefront
The mental wellness sector grew 12.4% annually in recent years, reflecting an urgent global need. High-net-worth travellers now prioritise retreats offering emotional recalibration, restorative silence, mindful immersion, and practices that anchor the nervous system.
3. The Rise of Longevity & Bio-Individuality
The rapidly expanding personalised medicine market—now US$147B and growing—has ushered in a new wave of clinic-inspired retreats. Hyperbaric therapy, IV nutrient protocols, and precision biohacking now coexist with meditation pavilions and herbal therapies within luxury wellness infrastructures.
4. Thermal & Mineral Springs Reimagined
With 10% projected annual growth, thermal destinations are experiencing a renaissance. Contemporary hot-springs developments are blending therapeutic tradition with refined design, creating sanctuaries where water, landscape, and architecture harmonise in the service of wellbeing.
5. Wellness Real Estate Elevates the Destination Experience
The fastest-growing sector in the entire wellness economy—wellness real estate at 19.5% annual growth—is reshaping the environments in which wellness travel unfolds. Residences, resorts, and mixed-use communities are being crafted with wellness at their architectural core, not as an afterthought.
See also: Swire Hotels’ Bold New Chapter With Upper House—With Openings In Bangkok, Shenzhen, Xi’An and Tokyo
A New Landscape of Expectations
The luxury wellness traveller of today is discerning, educated, and intentional. Their expectations—quiet excellence, scientific integrity, skilled guidance, and an atmosphere of understated refinement—are reshaping the sector.
Retreats that will define the next five years share three commitments:
- Purposeful programming that delivers measurable outcomes.
- Holistic, personalised frameworks tailored to individual physiology and psychology.
- An elegant sense of place, anchored in nature, silence, and sensory craftsmanship.
The GWI data reinforces what is already clear in practice: wellness tourism is not only expanding—it is elevating. As primary and secondary wellness travel continue their parallel rise, the most successful destinations will be those that refine both, creating spaces where expertise meets tranquillity, and where luxury is defined by the quality of care.
Download the full report here.
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