To Travel Well is to Be Well: Wellness Travel Trends

News and Insights

To Travel Well is to Be Well: Wellness Travel Trends

December 18, 2025

The global wellness industry encompasses a slew of categories and business verticals, from the booming wellness real estate market that's helping homeowners live better, healthier lives through smart design and technology - at $584 billion, the fastest-growing slice of the $6.3 trillion global wellness economy, according to the Global Wellness Institute(GWI); to China's nationwide commitment with the National Health Commission to encourage healthy lifestyles and address chronic diseases through "Healthy China 2030"promoting wellness practices, retreats and, of course, wearable technology.

Tech-Enabled Tranquility with These Wellness Travel Trends

There are other ways to stay well and healthy when traveling, and some of these new wellness travel trendsare here to stay. Staring down a long-haul flight? Tap the Timeshifterapp for a personalized plan to limit jet lag as per one's regular routine and travel plans. Don't have time to hit the hotel spa or fitness center? Guests of HALL Park Hotelin Frisco, Texas, managed by Coury Hospitality, can peruse the Art of Recoverymenu for in-room wellness offerings such as IV Therapy, Floating Sound Baths, 9D Breathwork, cold plunges, and even SaunaBox, a pop-up-style steam room that was honored with a 2024 Gadget Award from Esquire.

Longing for restorative wellness at a conference or on bleisure trip? Spa Montageat Montage Deer Valleyhas mastered the art of "microbreaks" to enhance productivity and reduce work-related stress during corporate events and retreats. Group offerings include guided meditation and breathwork, and breakout sessions ranging from 30 to 90 minutes with aromatherapy, ultrasound and IV therapies, and massages and facials to promote relaxation and combat burnout. Closer to sea level, Plaza M Spaat Hudson Yardsin New York City has quick, comforting treatments for rushed city folk and tourists recovering from jostling strolls on The High Line, including massages for the feet in as little as 20 minutes, neck and shoulders in 15 minutes, and the body in 30 minutes. At Grand Hyatt Hong Kong, Plateau Spaoffers 30-minute body scrubs with raw sugar, salt or mineral, and a 30-minute "targeted release" massage for various regions of the body that tend to get tense.

Meanwhile, tech-driven wellness is becoming more widely available in the hospitality space. Once a trailblazer, now an icon of technology-enabled "touchless wellness," Carillon Miami Wellness Resortis looking to the future for personal health management. The resort's super-sized spa and wellness center has a bevy of AI-powered gym equipment, such as fitness machines from Amp that automatically adjust resistance and track progress, while The Skincare Concierge from Skin Authorityin the resort lobby taps AI to scan the faces of guests for skin-quality assessment. Move over, White Lotus.

Notes Christina Gnozzo of FINN Travel New York: "Guests now have greater visibility into their health than ever before, thanks to wearable technology and wellness apps that are shifting how they approach spa services. It's no longer just about relaxation - it's about personalization, precision, and proactive care. At the same time, technology is driving a new wave of innovation. Carillon Miami Wellness Resort is a great example of integrating everything from full-body scans and skin-health assessments to tools that optimize meditation to meet the needs of travelers. It's inspiring to see wellness evolve into something so tailored and transformative."

Retreat Like Royalty in the Middle East, Asia, and Beyond

Wellness travel trendsare growing rapidly in various corners of the globe. In the Middle East, Thomas Morris of FINN United Arab Emiratesobserves, "The movement is really toward holistic offerings that have a high-end, technological edge in keeping with governmental efforts to put wellness at the heart of national priorities, both to improve the health of their populations as well as to drive tourism and economic development. As a result, we're seeing hotels and resorts marketed not only as places to relax and revive, but also as destinations for serious preventative healthcare and medical rejuvenation."

The UAE stands out as a regional leader in this space, with a wellness economy valued at $34 billion

in 2023 by the Global Wellness Institute. The country is home to an expanding number of luxury properties that seamlessly integrate medical-grade wellness experiences into their hospitality offerings. Clinique La Prairie, for example, opened a Longevity Hubin Dubai's One&Only One Za'abeelin spring 2024, featuring the region's first Longevity Index Lounge. Guests receive a complimentary 45-minute assessment, including a lifestyle questionnaire, body analysis, and Visia face scan, to personalize treatments across skincare, nutrition, and movement.

According to Susie Ellis at GWS, a growing global trend that finds a natural home in the Middle East is the rise of the sober-curious traveler. With cultural and religious norms that already encourage limited or no alcohol consumption, the region is well-positioned to appeal to travelers seeking restorative experiences free from alcohol. Resorts like Zulal Wellness Resort by Chiva-Somin Qatar and The Retreat Palm Dubai, MGallery by Sofitelhave leaned into this advantage, promoting zero-alcohol environments as essential to genuine detoxification and mindful living. These offerings align with the increasing demand from younger generations for wellness-focused, substance-free travel.

In Japan, the wellness economy - $303 billion in 2023, according to GWI - is buoyed by inbound travelers hoping to relax and recharge with everything from onsen baths at hot springs to serene forest bathing. Among hospitality players are Aman Group, whose new luxury brand debuted last year with Janu Tokyofeaturing a 4,000 sq. m. wellness space including one of the largest gyms in the city and a 25 m. pool.

"The message for hoteliers is that every generation is seeking its own path to well-being, and people of all ages are not waiting for the inevitable stresses of life to lead them to it," observes Jennifer Hawkins, Managing Partner of FINN Partners' North American Travel Practicein New York. "Wellness travel is wide open for innovation, and the more the segment grows, the more convenient it will be for travelers to discover what works best for them."

Let's Talk About Aesthetics

Hair transplants, a unique form of medical tourism once in the shadows, are now gaining mainstream curiosity and interest. In 2023, 1.5 million Americans traveled to Istanbul for medical procedures, and 50% of them received hair transplants. The market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 25.22% from 2023 to 2030 to reach $75.3 billion by 2030, according to Grand View Research.

Türkiye, and Istanbul specifically, have become the premier destination for men seeking this type of transformative wellness travel experience. This rise as a global leader in hair transplantation stems from a strategic blend of world-class medical expertise, cost-effectiveness, and exceptional patient care. The country has invested heavily in cutting-edge technology and specialized training for surgeons, ensuring outcomes that rival or exceed global standards. Additionally, Türkiye's unique all-inclusive packages - covering everything from VIP transfers to luxury accommodations - make it a hassle-free destination. Government support for medical tourism and a cultural emphasis on hospitality further enhance its appeal, creating a seamless experience for international patients.

There are two main techniques of hair transplantation: Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) and Direct Hair Implementation (DHI). Both are highly advanced techniques that give great results, neither better than the other, and each method has its own advantages and is decided on a case-by-case basis by the surgeon.

"Save your jokes, hair transplant is wellness and is now trending in America," insists Asmaa Aly of FINN Travel New York, who works with EsteNove, the dynamic, Istanbul-based Hair Transplant Clinic that addresses hair restoration through various techniques and has put the city squarely on the medical wellness map. Among Aly's publicity coups was rounding up members of the US-based sports-and-pop-culture blog and digital media company, Barstool Sports, for a transformative journey to EsteNove in late 2024. A group of 14 guys, including Barstool Sports employees and their fans, flew to Istanbul to receive hair transplant procedures and documented their entire journey in a candid, relatable, and funny series called "Baldstool". The results? A viral campaign that reached nearly 2 billion impressions and sparked hundreds of thousands of comments and conversations.

Their involvement also illustrated the awesome power of tastemaking to positively influence wellness. Continues Aly: "Bro culture is not typically fertile ground for wellness endorsements, but Barstool Sports, through their Istanbul Baldstool series, revealed how super-niche tastemakers can make taboo topics like hair loss and transplant procedures cool and okay to talk about with your boys." This positive social buzz and shifted conversations around hair transplants helped normalize medical tourism to Türkiye for cosmetic procedures and, above all, changed consumer behavior by transforming hair restoration and wellness into an empowered, mainstream option.

Indulging in Stillness & Ritual

Among mental and spiritual wellness travel trends, the rise of medical treatments for enhancing personal wellbeing underlines how far wellness has advanced from the days when all a hotel needed was a treatment room and massage table to call itself a spa. "People now want to live well, whatever that means personally, and they're looking for such living to be integrated into every aspect of their travel," says Elise Carlin of FINN Travel New York. "It's a crazy pendulum: AI and tech on one side; ancient techniques on the other."

In Tibet and the Yunnan Province of China, for instance, the Songtsamcollection of boutique hotels and lodges recently integrated the ancient Tibetan medical system of Sowa Rigpa into the modern wellness offerings at select properties to lead guests toward physical and spiritual transformation through nutrition, sleep, external therapies, energy practices, and more. The system, which sees nature as medicine, originated within the Tibetan Plateau where unique methods of physical maintenance, disease prevention, and treatment have been undertaken since humans showed up many thousands of years ago.

Even more ancient is nature itself, which, properly integrated into design, may be all the wellness hotel or resort guests need. Consider the work of the international design firm Luxury Frontiers, whose specialty light-on-earth hospitality builds - from Camp Sarika by Amangiriin Utah, to the award-winning luxury tented resort Naviva, A Four Seasons Resortin Punta Mita, Mexico, and most recently Nekajui, a Ritz-Carlton Reservein Costa Rica - have become beacons of promise to wellness seekers who want to turn down the energy and let nature do its thing.

"Travelers are now moving away from filling their itineraries with traditional wellness offerings at hotels (i.e., yoga classes, spa treatments) and toward simply existing in spaces with fresh air and quality food. Think of it as well-being without conscious effort, similar to the rise in travel to Blue Zones," says Daphna Barzilay of Maverick Creative."Luxury Frontiers is specifically looking at 'passive wellness' and refining designs to seamlessly blend with the natural surroundings, for guests to feel more connected to nature just by exploring on their own."

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