Dive Brief:
- The global wellness market continues to gain ground, increasing from $4.6 trillion in 2020 to $5.8 trillion in 2022 and reaching a record $6.3 trillion in 2023, according to new findings from the Global Wellness Institute.
- The market’s growth is expected to accelerate in coming years, reaching $9 trillion in 2028, GWI forecasted. Growth in the wellness tourism sector, specifically, will bolster the market’s expansion.
- Wellness tourism is expected to grow 10.2% from 2023 to 2028, per GWI. To cater to an increasing number of wellness travelers, hotels are expanding their amenities, services and design.
Dive Insight:
The wellness tourism sector is slated to reach $1.35 billion in 2028, according to GWI. Among other sectors of the wellness market, wellness tourism will have the third-largest growth rate during the five-year period. Spas, meanwhile, are expected to grow 6.1% from 2023 to 2028.
According to GWI, there are two kinds of wellness travelers: primary wellness travelers, whose trip or destination choice is primarily motivated by wellness; and secondary wellness travelers, who simply seek to maintain wellness while traveling.
Several resort brands that target primary wellness travelers are expanding in the U.S., including IHG's Six Senses, offering properties that are wellness destinations in and of themselves. Also catering to that group is SBE’s newly launched longevity-focused resort brand, The Estate Hotels & Residences, which will pair luxury hospitality with longevity centers that leverage preventative medicine and AI.
To court secondary wellness travelers, meanwhile, some hotels have added wellness-focused amenities. Choice Hotels International, for example, revamped its Sleep Inn prototype to include enhanced fitness centers, water refill stations and designated outdoor spaces. And Hilton’s lifestyle Tempo brand offers wellness-oriented rooms with Peloton bikes.
Select hotels are also using technology to enhance spa services and air quality in rooms.
One wellness travel trend that will continue to gain popularity in 2025 is sleep tourism, Hilton projects. More than 1 in 4 travelers will book a spa or wellness treatment to enhance their sleep while on vacation next year, according to the 2025 Hilton Trends Report.
