The $6.3-trillion wellness economy is both inspiring and, at times, perplexing. For those of us who work in it, the effort to legitimize wellness as both a human need and a business driver has required equal parts passion, patience and persistence.
Unlike years past when market data and key performance indicators were largely unavailable, the reverse is now true. The wellness conversation has climbed far outside the walls of traditional spas, fitness centers and recreation to more sophisticated opportunities designed to make business, community and even planetary wellbeing attainable for hospitality at large.
The Global Wellness Institute reports that wellness tourism is now an $830-plus-billion market. What’s more, it’s growing faster than overall tourism, and wellness travelers spend considerably more than the average tourist—sometimes nearly twice as much.
As we look ahead to 2026, here are 10 insights shaping how wellness and hospitality may continue to evolve together.
- Wellness and hedonism can indeed live side by side. Much like politics, there’s very little room for progress when you’re dealing with extremes. Wellness is a serious business but can fail when taken too seriously, whether by brand leaders or operators. Some exceptions apply to purpose-built health retreats and destination spas. But even then, for consumers to trial wellness—and ideally become brand loyalists—programs need to practically fit into an everyday, human existence. This can mean enjoying the cheeseburger and fries as well as the spin class the next morning. Whether at home or on the road, wellness should always include a healthy dose of fun and flexibility.
- Wall Street still rules Main Street. There are still a number of hospitality leaders that give wellness lip service from a marketing perspective, but then fall short of authentically modeling it for their stakeholders to see. This behavior not only confuses or frustrates employees tasked with delivering wellness-related business plans, but it stands to get in the way of both colleague and business performance. The most successful brands connect their wellness commitments to their core purpose, clarifying why these initiatives truly matter. In turn, wellness becomes more about who an organization is, rather than how it delivers. This alignment allows brands to demonstrate wellness at every level of the business, making it easier for investors to see the benefits and harder for competitors to replicate.
- Wellness can score premiums on ADR and guest spend. Years ago, when wellness was confined to the spa, we worked with data benchmarking groups, such as STR, to prove that hotels and resorts with spas actually realized premiums on ADR and RevPAR when compared to those without. Today, the Global Wellness Institute (GWI) has further tracked average spending premiums of wellness tourists that range from 40%-175% when compared to their international and domestic counterpartsiii. What’s most compelling is that GWI’s data not only includes primary travelers, where wellness is the purpose of the trip, but secondary travelers who happen to consume wellness while traveling for other purposes. This helps to prove that the mere option of wellness drives additional guest spend.
- Gen X has mistakenly been X-ed out of the wellness conversation. The buying behaviors of Gen Z and Millennials underpin most marketing efforts as they relate to both travel and wellness, while Gen X has significantly more buying power. Even Baby Boomers get more airtime than those of us with the “X-Factor” who tend to spend more on travel and have less price sensitivity for high-end, restorative travel experiencesiv. Gen X wants to unplug and often seeks what I like to call the “Three Cs”: comfort, convenience and credibility. Surely, us wellness and hospitality pioneers should do more to attract the mind and wallet share of this forgotten generation.
- Wellness certifications mean more to the industry than to consumers. Few people would argue that LEED is the gold standard of certifications when it comes to certifying green buildings, but what about certifications that ensure the wellness of those inside? The WELL Standard, created by the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI), has likely made the most progress to date, claiming 6 billion square feet of certified space to date on its website, but, so far, this is more of an industry conversation within hospitality versus a meaningful one amongst consumers. Time will tell if newer certifications, such as from Wellness in Travel & Tourism (WITT), will compel the industry to put their dollars where these certifications are, or for consumers to follow suit. In the meantime, hotels, resorts and brands need to do a better job or articulating their wellness value propositions in a way that earns a virtual seal of approval, if not a formal one.
- Colleague wellbeing—a proverbial mirage in the hospitality desert. Though hospitality giants like Hilton and Hyatt regularly score points on Fortune Magazine’s “Best Companies to Work For” list, hospitality still seems to hide behind its 24/7 work culture as a hurdle to supporting colleague wellbeing—at least at a property level. While hotels aren’t able to put up a closed sign, HR departments still seek programmatic solutions to cultural problems at more “9-5”-style, corporate offices. This means offering things like discounted gym memberships, healthy food options in the cafeteria and complimentary subscriptions to mindful apps. Identifying the leadership and workplace behaviors that are creating the need for wellbeing programs is where the real work resides.
- A wellbeing curriculum. Until recently, workplace wellness initiatives were largely spearheaded by the Total Rewards functions of hospitality and travel organizations. And with mixed results. Forward-thinking companies both within and outside the industry are moving these efforts elsewhere in HR, such as Talent and Development (T&D). While T&D stands to be a better home for this kind of work, the curriculum needs to evolve beyond establishing the strong leadership and business acumen necessary to advance in an organization. It should also help students to understand the relationship between personal habits and behaviors that help organizations thrive. It’s a tall order and one that ideally would be supported by undergraduate business, MBA and hospitality programs, which teach both the mechanics of industry, as well as the humanity of leadership now required in our modern world.
- The wellbeing of people, planet and community is all linked. When it comes to wellness and wellbeing, we’ve siloed many of our good efforts to date. Case in point: workplace wellness is still largely the responsibility of HR, ESG lives in legal alongside philanthropy and corporate giving and wellness-driven products and services are most often created and managed by brand or commercial functions. And all the above is led by senior executives responsible for entirely separate functions, budgets or even locations. It’s time to think differently and much more holistically. For companies wishing to foster the wellness and wellbeing of colleagues and guests, the planet and even communities where they reside, it’s time to rethink the org structure. Maybe even consider the “Game-Changing role of a Chief Wellness or Wellbeing Officer (CWO)” in hospitality’s highly matrixed, global organizations.
- Longevity’s place in hospitality has yet to be proven. I’m not certain the longevity craze of 2025 is going to deliver the kind of outsized returns the industry is expecting. While we are witnessing an unprecedented surge in the demand for medically driven wellness products, services and even partnerships, the world of advanced diagnostics, complete with its futuristic machinery and highly credentialed medical talent, may not necessarily belong in the world of hospitality. Though the opportunity to reverse age and extend both the length and quality of our years is enticing, when, where and how is another question. For now, we should think of longevity as being synonymous with wellbeing. Both are the ultimate outcomes of good wellness habits, and include living long, healthy and happy lives ideally filled with great travel experiences.
- The soul is an untapped destination. Opportunity abounds when it comes to wellness in hospitality. There’s not only room to get the basics right—from masterfully designed spaces and programs to the delivery of services by well-trained talent—but to think beyond serving just the physical or even mental wellness of travelers today. I’m talking about soul, spirit or that untapped destination known as emotional wellbeing. Every generation or cohort can relate to the shared desire for purpose, belonging, community and meaning, but they don’t always have an understanding or pathway to access them. If faith and connectedness come in a variety of forms, what if we let travel serve as our spiritual guide? It’s worth a shot.
This perspective piece was contributed by Mia Kyricos, a globally respected thought-leader in the business of wellness and hospitality. She has helped to develop, operate and market wellness-driven strategies, brands and facilities across 100-plus countries in leadership positions including at Hyatt Hotels Corp., Starwood Hotels & Resorts and Canyon Ranch Health Resorts. Follow her work and insights on LinkedIn or at Kyricos.com.