Hotel Industry at Pivotal Point Amid Rise of Wellness Tourism, Experts Say
Demands are shifting and hotels are doing their best to keep up. One way or another, wellness is going where it’s never gone before.
People are no longer just going into gyms or studios to get their wellness fix. They’re not just getting it at home either — far from it. Today, they’re going around the globe, and whether that’s part of a wellness retreat or someone checking in at a hotel, the industry is evolving to meet them.
Reaching a market size of $830.2 billion in 2023 and projected to hit $1.35 trillion in 2028 (via Global Wellness Institute), the wellness tourism market represents one of the wellness industry’s hottest sectors. None of it’s surprising, however, to Susie Ellis, CEO and chair of the Global Wellness Institute.
ATN the ATN Innovation Summit 2025, experts including Ellis discussed the rise of wellness tourism and what it means for the future of the hotel industry.
“Wellness tourism is a part of something people want to do,” Ellis said. “Everyone that’s exercising, most everyone these days, loves to travel.”
It’s a transformation that has moved in unison with the increased call for greater hospitality within the luxury hotel business.
“We as the hotel industry were always telling our travelers, ‘This is what the luxury hotel industry is,’” said Barak Hirschowitz, president of the International Luxury Hotel Association, who also spoke at the Summit. “Then all of a sudden, it flipped, and it was the travelers telling us what they want.”
What they want, more often than not, is to feel spry, clean and healthy during their trips.
“Some years ago, travel was more like ‘I’m letting loose, and all bets are off,’” Natalie Compton, a wellness reporter for the Washington Post, said. “Now, people say, ‘I want to feel good when I travel. I want to feel good when I get home. I want this to be restorative.’”
Meeting the Demand for Wellness Travel
In conversations with travel planners, Compton noted a recurring theme: people are seeking meaningful connection during their vacations, whether that’s with themselves, with their bodies or the people that they’re traveling with. In some instances, wellness amenities can do all three.
“Wellness might be getting to a relaxing beach rental — somewhere where you can unwind, disconnect from your phone and your work,” she said. “People will go for that.”
Carol Stratford, managing director of the consulting division for Arch Amenities Group, noted brands are already responding to this, moving to incorporate “connectors” to wellness throughout their facilities. Pillows aren’t just tossed onto hotel beds anymore, and brands are doing better than buffet lines.
“We’re seeing wellness touch points throughout the guest journey, so not just in fitness centers or in spas, it’s really moving beyond that,” Stratford said. “Sleep is an important piece — providing even pillow menus, breath work classes within your room or healthy options at restaurants.”
Shafi Syed, global head of hotel development and acquisitions at Equinox Hotels, noted how his brand has brought in sleep scientists to better equip their rooms for a good night’s rest.
“When you book a room for $200 or $1,000, you want a great night’s sleep,” he said. “That’s your basic promise of a hotel. You don’t get a good night’s sleep for a number of reasons that could have been fixed very easily. You have that pesky little light that never goes off and you don’t know where the switch is. You can hear noises from the next room or above because the sound installation has been literally two decibels. The temperature, sometimes you wake up in a sweat. We took it all apart.”
Fitness & Hospitality Must Work Together
Even with these notable strides being made, Lou Zameryka, co-founder and chief operating of Alively, argues there’s still more to be done in terms of how hotels deliver on wellness.
“You can stand up a spa, a fitness center, a juice bar — there’s so much more to it,” he said. “I think the more the industry understands that there’s a broadening of everyday wellness, the more accessible that will become in the industry.”
Hotel brands can get there in a variety of ways. A new popular method involves converting business centers into wellness hubs, as travelers today can work from their phones, making business centers obsolete. Simple access to the outdoors or nature can go a long way as well.
It’s all there for hotel operators. They just need to reach out and grab the opportunity in front of them.
“The fitness industry is talking about hospitality, not only what hospitality practices they can bring into fitness, but also how they can integrate with travel and hospitality as an industry itself,” said Zameryka. “This industry is talking about them so much, so we need to create more of a marriage around that approachability and the breadth of selection.”
The Way Forward
All parties agree wellness is checking itself in at hotels right now and has no plans to check out anytime soon.
“I think in 2030 all travel will be about wellness,” predicted Ellis. “People want to feel better after their vacation or even a business trip. They want to feel better when they’re traveling. This is already happening. Wellness is incorporated in our lives more and more, so that will happen with travel.”
Stratford listed wellness and longevity becoming more intertwined as new intel emerges as something to follow going forward. Hirschowitz noted that brands on the supplier and hotel side of the business forging key partnerships with each other will be pivotal in taking both the hotel and wellness industries to the next level.
“We really need partners,” he said. “The hotel industry, we’re still a real estate first industry. We were late adopters to technology. We’re late adopters to wellness. But what I see here are amazing companies that can partner with hotels and help us bring to our guests what we need. And for your industry, it’s amazing because you have exposure to the luxury hotel market, which is really a showroom for you guys.”
This article is based on a live discussion held during the ATN Innovation Summit 2025, a two-day event dedicated to the future of fitness and wellness. See here for more Innovation Summit coverage.