Wellness Travel Hold Strong Amid Economic Worries
Mastercard’s new travel trends report highlights a shift toward purpose-driven exploration, with wellness experiences showing resilience
As consumers pull back on discretionary spending, the travel sector is showing signs of resilience and adapting to ongoing economic uncertainty, according to a new travel trends report from the Mastercard Economics Institute based on real-time data.
But what’s powering people to pack their bags and escape to new destinations? Here are some of the forces reshaping why (and where) people are traveling in 2025, according to Mastercard’s latest travel trends report.
Scroll, Dream, Book
While economic conditions remain a key driver of travel behavior, non-financial motivations are playing an increasingly important role, with consumers prioritizing meaningful, purpose-driven experiences, according to the global payment network.
One powerful influence is social media, which continues to inspire wanderlust, fuel FOMO and lead travelers to seek out new, often off-the-beaten-path destinations, experiences and exotic foods. It’s a force that is reflected in the three top priorities of European customers in 2025: travel and tourism, outdoor activities and dining, according to a Mastercard Annual European Consumer Survey. Although the report didn’t explicitly mention HBO’s hit series, it’s not hard to imagine the “White Lotus” effect may play an important role.
Wellness Meets Optimization
As the travel trends report notes, wellness tourism has spiked in recent years, with travelers seeking trips centered on relaxation and recovery, such as yoga retreats and luxury spas. Social wellness is also playing a part, as seen with Remedy Place and Scorpios Bodrum in Turkey, who have teamed to offer Fire & Ice Resilience Ceremonies, group breathwork and restorative therapies with Aegean Awakening, a six-day retreat, this fall.
But now, the category is evolving to include stays at longevity clubs, sleep-focused resorts and other health-optimized experiences.
Equinox Hotels is certainly all in on sleep tourism and optimization. Earlier this year, the luxury hotelier partnered with renowned sleep scientist Dr. Matthew Walker, a professor of neuroscience at UC Berkeley, to launch a series of sleep-focused initiatives aimed at improving guest well-being. The collaboration includes the Equinox Hotels Sleep Lab, an immersive living experiment housed within the brand’s New York City site. There, guests can engage with cutting-edge sleep technology and even participate in research studies conducted by Dr. Walker himself.
Namibia, South Africa and Thailand are emerging as leaders in wellness and self-care travel, according to the Mastercard Economics Institute, which developed a new Wellness Travel Index using aggregated and anonymized transaction data. Italy, New Zealand and Canada are also gaining ground as emerging destinations in the wellness tourism space.
The Nature Effect
While rest and relaxation remain core to wellness travel, adventure and the great outdoors is increasingly part of the equation, resulting in travelers booking trips to national parks and the surrounding regions. Mastercard highlights the Nordic countries, where visitors are flocking to forests and fjords. In Finland, spending within national parks accounts for 7.1% of total cross-border tourism dollars, according to the report.
South Africa and Zambia show the highest share of national park-related spending among the countries analyzed, while Argentina and Canada continue to draw hikers and adventure seekers.
Meanwhile, countries like Japan, New Zealand and Malaysia are seeing similar momentum, thanks to their dramatic, social media-worthy landscapes. Notably, Tokyo ranks as 2025’s top trending summer destination, according to Mastercard.
In the U.S., just outside Woodstock, New York, Leafwell Farm is embracing the rise of nature-based experiences with a minimalist wellness concept designed for restoration and reflection. Set on 60 private acres in the Catskills, the property offers cold plunges, sauna access, forest hikes and unplugged stays in eco-conscious suites. In time, Leafwell plans to expand its offerings with wellness programs like biohacking, sound therapy and ketamine-assisted therapy.
Canyon Ranch is also hitting on all of the wellness trends this summer at its Berkshires site in Massachusetts, offering a slate of curated wellness experiences that include sound baths, outdoor fitness and forest yoga, sunset dinners, spa treatments, meditation and fire rituals, private rain barrel showers and Appalachian Trail hikes.