As wellness tourism expands into a multi-billion dollar industry, BoF sits down with Vivianne Garcia-Tunon, vice president of wellbeing at Auberge Collection, to unpack how the ultra-luxury hospitality brand is strategically delivering on luxury travellers’ evolving expectations.
BodyHoliday, operator of the Caribbean's first wellness resort, today announces the appointment of a distinguished new global leadership team from hospitality titans Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, IHG and Soho House – among others – to lead its next phase of growth, beginning with its first European property, BodyHoliday Algarve in Portugal.
Indian Hotels Company (IHCL),India’s largest hospitality company, today signed definitive agreements to acquire 51% stake in Sparsh Infratech Private Limited, owning company of the brand ‘Atmantan’, a well-established luxury wellness centre located in Mulshi near Pune. The acquisition gives IHCL ownership of the Atmantan brand and its proprietary expertise, enabling expansion of the wellness platform in collaboration with its founding promoters.
Sleep tourism is a very real trend. Working closely with hotel owners and executives to help ideate and set up sleep programs at hotels, one of the most common challenges that we have to overcome is limiting capex and opex so that the sleep program is both turnkey and easy to operationalize as well as acceptable to the guest’s price elasticity. Luckily, there’s a principle in sleep science that hotels can leverage to aid in guest’s sleep purely by better utilizing existing merchandizing and inventory systems.
The worlds of health and hospitality have been converging over the past two decades, and this trend will only accelerate as now-popular modalities like red light therapy, ice plunges, fitness programs and nutritious F&B menus gain adoption across the chain scale. While the next section addresses how this opportunity intersects with IT, what’s most important now in 2025 to consider is how all these new types of activities and experiences can be loaded into a CRM or CDP then transformed into recurring rooms and ancillary revenues.
Wellness is no longer confined to the spa. Today’s travelers are seeking experiences that enhance sleep, reduce stress, and foster connection, which is shaping where they choose to stay and how much they spend. For boutique and independent hotels, this represents both an opportunity and a challenge: how to define their wellness identity authentically and profitably, without heavy capital investment.
Auberge Collection, the award-winning portfolio of one-of-a-kind luxury hotels, resorts, and residences, today unveils The Joy of Wellbeing – a bold new direction that redefines wellness. Long recognized as a leader in the wellbeing space, Auberge now centers its approach on a simple foundation: joy is more than a feeling; it is a way of living well. At its heart is the belief that true wellbeing begins with meaningful connection, emotional richness, and the freedom to feel good. Guided by the principles of Awe, Connect, Excel, and Nurture, The Joy of Wellbeing will be uniquely brought to life through the soul of each Auberge destination.
Wellness is reshaping hospitality and real estate. It is no longer a luxury; it is a global economic force and a core business strategy. The global wellness economy reached $6.3 trillion in 2023 and is projected to hit $9 trillion by 2028, according to the Global Wellness Economy Monitor by the Global Wellness Institute (GWI). Of the 11 categories of wellness, the three (3) key growth areas include Wellness Real Estate, Wellness Tourism, and Mental Wellness, sectors now recognized as essential drivers in hospitality and real estate.
While it’s no secret that demand for wellness continues to increase across all sectors, today’s travelers are redefining what that means within the hospitality space, seeking experiences that extend well beyond the traditional spa treatments and fitness classes.
Hotels with strong wellness provisions tend to perform better. Wellness tourists spend more. Hotels are increasingly recognising the value of wellness as a key differentiator in the hospitality industry. How frequently have you encountered such statements in recent years?
Held at the UN Tourism Regional Office for the Middle East in Riyadh, the two-day event (9–10 September) brought together representatives from National Tourism Administrations and Organizations (NTAs/NTOs) from 12 Middle East Member States, with more than 30 participants in total, alongside industry experts and key stakeholders from across the region. The workshop explored the growing potential of wellness tourism as a driver of economic growth, tourism diversification, and sustainability for the Middle East.
WITT (Wellness in Travel & Tourism) and the Wellness Tourism Association (WTA) have partnered to launch the Core Wellness Standards for Hotels, a first-of-its-kind global initiative designed to help hotels integrate authentic, holistic and high-quality wellness into every guest touchpoint.
Spas are an expected amenity for most luxury and ultra luxury hotels, and properties with savvy operators are benefiting greatly from luxury travelers increasingly willing to spend on spa. Spas are also mandatory under the brand standards for certain luxury and ultra-luxury brands, as well as a requirement to comply with Forbes Five Star Standards.
Anantara Hotels & Resorts, the experiential luxury brand of Minor Hotels, announces an exclusive global partnership with Technogym, the world-leading brand for fitness, wellness, sport and health, to deliver a new standard of in-room wellbeing for travellers worldwide.
Earlier this month, Equinox Hotel New York unveiled The Sleep Lab, a first-of-its-kind, science-backed experience created in collaboration with world-renowned neuroscientist and bestselling author, Dr. Matthew Walker.
Wellness is a huge growth area for hotels. In hospitality, we can succinctly define this as products, services, amenities and other features that deliver guest wellbeing. Concurrently, longevity is the concept that humans can live longer while also living healthier within those new years afforded to them (‘healthspan’).
As advisors to upscale and luxury hotels, we’re always first looking holistically as to why a guest is choosing this specific hotel and why they are willing to pay substantially more per night for that experience. This is what we call the ‘reason to visit’ or R2V.
Under a Tree Consultancy proudly celebrates its 20th anniversary, marking two decades of redefining wellness not as an amenity, but as a driver of improved hospitality and real estate performance, a business strategy, and a way of life. Since its founding in 2005 by wellness pioneer Amy McDonald, the firm has shaped wellness experiences that are personal, transformative, globally relevant, and fiscally successful.
RealTime Reservation, the industry leader in dynamic hospitality booking technology, is proud to announce a groundbreaking partnership with Trilogy Spa Holdings, a premier spa management company operating some of the most trusted wellness destinations in the United States. This strategic alliance marks the launch of a fully integrated, real-time booking platform tailored specifically for spa and wellness services across Trilogy-managed properties, beginning with the iconic Plaza Hotel in New York City.
During the EHL Open Innovation Summit in Lausanne, we had the opportunity to sit down with Dr. Felicitas Morhart, Full Professor of Marketing at HEC Lausanne, to explore how the emerging field of longevity is starting to reshape luxury hospitality. Our conversation touched on the intersection of biotech wellness, status-driven self-optimization, and the evolving role of luxury as a space for beauty, presence, and what it means to remain human in an increasingly optimized world.
