Key Topic at the 2025 Global Wellness Summit: The Future of Wellness in Travel and Hospitality

Executives from wellness travel powerhouses, including  Six Senses, Chenot, Lanserhof, Clinique La Prairie and Kerzner will join high-profile investors, academics and government tourism leaders to explore what's ahead for the competitive, fast-evolving $830 billion wellness tourism market

MIAMI, Oct. 21, 2025 /PRNewswire/ --The Global Wellness Summit™ (GWS), the foremost gathering of leaders in the $6.3 trillion global wellness economy, today announced that a hot topic at its conference, being held in Dubai from November 18 to 21, will be the shifting consumer desires and the best new ideas emerging in the wellness tourism space.

The pandemic sparked a seemingly permanent shift: people demanding more wellness in travel. Global Wellness Institute research reveals that the wellness tourism, spa and hot springs markets clocked roughly 30% growth in 2023 (the last year studied), representing by far the fastest growth rates for any wellness sectors. The GWI projects that the global wellness tourism market will reach $1.35 trillion by 2028.

As generational, income and gender divides continue to grow in culture and in wellness, travelers' preferences are becoming more specific, complex and even contradictory. For example, we are witnessing an unprecedented surge in medical-wellness and longevity destinations with full menus of doctors and diagnostics, but also a rising hunger for destinations focused on mental and emotional wellness, deep nature, spirituality, and planetary health. The Summit will bring together executives from the largest (if very different) brands in wellness travel and hospitality, along with investors and academics who study the space, to debate where the future is headed and to answer the questions: "What are the big shifts and big ideas?"

Keynotes will also explore the future of the explosive $19 billion Middle East wellness tourism market, by far the biggest growth leader worldwide, at 12% annually from 2019 to 2023.

"In the last few years, the wellness travel market has not only clocked eye-opening growth, but it has also changed significantly, with far more diverse, specific and sophisticated offerings," said Susie Ellis, GWS chair and CEO. "The caliber of speakers joining us in Dubai––from the leaders of companies that pioneered the space to executives creating 'startup' concepts––underscores just how much momentum there is for wellness tourism, and I expect conversations that will inspire and challenge the industry."

Longevity Clinics: The Headline-Grabbers

With the GWS's theme of "Longevity Through a Wellness Lens," both long-established and new longevity players will explore an integrative medical-wellness future, discussing the most promising new interventions emerging at the spawning "healthspan hubs."

• A power panel of leaders from Europe's pioneering medical-wellness longevity destinations, including Dr. Elke Benedetto-Reisch (Lanserhof Tegernsee), George Gaitanos (Chenot), and Simone Gibertoni (Clinique La Prairie), will discuss the unique aspects and the future of the European approach to longevity and health. Anita Mendiratta, global advisor on tourism and national development, moderates. 
  
  
• On the longevity startup side, Sam Nazarian, renowned hospitality entrepreneur and founder of sbe and the coming longevity destinations, the Estate, will join Shawn Buchheit, president and COO of preventative diagnostics leader, Fountain Life, to discuss what's ahead in the new convergence of longevity, luxury and hospitality.
  
  
• Presenting a counterpoint to the longevity mania, Ömer Isvan, president of Servotel, a leading global hospitality and real estate development consultancy, will discuss the current realities in hospitality investment and development, challenging whether longevity plays such an important role.

The Future? Far More Than Longevity Clinics

While medical longevity destinations, high-tech biohacking and super-optimization have seized the conversation, keynotes will explore "other futures" in wellness travel, given the rising desire for more deeply human and emotional, as well as planet-focused, destinations and solutions.

• Manvendra Singh Shekhawat, managing director of hotel group Suryagarh Collection, will shift the conversation to the dire need to focus on the longevity of the planet, and his work on Dhun, an extraordinary new project set on a 500-acre bioreserve outside Jaipur, India, which transformed barren land into a thriving ecosphere.
  
  
• Anna Bjurstam, wellness pioneer at Six Senses, will argue that spirituality is the future pillar of longevity and wellness travel.
  
  
• Debbie Flynn, managing partner and global travel practice leader for FINN Partners, joins Phillip J. Jones, chief tourism officer for the Royal Commission for AlUla in Saudi Arabia, to argue that nature, indigenous heritage and healing will drive the future of wellness tourism in the Middle East.
  
  
• Neil Jacobs, former CEO of Six Senses, will reflect on lessons learned from building that soulful, sustainable, super-successful brand, his own "wild origins," and his vision of a "wild" future for travel, sharing new work with Capella Group and Cain International.

The Big Picture and The Big Challenges

Keynotes and panels will look at the "big picture" of how wellness is impacting travel and hospitality––as well as some major challenges and how to start solving them.

• Jeremy Jauncey, founder and CEO of Beautiful Destinations, in conversation with Philippe Zuber, CEO of Kerzner International, parent company of the new SIRO brand focused on holistic fitness and recovery, will discuss how to build a breakthrough brand in a hyper-competitive market.
  
  
• Meng-Mei Chen, professor at École hôtelière de Lausanne, will address how hospitality is now facing a perfect storm of major societal shifts, talent shortages, and new technologies, and how creating "hospitality vibes" by driving meaningful connections is the key to future resilience.
  
  
• The Global Wellness Institute, releasing its 2025 Global Wellness Economy Monitor, will unveil all-new data on the wellness tourism, spa and thermal/mineral springs markets: how much they've grown, why, and where. 

The Middle East: Global Mover

Keynotes and panels will tackle the future of the fast-evolving, incredibly ambitious Middle East wellness tourism market.

• Lindsay Madden-Nadeau, senior director of wellness strategy for Red Sea Global, a real estate developer with a vast portfolio across tourism, residential, healthcare, and more (including Saudi Arabia's regenerative tourism destinations, The Red Sea and AMAALA) will host a panel on "The Next Frontier of Wellness Tourism in the Middle East."

Unique after-dinner conversations will continue to tackle the future of wellness in hospitality. One of these conversations will represent a major milestone by bringing together leaders from the big global hotel brands—TJ Abrams, vice president of global wellbeing at Hyatt;Amanda Al-Masri, global head of wellness at Hilton; and Suzanne Holbrook, global head spa, fitness and wellness at Marriott International—traditionally fierce rivals. Together they will answer the question: "What can we accomplish together that we can't alone?" It's designed to drive much-needed industry collaboration and problem-solving. Another conversation, led by Anjan Chatterjee, MD, professor of neurology, psychology & architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, and Ömer Isvan, will explore the future of neuroaesthetics in hospitality.

The Summit takes place at the brand-new Mandarin Oriental Downtown Dubai. The complete list of speakers can be found here.

Registration is open —apply now, as the Summit is close to selling out.

Accredited media can apply to attend here.

About the Global Wellness Summit:

The Global Wellness Summit brings together leaders and visionaries to positively shape the future of the $6.3 trillion global wellness economy. In addition to an annual conference, held at a different location around the globe, GWS also hosts annual in-person events such as the Wellness Real Estate & Communities Symposium and the Beauty & the Brain Symposium, along with virtual gatherings, including Wellness Master Classes and Wellness Sector Spotlights. The organization's Future of Wellness report forecasts the top wellness trends for the year ahead and is oft-quoted in the media. The 19th annual Global Wellness Summit will be held in Dubai, November 18-21, 2025.

SOURCE Global Wellness Summit