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Intermittent fasting. Cryotherapy. Pleasure-dampening GLP-1 drugs. Silent retreats. Dark retreats. But in our obsessive, high-tech pursuit of longevity, we’re also craving a bit of lo-fi, sensory-igniting fun, especially on vacation. Wellness tourism is one of the fastest-growing segments of travel, predicted to reach over $1.4 trillion by 2027. Longevity clinics and biohack clubs aren’t going away. In fact, they’ll be more ubiquitous than ever, but next year they’ll be the mainstay of business or bleisure travelers looking to maintain their health goals on the road and combat jet-lag. The leisure traveler is tired of optimizing every inch of their life and just wants to let loose a little. Wellness-minded hotels and retreats have taken note and are offering more opportunities to dance to DJ beats, star gaze under dark skies, sweat to sauna performances, and most of all, socialize.
We’re going back-to-basics, looking to centuries-old healing practices and tapping into a bit of mysticism with modalities like soundbaths and astrology. Star gazing will be the preferred way to meditate and desert landscapes are where we’ll go to find our zen. Cultivating purpose is key to longevity and we’ll hone new passions and seek out a new breed of wellness adventures. And at the gym, we’ll skip burpees in favor of brain exercises.This will be the year of women’s health, but also family-focused wellness, with more spas offering multi-gen retreats.
Prioritizing your health on holiday has never been easier. Bring the kids. Go solo. Socialize with strangers in the sauna. Have a glass of green juice, or champagne. Wellness your way is the new mantra. Here are the trends, resorts, retreats, and destinations that promise to make wellness travel less like a doctor’s visit, and more like a vacation in 2026.
Wellness seekers want to be social
We are social beings and amidst a global loneliness epidemic, travelers are craving connection. In response, spas and hotels are creating more communal spaces and ways for travelers to engage. Earlier this year, the Retreat, a veteran spa hotel in Costa Rica, unveiled Santosha Wellness Club. Set just below the main hotel, the new open-air clubhouse includes 10 luxury lofts, a gym and yoga studio, plus a chic lounge area with an infinity pool, tapas bar, and a restaurant steered by a Michelin-decorated chef. Famed Mykonos beachclub Scorpios blurs the lines between spa and nightclub at its new line of hotels. At its first outpost, Scorpios Bodrum in Türkiye, guests attend group sound baths and yoga sessions by day and at night, they dance to DJ beats. The same formula will roll out at forthcoming properties in Dubai and Aspen. Ahãma Living, another newcomer on the Turkish coast, is also a mish mash of spa offerings and nightlife. And longevity clubs are the new social club, with the hottest memberships being at spots like Remedy Place in NYC, LA, and Boston and the forthcoming Six Senses Place London and the Estate in LA.
Saunas will double as entertainment venues
Saunas have long been social hubs in Nordic countries—gathering places where friends and strangers would sweat it out and reconnect. The concept has swept across North America and Europe, but now we’re catching on to a wacky sauna group ritual known as aufguss. Meaning “infusion” in German, these 15-minute performances are hosted by a trained Aufgussmeister in a large communal sauna. The sauna master prances around the room to a soundtrack of music smashing ice balls infused with essential oils on hot rocks and using towels and fans to waft aromatic steam over half-naked bathers. Priedlhof, a resort in Naturno Italy, has an entire team of Aufgussmeisters who put on theatrical performances in its four-story sauna tower. An aufguss show is included in your entry fee to BASIN Glacial Waters, a new modern-day bathhouse at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise in Canada. Bathhouse Flatiron in New York hosts aufguss ceremonies and Othership, a spa with locations in Toronto and New York, takes a fresh approach with sauna parties featuring breath work, live music, and dancing for up to 90 people.
Women’s needs (menopause + more) are a top priority
After years of neglect, the health industry is finally waking up to the unique needs of women through their full life cycles. A group of doctors known as the “MenoPosse” are the latest stars on mainstream podcasts, speaking openly about once taboo topics, like vaginal dryness and hot flashes. Everyone from Naomi Watts to Michelle Obama have shared menopause experiences and celebrities like Kate Hudson and Halle Berry are talking about testosterone. After seeing an explosion of well-received menopause-focused retreats, spas are now taking a more 360-degree approach to what women need at various stages of their life. At Shou Sugi Ban House in the Hamptons, women can sign up for female-specific nutritional counseling to improve hormone health and support menstruation and fertility. Mothers-to-be can sign up for solo babymoon trips with Mom’z, a retreat group supported by a network of expert doulas, midwives, and wellness professionals. Four-night itineraries around Spain and Portugal include daily prenatal movement, journaling and visualization, and loads of pampering. Canyon Ranch, the OG of American wellness destinations, is making a statement with its next location in Lake Plato, Texas, just outside of Austin. When the resort debuts in September 2026 it will have a dedicated Women’s Collective that will address the needs of women in their 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s and beyond.
