Trend: The Over-Optimization Backlash Week of March 18, 2026 The 9 biggest 2026 wellness travel trends––From star bathing to sauna socials, they promise to make wellness travel feel less like a doctor’s visit and more like a vacation ––Condé Nast Traveler Intermittent fasting. Cryotherapy. Pleasure-dampening GLP-1s. Yes, there’s our obsessive, high-tech pursuit of longevity, but we’re also craving some lo-fi, sensory-igniting fun, especially on vacation.…
The Over-Optimization Backlash Pushing back on peak wellness In the last three years, the wellness space has been rewritten by high-tech, hyper-optimizing approaches—from the avalanche of diagnostics and wearables to the new obsession with biohacking our way into longevity. We’ve tracked our steps, scored our sleep, and stared at calculations of our “true biological age” in a new wellness culture of constant, competitive self-surveillance. Our…
Wellness 2026: Four Key Themes Emerge The GWS’s new The Future of Wellness 2026 Trends report identifies ten trends that will transform health and wellness in 2026 and beyond. The comprehensive 150-page report delivers the complete picture: rigorous research, real-world case studies, the people and brands moving the needle, and our team’s informed forecasts on what will define the market’s next chapter. Across the trends, four key…
Meet Our 2026 Trends Writers The Future of Wellness: 2026 Trends report The Future of Wellness: 2026 Trends report has garnered a superior reputation with media, investors and business leaders for its in-depth analysis on the meaningful shifts impacting the business of wellness. Far more than just a list of what’s trending now, the Global Wellness Summit brings unmatched rigor, business acumen and industry savvy to…
Trend: The Middle East’s Wellness Ambitions From Desert Retreats to High-Tech Wellness, the Region Embraces Holistic Wellbeing By Thomas Morris The Middle East is emerging as a global wellness leader, blending cultural heritage with cutting-edge innovation and sustainability, fueled by national strategies and new developments. Wellness is touching every part of Middle Eastern society, from innovative health solutions to religious gatherings, and as oil-dependent countries seek new revenue streams,…
Trend: The Middle East’s Wellness Ambitions Week of November 19th, 2025 ‘UN Tourism Hosts First Regional Workshop on Wellness Tourism in the Middle East’ – Hospitality Net UN Tourism hosted its first Middle East Workshop on Wellness Tourism to enhance regional collaboration and develop innovative wellness-focused tourism offerings. Held at the UN Tourism Regional Office in Riyadh from 9–10 September, the two-day event gathered over 30…
Trend: Wellness Ships, Wellness Trains Week of October 22nd, 2025 Small, Luxurious Ships that Cater to Never-Cruisers–The New York Times In the cruise industry, it always seemed like ships only got more gigantic. But a counter movement is underway: a surge of ocean liners small enough to be branded yachts (less than 500 people). And there is much wellness on board, from Guntû, a “floating…
Trend: Wellness Ships, Wellness Trains With people embracing slow travel, both cruise and train travel are booming. From train “spa cars” fit for a wellness resort to more wellness resort brands launching cruise ships, a new era of ships and trains is bringing more wellness onboard and offboard, while even introducing a new type of wellness real estate: longevity residences at sea By Jane Wilson…
Trend: Wellness Tackles Addiction and Harm Reduction Week of September 17th, 2025 ‘All the Hot Girls Are Quitting Nic’––The Cut Vaping had its moment but has lost its cool. On TikTok, people posting about how to kick the vape habit are going viral and attracting millions of views. Gen Z is sharing the consumer solutions they’re using to stop this harmful addiction, from those who…
Wellness Tackles Addiction and Harm Reduction It’s a new wellness category, from trendy brands giving smoking cessation a modern makeover to the new wave of sober tours and retreats By Claire MacCormack Our 2025 trend, “Wellness Tackles Addiction,” explores an emerging category, with the wellness space poised to further topple taboos and offer innovative products around addiction, just as it has for sexual wellness and…
