Wellness Travel Trends To Watch in 2022

It's unsurprising that, in the pandemic’s first year, consumer values shifted toward personal health protections across the board, but especially when it came to traveling amid COVID-19. But, by the end of 2021, people’s shared concept of “health” had expanded to encompass more than just the absence of bodily illness.

A broadened definition of “wellness” emerged—due to global populations adapting to life in lockdown, with the sudden absence of social interaction, lack of accessible outlets for stress and the loss of long-held daily routines. Self-care, in its many forms, is now increasingly seen as something that’s necessary, rather than as a personal indulgence.

One of the ways that people are caring for their mental, emotional and spiritual wellbeing is by traveling, whether it’s relatively close to home or across the globe. And, the criteria by which they’re judging the value of their travel experiences are also changing with the times.

In its Global Wellness Economy report released at the end of 2021, the Global Wellness Institute (GWI) forecast wellness tourism’s annual growth rate from 2020–2025 at 21 percent. It also noted that wellness travel is expected to outpace all other sectors of the overall wellness economy. And, interestingly enough, all of the industry’s highest-growth sectors are those that were hardest hit by the pandemic in 2020.

Ahead, we take a look at several trends in wellness travel that are set to make their mark in 2022—from digital detox escapes and outdoor adventures to psychedelic wellness stays and retreats that rely on animals to aid in healing humans.