Key Trends in Health and Wellness Tourism (2021)

GlobalData’s Key Trends in Health and Wellness Tourism (2021) report, provides an analysis of traveller types and key market trends which are contributing to one of the fastest-growing segments within tourism currently – health and wellness. 

Health and Wellness tourism has grown significantly in the past decade. As more people are aware of wellness, mental and physical wellbeing (as well as ways to achieve it), many have combined travel and wellness together, creating a need for the growth of the health and wellness tourism industry. Some countries are evidently hotspots for this kind of travel, but total global wellness inbound arrivals from 2014 to 2019 (before the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic) grew at a 4.1% CAGR. GlobalData forecasts that this is set to grow further from 2021 onwards, with a 4.7% CAGR from 2021 to 2024.

View an all-inclusive summary of the Key Trends in Health and Wellness Tourism (2021) report:

Although the pandemic has halted global travel for a prolonged period, interest in health and wellness travel has not declined. The previous boom in health and wellness travel would have been sustained had COVID-19 not impacted travel. This can be seen from the graph, as it shows that inbound health and wellness arrivals and expenditure is expected to return to pre-pandemic levels by 2022. On top of this interest, due to the pandemic and its impacts, focus on mental health and wellbeing has been more apparent than ever, after billions of people across the world were ordered to stay at home and change their lifestyle completely. This increased focus will inevitably lead to an increased interest in health and wellness holidays in the future when global travel restrictions are lifted.

Important outlook discussed in the report:

• Countries most likely to take H&W holidays also attract the most H&W visitors: The GlobalData 2019 Q3 Consumer Survey showed that 15% of global respondents took medical and wellness holidays, but that some countries were more likely to go on these type of holidays compared to others. The nations least likely to take this kind of holiday were the UK (3%), Greece (5%), Australia (6%), and Canada (6%)
• Medical tourist source country depends on national health systems: One aspect that varies drastically across the world is the availability and cost of healthcare. In some countries, such as the UK and Denmark, the healthcare system is fully funded via tax contributions and most procedures are carried out free of charge, where paying for healthcare is not even considered. However in contrast, in the US the healthcare system is privately funded, where residents require private medical insurance or face high bills for simple medical things such as blood tests, ambulance trips and nights in a hospital bed
• COVID-19 has given the opportunity for focus on health and wellness: One of the few industries to benefit from the COVID-19 pandemic is the health and wellness industry. Due to the impacts the pandemic caused on daily life, such as a change in working patterns, extended time alone and at home, there has been an increased focus on personal health, mental health, happiness, wellbeing, and many more aspects of life

Check our report to get detailed insights on the key trends in the health and wellness tourism sector.