Wellness Travel: A major new industry report finds 75% of international travelers are choosing active wellness trips built around sports, nature, and social connection rather than traditional resort retreats.
The wellness travel industry just got a major recalibration. On November 10, 2026, FINN Partners and GSIQ Tourism Insights released a comprehensive research report that fundamentally challenges how the sector thinks about what travelers actually want when they book a wellness escape. The data is unambiguous: the spa lounger is no longer the centerpiece of wellness travel. Instead, runners are joining clubs abroad, hikers are organizing expeditions, and solo travelers, particularly women, are seeking experiences that blend personal growth with genuine community connection.
The report, titled “Wellness Travel on the Move: The Communities, Experiences and New Purposes Reshaping Wellness Travel Around Sports, Nature and Retreats,” surveyed more than 7,000 engaged international travelers across nine markets and arrived at a striking finding: 75% of these travelers have taken an active wellness trip abroad in the past two years. That number signals a seismic shift in how wellness itself is being defined and monetized globally. The research was formally unveiled at the Global Wellness Summit by Cathy Feliciano-Chon, board member and co-chair of this year’s Global Wellness Summit and managing partner at FINN Partners. Earlier previews occurred at FINN Partners’ Global Lifestyle Voices Summit at News UK and at World Travel Market London during the panel “Women Are Questioning Travel Norms.”
The Evolution of Wellness Travel Beyond the Spa
What Feliciano-Chon and her team discovered challenges a decades-old industry assumption: that wellness travel is synonymous with relaxation, massages, and meditative silence. “The findings suggest the most interesting wellness trips today may be those that travelers don’t actually call ‘wellness’,” Feliciano-Chon explained in the report. Running clubs, hiking communities, destination sporting events, outdoor adventures, and immersive retreats are delivering identical wellness outcomes to conventional spa retreats: improved mental well-being, connection, confidence, recovery, and personal growth. The difference is in the vehicle. A traveler joining a half marathon in Berlin isn’t thinking about whether they’re on a wellness trip. They’re thinking about the finish line, the other runners around them, and what crossing it will prove.
This reframing matters because it opens up an entirely new category of destinations and experiences that traditional wellness resorts never claimed to offer. A golf destination becomes wellness travel. A rock climbing expedition becomes wellness travel. A women’s trail running festival becomes wellness travel. The industry’s previous framework was too narrow, leaving massive opportunity on the table.
Community as the Unexpected Anchor
One of the report’s most striking findings centers on the role of community, particularly among solo travelers. Debbie Flynn, global travel practice leader, noted that “solo doesn’t necessarily mean wanting to be alone.” The research reveals strong growth in solo travel, especially among women, but solo travelers are actively seeking opportunities to connect with like-minded people during their journeys. These travelers are building confidence, fostering connection, and finding belonging through shared experiences, whether that’s a guided hiking expedition, a destination race, or a wellness retreat with built-in social architecture.
This distinction is crucial. It means that wellness travel operators need to engineer connection, not just offer it as a bonus amenity. A solo traveler booking a hiking trip expects to be solo but also to be surrounded by other adventurers who share their passion. The magic happens in that intersection. Destinations and brands that understand this tension and build experiences around it will capture the next wave of wellness travel spending.
Sports, Culture, and the Experience Economy Converge
The report positions sports as a central driver of wellness travel growth going forward. Women’s sports are surging as a travel motivation, and the broader experience economy continues to expand. Sport is no longer siloed from wellness or culture or lifestyle. These categories are merging. A traveler attending a professional women’s cycling event isn’t choosing between a sporting experience and a wellness experience; they’re getting both simultaneously, along with a cultural immersion and a lifestyle moment. That convergence is reshaping not just how people travel, but why they travel at all.
The research identifies significant differences across global markets and points to new opportunities for destinations and brands competing for wellness-minded travelers. The industry’s next growth phase, according to FINN Partners and GSIQ, won’t be driven by amenities alone. It will be driven by the ability to create experiences that help travelers feel healthier, more connected, and more fulfilled through active participation rather than passive consumption. For a travel industry historically built on the promise of escape and stillness, that’s a fundamental reorientation of the entire value proposition.
