Luxury wellness used to be easy to recognize. There was usually a meditation pavilion, a tranquil spa treatment room, or a yoga deck facing the ocean. It looked beautiful, but it often felt reserved for tourists on vacation.

That model is changing fast. Wellness is moving beyond the resort spa into the places people live, work, recover, and age. It is appearing in private clubs, medical centers, residential towers, remote island developments, and entire communities planned around health from the start.

That shift is the central theme of the 2026 Global Wellness Summit’s Global Glimpse survey, which frames wellness not as an amenity but as a development strategy. Increasingly, it is built into architecture, hospitality, healthcare, investment, and daily routines.

I spoke with Lynne McNees, president of the International SPA Association, about the change. “The spa experience has always been about more than pampering. Spa is where wellness begins. At their core, spas exist to restore the mind, body, and spirit, meeting guests wherever they are on their journey of wellbeing. What we’ve seen since the pandemic is a growing demand for authentic experiences that deliver meaningful results through relaxation, recovery, stress management, restorative sleep, and greater vitality. The industry’s core mission hasn’t changed, but consumer expectations have certainly evolved.”

Developers are moving quickly because there is a lot of money at stake. The Global Wellness Institute reports that the global wellness economy reached $6.8 trillion in 2024 and could grow to $9.8 trillion by 2029. The most successful new projects are not just building bigger spas. Instead, they focus on longer guest stays, encouraging repeat visits, preventive health, club memberships, branded residences, and entire communities designed for recovery and longer life.

The Middle East is especially active, with Saudi Arabia and the UAE including wellness in their tourism, real estate, and lifestyle plans. Cities like Miami, New York, Dubai, Bangkok, and Melbourne also show how broad the wellness sector has become. Wellness is no longer just for rural retreats or remote getaways. Now, it is part of city life, social activities, and daily routines.

Credibility matters too. Offering massages or mountain hikes is one thing, but diagnostics, longevity promises, and clinical treatments are something else. The best projects make serious wellness feel personal, not like you’re spending your vacation in a lab.

Susie Ellis, co-founder and CEO of the Global Wellness Summit, told me how broad the field has become. “At this year’s Wellness Real Estate Symposium, we showcased the largest and most diverse group of projects underway globally to date,” she said. “What’s most striking and heartening to me is that while the luxury end of the market is booming, such as new longevity residences that bring preventative clinics home, the global market now shows wellness-focused real estate is being created at any scale, for any occupants, and at any price point, from multifamily to affordable housing. The market is going mainstream, and that will move the needle significantly for more people’s health and wellness.”