Healthcare tourism refers to travel for health and wellness reasons.
DRI International defines healthcare tourism as “all travel involving the pursuit of maintaining or improving one’s personal health”.
The healthcare tourism economy includes all the expenditures that tourists make while traveling to improve or maintain their health.
The Institute of Global Health divides the wellness tourism market into two types of travelers:
- Primary healthcare tourists – those primarily motivated by health to make a trip. Their destination is based on its healthcare services. An example is someone taking a yoga retreat of wellness resort.
- Secondary wellness travelers – people who want to stay healthy or engage in wellness activities during any type of trip. An example would be someone going to the gym while traveling.
Healthcare tourism should not be confused with medical tourism. Healthcare tourists travel to improve or maintain health and quality of life, while medical tourists travel to receive treatment for a diagnosed illness.
Wellness tourism trips include a variety of activities such as thermal springs, day spa and hotel spa, thalassotherapy, exercise.
Examples of activities for wellness tourists by category
Health (integrative health centers, CAM centers and wellness centers)
- Check-ups
- Integrative medicine
- Diagnostics
- Healthy eating
Nutrition (organic restaurants, health food stores)
- Weight management
- Detox
- Culinary experiences
Fitness (gyms and fitness centers)
- Gym visits
- Fitness classes
- Stretching
- Pilates.
Eco and Adventure (parks, wildlife sanctuaries and nature preserves)
- Hiking
- Biking
- Taking walks
- Nature visits
Personal growth (lifestyle retreats and wellness retreats)
- Retreats
- Life coaching
- Stress reduction
- Reading
- Music and arts
Spiritual and Connection (yoga retreats, spiritual retreats and ashrams)
- Prayer
- Volunteering
- Time with friends and family
- Time alone
Mind-body (yoga studios and martial arts studios)
- Yoga
- Tai chi
- Qigong
- Biofeedback
Spa and Beauty (healthy hotels, wellness cruises, health resorts, spas, salons, bath and springs)
- Massage
- Bathing
- Body treatments
- Facials
- Hair and nails
Wellness tourism – a growing industry
The wellness tourism industry has grown at a fast rate because of a boom in global interest in fitness, health, wellbeing, and consumer having more disposable income.
Leading players in the hospitality sector are capitalizing on these types of health-conscious consumers by incorporating fitness facilities in their hotels and offering in-room yoga mats.
But it`s not just hotels that are catering to wellness tourists. Airports around the world are starting to enter the market, offering travelers meditation rooms, massage chairs, indoor green spaces, organic restaurants and walking trails.
The Global Health Institute’s report on “Global Wellness Tourism Economy” projects shows that healthcare tourism will grow at an average annual rate of 7.5% through 2022. , compared with an expected year-on-year growth of 6.4% for the global tourism industry as a whole.
