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The media has fallen in love with longevity, but guests want good, old-fashioned wellness / photo: shutterstock/PeopleImages.com – Yuri A
In the last few years, ‘longevity’ has become one of the biggest buzzwords in our sector and it now seems everyone is trying to bring more of it into their offerings.
In some ways, this isn’t hard, as anyone in the wellness industry is, by definition, already trying to improve the length and quality of people’s lives. So, this sudden influx of new longevity programming is confusing. It’s difficult to know if it’s merely a change of semantics or if something more meaningful is being proposed.
Modern longevity treatments, programmes and concepts are categorised by a few primary principles:
1. They’re based on measurement and diagnostics They begin with assessments to establish a baseline of health, age and wellness metrics to be addressed through further treatments.
2. They’re scientific Brands are shifting their language from holistic (and perhaps fluffy) concepts to those based on ‘longevity’ which implies that there’s some medical oversight or, at a minimum, some scientific validation for the services being offered.
3. They’re forward-thinking Longevity programming isn’t just about feeling good in the moment or improving current health. It’s about making changes now that will have a lasting effect on our health and quality of life across our lifespan.
Longevity clinics and programmes are popping up everywhere, not only in medicine but also in fitness, nutrition, beauty, spas and hospitality. Although the media is very excited about this trend, it’s unclear how many of these new concepts are viable. I suspect many businesses will fail in their longevity ventures, while a few models will succeed.
I’m reluctant to push too much longevity into hospitality. It’s so popular because consumers don’t want to wait until they’re sick to apply scientific approaches to improve their health and quality of life. They want their healthcare to become less about disease management and more about wellness. They want it to be more holistic, proactive and service-oriented. In other words, longevity is gaining so much traction because consumers want their healthcare to feel more like hospitality, NOT because they want their hospitality to feel more like healthcare.
Based on this, longevity is more likely to be a disruptor of healthcare than hospitality. Patients may be influenced by longevity offerings when choosing clinics, physicians or hospitals – who they wish to partner with for their long-term health. But when it comes to choosing hotels, brands and destinations for travel, guests will be more influenced by wellness.
In contrast to the principles of longevity, wellness in hospitality is based on different core beliefs:
1. It gets us more of what we need now Providing services and offerings that help guests to be and feel at their best, including physical movement, healthy nourishment, deepening relationships, positive emotional experiences and improved sleep, rest and recovery.
2. It offsets the modern pressures on wellbeing caused by travel and technology Helping guests to maintain their wellness lifestyles, even when routines are disrupted.
3. It inspires us Guests are introduced to healthy and enjoyable practices that inspire positive lifestyle changes.
Hospitality customers are looking for offerings that enrich their experience and immediately impact their wellbeing. They aren’t usually thinking about long-term health goals.
Hospitality brands which are developing their wellness offerings should consider this difference in the temporal focus. Longevity is more about how you will feel later in life. Wellness is more about how you feel now. The media has fallen in love with longevity. But our guests are still looking for good, old-fashioned wellness, not to help them age better, but to help them be at their best right now.
photo: Mandarin Oriental
Jeremy McCarthy has worked in the wellness industry for over 30 years. As group director of leisure, spa and wellness for Mandarin Oriental, he oversees facilities at 40 luxury hotels globally. Contact him with your views on Twitter @jeremymcc
Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
View contents of Spa Business 2024 issue 3
Editor's letter: At a crossroads
As the UK prepares to host this year's Global Wellness Summit, fresh research shows its wellness industry must address a number of issues if it's to maintain levels of unprecedented growth
Spa People: Charlotte Church
The Welsh singer talks about how growing up in the media spotlight has influenced The Dreaming, her healing retreat business
Spa People: Julia Bradbury
Leading a series of Walk Yourself Happy retreats based on her best-selling book and years of TV presenting
Spa People: Samantha Dunn
Shaking up the industry with her new, affordable DIY consultancy programme for entrepreneurs
News report: Big spenders
Finn Partners’ latest research shows how China’s high-net-worth women are redefining luxury travel
News report: Step back in time
Two new GWI reports analyse the growth of the global spa and hot springs markets over the past 10 to 15 years
Interview: Dillip Rajakarier
Following a 450 per cent increase in core revenues, Minor Hotels is planning 200 more properties. Megan Whitby sits down with its CEO
New opening: Kintsugi Space
Patrizia Bortolin talks to Lisa Starr about creating a transformative women-only sanctuary in Abu Dhabi
Research: To inform and inspire
The UK Spa Association has conducted its first survey of spa businesses in the country for 18 years. GM Bobby Griffiths unveils the numbers
Research: From wellness to wellbeing
A new study uncovers four wellness consumer market segments ripe for innovation. WELLSurvey co-author Kevin Kelly reveals the findings in a Spa Business exclusive
First person: To the source
Jane Kitchen takes to the sulphurous waters of Terme di Saturnia in Italy and shares details about its exciting upcoming sister site in Milan
Promotion: L'OCCITANE en Provence – the art of recovery
With an approach to wellbeing that’s both holistic and grounded in science, the latest massage from L’OCCITANE en Provence promises to have a powerfully-beneficial effect on customers, both in the spa and at home
New opening: Surrenne at The Emory
The £15k memberships at this wellness club in London sold out in just weeks. Creator Inge Theron tells us why
First person: Playful wellness
A Stella McCartney facial and Tracy Anderson studio are just two USPs Megan Whitby finds at Surrenne
Promotion: TechnoAlpin – naturally cool design
TechnoAlpin’s snow technology is not only an effective way to introduce gentle cold therapy into the spa environment, it’s also a powerful biophilic design element that can bring the wonder of nature indoors
Promotion: Biologique Recherche – potent partnership
A new anti-senescence serum from Biologique Recherche offers transformative results and raises the bar in anti-ageing skincare when combined with its iconic collagen formula
Promotion: Comfort Zone – A longer life for skin
Created to combat the visible signs of ageing, Comfort Zone’s latest range revamp is based on the company’s pioneering research into cutaneous cellular longevity
Promotion: G.M. COLLIN – Clinical excellence in skincare
With laboratories based in Montreal, G.M. Collin’s highly researched derma-corrective treatments have been helping skincare professionals deliver exceptional and exclusive results worldwide for many decades. We talk to VP Myriam Sayer
The media has fallen in love with longevity, but guests want good, old-fashioned wellness / photo: shutterstock/PeopleImages.com – Yuri A
In the last few years, ‘longevity’ has become one of the biggest buzzwords in our sector and it now seems everyone is trying to bring more of it into their offerings.
In some ways, this isn’t hard, as anyone in the wellness industry is, by definition, already trying to improve the length and quality of people’s lives. So, this sudden influx of new longevity programming is confusing. It’s difficult to know if it’s merely a change of semantics or if something more meaningful is being proposed.
Modern longevity treatments, programmes and concepts are categorised by a few primary principles:
1. They’re based on measurement and diagnostics They begin with assessments to establish a baseline of health, age and wellness metrics to be addressed through further treatments.
2. They’re scientific Brands are shifting their language from holistic (and perhaps fluffy) concepts to those based on ‘longevity’ which implies that there’s some medical oversight or, at a minimum, some scientific validation for the services being offered.
3. They’re forward-thinking Longevity programming isn’t just about feeling good in the moment or improving current health. It’s about making changes now that will have a lasting effect on our health and quality of life across our lifespan.
Longevity clinics and programmes are popping up everywhere, not only in medicine but also in fitness, nutrition, beauty, spas and hospitality. Although the media is very excited about this trend, it’s unclear how many of these new concepts are viable. I suspect many businesses will fail in their longevity ventures, while a few models will succeed.
I’m reluctant to push too much longevity into hospitality. It’s so popular because consumers don’t want to wait until they’re sick to apply scientific approaches to improve their health and quality of life. They want their healthcare to become less about disease management and more about wellness. They want it to be more holistic, proactive and service-oriented. In other words, longevity is gaining so much traction because consumers want their healthcare to feel more like hospitality, NOT because they want their hospitality to feel more like healthcare.
Based on this, longevity is more likely to be a disruptor of healthcare than hospitality. Patients may be influenced by longevity offerings when choosing clinics, physicians or hospitals – who they wish to partner with for their long-term health. But when it comes to choosing hotels, brands and destinations for travel, guests will be more influenced by wellness.
In contrast to the principles of longevity, wellness in hospitality is based on different core beliefs:
1. It gets us more of what we need now Providing services and offerings that help guests to be and feel at their best, including physical movement, healthy nourishment, deepening relationships, positive emotional experiences and improved sleep, rest and recovery.
2. It offsets the modern pressures on wellbeing caused by travel and technology Helping guests to maintain their wellness lifestyles, even when routines are disrupted.
3. It inspires us Guests are introduced to healthy and enjoyable practices that inspire positive lifestyle changes.
Hospitality customers are looking for offerings that enrich their experience and immediately impact their wellbeing. They aren’t usually thinking about long-term health goals.
Hospitality brands which are developing their wellness offerings should consider this difference in the temporal focus. Longevity is more about how you will feel later in life. Wellness is more about how you feel now. The media has fallen in love with longevity. But our guests are still looking for good, old-fashioned wellness, not to help them age better, but to help them be at their best right now.
photo: Mandarin Oriental
Jeremy McCarthy has worked in the wellness industry for over 30 years. As group director of leisure, spa and wellness for Mandarin Oriental, he oversees facilities at 40 luxury hotels globally. Contact him with your views on Twitter @jeremymcc
Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
View contents of Spa Business 2024 issue 3
Editor's letter: At a crossroads
As the UK prepares to host this year's Global Wellness Summit, fresh research shows its wellness industry must address a number of issues if it's to maintain levels of unprecedented growth
Spa People: Charlotte Church
The Welsh singer talks about how growing up in the media spotlight has influenced The Dreaming, her healing retreat business
Spa People: Julia Bradbury
Leading a series of Walk Yourself Happy retreats based on her best-selling book and years of TV presenting
Spa People: Samantha Dunn
Shaking up the industry with her new, affordable DIY consultancy programme for entrepreneurs
News report: Big spenders
Finn Partners’ latest research shows how China’s high-net-worth women are redefining luxury travel
News report: Step back in time
Two new GWI reports analyse the growth of the global spa and hot springs markets over the past 10 to 15 years
Interview: Dillip Rajakarier
Following a 450 per cent increase in core revenues, Minor Hotels is planning 200 more properties. Megan Whitby sits down with its CEO
New opening: Kintsugi Space
Patrizia Bortolin talks to Lisa Starr about creating a transformative women-only sanctuary in Abu Dhabi
Research: To inform and inspire
The UK Spa Association has conducted its first survey of spa businesses in the country for 18 years. GM Bobby Griffiths unveils the numbers
Research: From wellness to wellbeing
A new study uncovers four wellness consumer market segments ripe for innovation. WELLSurvey co-author Kevin Kelly reveals the findings in a Spa Business exclusive
First person: To the source
Jane Kitchen takes to the sulphurous waters of Terme di Saturnia in Italy and shares details about its exciting upcoming sister site in Milan
Promotion: L'OCCITANE en Provence – the art of recovery
With an approach to wellbeing that’s both holistic and grounded in science, the latest massage from L’OCCITANE en Provence promises to have a powerfully-beneficial effect on customers, both in the spa and at home
New opening: Surrenne at The Emory
The £15k memberships at this wellness club in London sold out in just weeks. Creator Inge Theron tells us why
First person: Playful wellness
A Stella McCartney facial and Tracy Anderson studio are just two USPs Megan Whitby finds at Surrenne
Promotion: TechnoAlpin – naturally cool design
TechnoAlpin’s snow technology is not only an effective way to introduce gentle cold therapy into the spa environment, it’s also a powerful biophilic design element that can bring the wonder of nature indoors
Promotion: Biologique Recherche – potent partnership
A new anti-senescence serum from Biologique Recherche offers transformative results and raises the bar in anti-ageing skincare when combined with its iconic collagen formula
Promotion: Comfort Zone – A longer life for skin
Created to combat the visible signs of ageing, Comfort Zone’s latest range revamp is based on the company’s pioneering research into cutaneous cellular longevity
Promotion: G.M. COLLIN – Clinical excellence in skincare
With laboratories based in Montreal, G.M. Collin’s highly researched derma-corrective treatments have been helping skincare professionals deliver exceptional and exclusive results worldwide for many decades. We talk to VP Myriam Sayer
Synergy – The Retreat Show, the global trade show for retreats, has launched a global research
initiative that will provide insights into the retreat sector from both consumer and industry
perspectives.
The Wellness Tourism Association (WTA) has published a non-regulatory global industry
framework designed to ensure the retreat market offers responsible experiences.
A new survey of UK and international spa practitioners shows that stress, burnout and
wellbeing concerns have caused one in three respondents to consider leaving the industry.
The UK's four Chief Medical Officers have published a refreshed edition of Physical activity
guidelines: UK Chief Medical Officers' report, updating the evidence that underpins the nation's
physical activity recommendations and placing greater emphasis on strength, balance, reducing
sedentary behaviour and, for the first time, supporting people taking weight loss medications.
Anna Bjurstam has left her role as Wellness Pioneer at Six Senses Hotels and Resorts and
launched a new wellness, longevity and “consciousness consultancy” called Wahayla.
Fairmont Cheshire, The Mere, has opened today (10 July) in the Northwest of England
with a
1,715sq m Fairmont Spa that has been designed using a ‘Wellness without Walls’
concept.
Wellness hotels generating less than US$1 million (€932,700, £785,200) – or 10 per cent of
total revenue from wellness and leisure – recorded the strongest RevPAR and TRevPAR growth
in 2025 across categories when compared with 2024, according to the latest Wellness Real
Estate Report by RLA Global, produced in partnership with P and L benchmarking firm HotStats.
Lefay Resorts, the portfolio of two luxury wellness properties in Italy, has added emotional
dance classes and group cold plunge sessions in response to market demand for social
connection.
