Picture this: You’re on a cruise, looking out over the blue Mediterranean Sea. Then, instead of lounging on a lounge chair with a martini and a side of fries, you’re lounging on a bed getting a stem cell infusion, followed by some Botox and one Green Zone Inspired Healthy Meals grown on the ship’s solar-powered organic farm.
This is just a small taste of what goes on on Storylines’ wellness cruises, all aimed at longevity tourism — a rapidly growing sector in the $5.6 trillion wellness industry.
This new shift in travel “is born of a radical questioning of the centuries-old vacation model—excess. Too much food and wine and too little sleep in crowded tourist destinations,” says Beth McGroarty, vice president of research at the nonprofit Institute for Global Healthtell Luck. “It’s a cliché because it’s true: People return feeling worse than when they left.”
Storylines calls itself “green area at sea,” capitalizing on consumers’ desire to travel to be healthier and live longer—maybe even more than 100—compared to mindless pampering.
“Global travelers understand that to enjoy world travel, you need a certain level of health and fitness,” said Storylines CEO Alister Punton. “They want to be able to walk the cobblestone streets of European cities, hike the Inca Trail and scuba dive in the Red Sea. So it makes sense that longevity, health and travel go hand in hand.”
Plot
Also on board: a 10,000 square foot, fully equipped gym yoga class, meditation sessionsand personal trainers; a smoothie bar; and an optimal aging center with bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, energy- and libido-boosting treatments, and the aforementioned IV stations, where you can get everything from vitamins to treatments to remove heavy metals, like lead, from your blood. (It’s important to note that some of the life-extending services available while traveling, including stem cell treatments and hyperbaric oxygen chambers, are not extensively tested or approved by the FDA for the average healthy person.)
So, can you still enjoy all-you-can-eat buffets and drink piña coladas by the pool when traveling these days?
Certainly not for everyone—but certainly for some: The number of people taking wellness trips increased 30% between 2020 and 2022, and the wellness tourism industry is expected to reach $1 trillion by the end of 2024, according to the Global Wellness Institute, which began tracking wellness tourism 15 years ago, just as smartphone use began to rise. McGroarty believes this is no coincidence.
“People are more stressed, depressed and unhealthy, and they want travel experiences that help heal,” she said.
Now, those trips have become synonymous with rapid development. $27 billion longevity marketis one of the fastest-growing wellness industries, according to the Global Wellness Institute’s annual report. Cruises—not just on cruise ships but also at luxury resorts and vacation homes—are promising an oasis where wellness spas meet bio hacker where are they
That is the case at Real estatea joint venture between SBE Entertainment Group chairman Sam Nazarian and self-help guru Tony Robbins billed as “a revolutionary luxury residence and hospitality ecosystem anchored in the worlds of preventative medicine, AI and longevity,” which plans to launch 15 hotels and 10 longevity centers by 2030. Partnership with longevity center Fountain LifePreventive medicine clinics and anti-aging spas flanked by five-star restaurants and suites will be the base, with rates starting at $1,000 a night, according to Bloomberg.
“We don’t build medical hotels—we build luxury hotels, residential properties, and urban clinics that are distinguished by a commitment to changing people’s lives,” Nazarian said in a press release.
In Six Senses IbizaMeanwhile, visitors can venture to Rose bar. Not to be confused with a place to grab a dirty martini late at night, this is a longevity club that checks guests’ biomarkers to provide personalized lifestyle, nutrition and exercise advice from a range of health coaches. It also has a cryotherapy room, hyperbaric oxygen chamber, infrared sauna and IV stations.
“There’s no need to commit to a full retreat. Just drop in for a 30-minute red light session, an intense cryotherapy session, or a restorative IV infusion to combat travel fatigue,” says Talana Bestall, founder of RoseBar. “It’s all about empowering yourself to choose exactly what your body needs, when you need it.”
Six Senses Ibiza RoseBar
This bar celebrates holistic measures of happiness and “Combining the power of science and mental health to improve human longevity,” promises the resort chain, whose wellness director is functional medicine physician and celebrity longevity enthusiast Dr. Mark Hyman. You can also join Dr. Hyman’s Young Forever program, a six-day detox to reshape the aging process, relieve stress, and learn how to turn on your “longevity switch.”
Six Senses Ibiza RoseBar
Here are some other luxury wellness resorts and their high-end services.
Four IV courses
In Four Seasons Maui ResortTravelers can enjoy more lasting—and more in-depth—wellness services than the massages, gyms, or facials typically found on luxury cruises.
For example, for $44,000, you can get four sessions of ozone, stem cell, exosome, and NAD+ therapy, in partnership with the longevity center Next|Health. And for the bargain price of $299, you can get a “Hangover IV,” a 30-minute detox treatment, or a “Gut Health IV” to reduce inflammation.
200 biomarkers of data
OG Wellness Resort and Spa Canyon Ranch recently released Lifespan8a four-day, $20,000 retreat in Tucson, Arizona, which begins with blood tests and a consultation with a personal physician, followed by a sleep test and an endurance assessment.
The hope is that travelers will leave feeling rejuvenated—with more than 200 biomarkers assessed—and with a plan of action.
“The medical establishment still doesn’t focus on prevention, so people with conditions are looking for new dedicated wellness programs or destinations to take control of their health before it becomes a problem,” says McGroarty.
And now introducing…longevity.
Others, particularly investors and venture capitalists, are keen to incorporate longevity education into their journey. And for $70,000, longevity entrepreneur Peter Diamandis offers a five-day course “Platinum Longevity Trip,” where people learn the basics of optimizing sleep, nutrition, and exercise, along with new treatments and biohacks from researchers. He calls it a “five-day, five-star, deep dive into longevity.”
While Diamandis has been hosting retreats for venture capitalists and entrepreneurs for more than a decade, the longevity-focused tour, now in its sixth year, only started recently, he said. “They’re there because they want to address a health issue that someone in their family is having,” he said. Luck“We customize everyone’s trip, which means we interview all the members beforehand and find out what they’re looking for… the demand and interest for that has increased.”
Platinum Prosperity
Diamandis theorizes that the rise in longevity tourism stems from rapid innovation in what he sees as a “health renaissance,” where research has highlighted the power individuals have to improve their health outcomes. As a result, wealthy entrepreneurs are eager to take the lead in using data to inform lifestyle and health outcomes.
And as poor health in old age is no longer seen as an inevitability—at least for the privileged—many people are seeing vacation time as the perfect opportunity to enhance their lifestyle choices. Whether it’s getting an IV before dinner or getting Botox on a cruise ship, people are redefining what it means to travel, and it’s becoming increasingly exclusive.
“I call this hyper-medical, high-tech, even more expensive health care market the ‘new health care,’” says McGroarty. “Long-term care is popping up in unexpected places.”
