Each year, the Global Wellness Summit (GWS) identifiesnew trends that will have a meaningful impact on the $4.2 trillionwellness industry. Significantly, this is the only wellness forecastthat draws from the insights of the 600-plus executives who weredelegates and presenters at the 2017 Global Wellness Summit. Inaddition, the GWS Forecast is the sole trends report based on theperspectives of renowned economists, medical and wellness professionals, academics, and leaders across all sectors of the wellness industry.
On the opening day of the Summit, the non-profit Global WellnessInstitute launched “The Wellness Moonshot,” the first global commitmentto achieve a world free of preventable disease. And in many ways, TheMoonshot perfectly reflects this 2018 Wellness Trends Forecast. Each ofthe eight trends speaks to either entrepreneurial or personal wellnessmoonshots that push the health and wellness envelope in unprecedentedways. We predict that these very new directions in wellness will growworldwide and become big businesses in the years ahead.
For instance, seemingly “out there” magic mushrooms show promise totreat depression and anxiety–and major academic institutions and Silicon Valley are stepping up research and investment. The wellness travelspace, in very creative ways, is moving from experiential to trulyemotional and transformative travel. Forward thinking medicalprofessionals are looking at how lifestyle habits duringpreconception–and the health of the father’s sperm–will impact a child’s health for a lifetime. The new Wellness Kitchen will (finally) become a reflection of our current wellness values and lifestyle, instead ofserving as a relic of the past. Extreme wellness approaches, such as asurge in DNA/biomarker testing to create a hyper-personal healthroadmap, are on the rise. And people are taking charge of air quality, a health crisis that governments have not addressed in meaningful ways. A new happiness science is identifying what we need to focus on inwellness, and in this year of female empowerment, a new feministwellness is rapidly emerging.
As people worldwide embrace their own health and wellness destinies,these trends will continue to expand – and our own personal moonshotswill become worthwhile goals in 2018 and beyond.
Download full Report, here
Access the Press Release announcing the 2018 Global Wellness Trends, here.
Access the PowerPoint Presentation, here.
Whether “magic” or medicinal, shrooms’ superpowers come to light
The mysterious underground kingdom of mushrooms is actually thelargest set of organisms on the planet – and in 2018 more people willexplore the unique medicine they provide our brains and bodies. Thanksto a surge in rather mind-blowing medical evidence, demonstrating thatthey reset the brain and shake the “snow globe” on rigid neuralpatterns, magic mushrooms will emerge from the underground, and couldprove “better than existing treatments” for anxiety, depression andaddiction. And more, bigger studies are ahead, such as Compass Pathways’ 2018 trial across eight countries in Europe – the largest psilocybinstudy to date. There’s also a legalization movement, with pushes to get magic mushrooms on ballots in California, Oregon and Colorado, and with experts predicting they will be legalized medicine within five years.Microdosing psilocybin as a brain booster, a trend straight outtaSilicon Valley, will go more global. And a new kind of wellness “trip,”magic mushroom retreats (like Mycomeditations, Jamaica), will keeppopping up. This magic mushroom moment bears resemblance to early daysin the cannabis wellness trend. Think how lightning-fast attitudes andlaws changed there.
The evidence also mounts that so many “regular” mushrooms are magical for health: particularly as stress and inflammation fighters. Playing a starring role in Asia’s centuries-old food-as-medicine philosophy, nowthe functional mushroom trend is becoming a global reality. We’ll seemushrooms (esp. “adaptogenic” varietals like reishi, cordyceps, chaga)get infused in everything imaginable: powders, lattes, cocoas,chocolate, broths, oils and teas. And with many mushrooms boastingunique skin-boosting powers, mushroom-infused products will keepinvading the beauty aisles. Mushrooms…weird, far out? Anything but: this trend is driven by new medical evidence.
Circuits, sagas and epic storylines
Wellness is, by nature, a journey – an ongoing physical and emotional quest. So why, at even amazing wellness/spa destinations, do classes,treatments and experiences get served up piecemeal? You have thatmassage, and wonder, what now, the room, the pool? You haven’t beenwrapped up in a true wellness “narrative” so you could get…bored.“Transformational travel” is the 2018 buzzword, described as “…travelthat challenges people on a deeply personal level, creating emotionthrough the powerful medium of storytelling…” And we predict morewellness destinations will use the power of wellness circuits and epicstorylines to create a “necklace” of linked wellness experiences ratherthan the disconnected “beads” of programming, amenities, anditineraries.
A bold first: the opening of Six Senses Bhutan (May), a multi-chapter wellness circuit where people journey across five lodges, at eachtotally immersed in one of five key pillars of Bhutan’s “Gross NationalHappiness Index.” More destinations will cast you as the fearlessheroine in a dramatic wellness saga: In Iceland’s The Red MountainResort concept spa-goers follow the intense, five-chapter emotional andsensory voyage of an ancient Icelandic hero. (More wellness experienceswill deploy fantasy and wellness “avatars” – consider the craze for“training like a mermaid”.) 50-minute treatment? Spa experiences will be reimagined as active, long, nature-roaming journeys (a circuit ofhiking, meditation, treatments, etc.), like the all-day Spa Safari atNihi, Sumba Island. More performance, music and art (“story” immersion)will get served up with wellness: like soaking in hot springs whilelistening to a live concert (coming to Peninsula Hot Springs, AU). The“transformative travel” concept will surely get used to death, but inwellness travel it’s the very brand and promise. The future for wellness travel will be engaging people’s emotions as much as evidence-basedhealing.
Pre-conception & paternity enter the health equation
We all know that it takes a sperm and an ovum to create a baby.However, in our mom-centric world, we have not recognized that thehealth and lifestyle choices of both parents during the pre-conceptionperiod – including emotional wellness – can impact their child’s healthfor a lifetime. This new trend challenges us to look before thetraditional 1,000 days of pregnancy and early childhood and puts sharpfocus on the role of epigenetics, the study of how gene expressionchanges with environmental and lifestyle factors, and that can beinherited. It also examines the father’s role in creating a supportiveand healthy environment during pregnancy and after birth.
As more research is released, expect to see new guidelines that thatgo far beyond “no smoking or alcohol during pregnancy.” And theserecommendations will include dads as well as moms. In addition, wellness treatments and techniques, such as yoga, massage, and mindfulness, will be the first choice to treat babies and children of all ages sufferingfrom injury, sleeplessness or pain. Driving the trend: Dr. SergioPecorelli, MD, PhD, University of Brescia Italy, and a global team ofscientists.
Kitchens catch up with healthy eating
For generations, kitchens have been places where we store dead foodin dark cupboards – that would be consumed months, or even years, later. However, the old eating and lifestyle habits of the 1950s are history,and today more people want to eat living, healthy, organic food. Thenewly christened “Wellness Kitchen” will store and showcase fresh fruits and vegetables as opposed to processed foods, and new designs andtechnology will celebrate uncluttered, well-ventilated spaces that areas encouraging of socializing as they are of preparing healthy food.
Refrigerators will be reimagined to properly store and transparentlydisplay fresh fruits and vegetables, and kitchens will have space forgardens and sprouting. Noisy appliances will be a thing of the past.Composting delivery systems and particulate and oxygen sensors will bestandard features. And there will be more emphasis on healthy buildingmaterials. Because just like the food it contains, the Wellness Kitchendoesn’t merely feed – it nourishes. Leading examples: VeronicaSchreibeis, CEO and Founder, Vera Iconica Kitchen; International WELLBuilding Institute; Pratt Institute, Industrial Design Department.
Taking personal responsibility for the air we breathe
The toxins in the air that we breathe (both indoors and out) havebecome a catastrophic invisible killer, responsible for the prematuredeaths of 6.5 million people worldwide. Over 90% of the world’spopulation now breathe air that violates air quality guidelines:countries like China and India are smothered in toxic air, while the(energy efficient) airtight buildings in developed nations can provejust as deadly. As the gravity of this issue becomes clearer – anddisagreements over standards get left on the table by governments – wewill see individuals owning their own “clean air acts.”
This can mean filling our homes and offices with plants, donning chic air pollution masks, actively monitoring indoor air quality using newsensors and apps, investing in devices that purify the air around us(even within the confines of our cars), adopting the storm of newpollution-fighting beauty regimes, embracing more salt therapy andbreathwork training, or choosing “lung-cleansing” travel destinations.Significantly, this trend will put more pressure on businesses andgovernments to take action against the ultra-fine particulates that aredirtying our air.
Hacking our way to better brains, bodies and overall well-being
The power to become the best we can be has never been moreattainable, and the pursuit of wellness has never been more extreme.Brain “hacks” are on the rise, and there is a surge in brain-optimizingnootropics and even private brain optimization clubs, like thesoon-to-launch Field in New York City, which uses neuromodulationtechnology to create that “elite brain.” An age of hyper-personalized,deep-view health and wellness, thanks to tests combining DNA, epigenetic and microbiome testing (like Wellness FX), is on the horizon. In thename of physical and mental wellness, humans are re-wiring themselves to achieve the once impossible.
More people will train like an Olympic athlete, or tough out extreme“mind over matter” workshops, like the “Ice Man” Wim Hof’s training inSwitzerland, deploying meditation and breathwork to brave extreme iceand learn to master our immune and autonomic nervous systems. (Note: ice is very hot, and icy and extreme hot/cold experiences are one of thetop trends at wellness destinations.) The new luxury travel escapeschallenge both body and mind: take Black Tomato’s “Get Lost” adventures, where the very brave are dropped into the wilderness to fend forthemselves. The focus: building a better brain and hacking the body’sbasic make-up through precision medicine and wellness – anything andeverything seems suddenly possible. With a bit of grit – extremewellness often borders on scary and downright uncomfortable – an openmind, and a little extra cash (this is notnecessarily affordable wellness), get ready to build a better you in2018. Because extreme challenges and experiences will bring a wealth ofsuper powers to everyday, ordinary humans.
The New Happiness Science Indicates where Wellness Must Go: Drive More Social Connection and Tech Disconnection
“Happiness,” “wellness,” “well-being”, the terms get usedinterchangeably but distinctions are emerging: wellness connotes a state of overall health, while happiness is a more perceptual concept – howpeople feel about and experience their daily lives. If happiness hasalways felt like an especially vague concept and personal pressure, nowthere is a new body of hard science measuring what actually drives themost human happiness. Annual research like the World Happiness Reportand Gallup-Sharecare Well-being Index take the global pulse on people’shappiness and these scientific surveys reveal crucial things. One,people overall aren’t very happy: The World Happiness Report (155countries surveyed) reveals a world with a mediocre 5/10 happinessscore. Two, happiness cannot be reduced to physical health or GDP(“money”): while those are two key measures, all the happiness researchconcurs that strong social connections and community are the mostfundamental components for happiness. This is a key reason why poorer,unhealthier nations (i.e., Mexico, Costa Rica, etc.) often rank higherthan rich, healthy ones; why the U.S. is seeing happiness plummet; whypeople in China, despite extraordinary per capita income gains, are nohappier than they were 25 years ago; and why Northern European nations(like Norway, Denmark, etc.) always hit the happiness scores right outof the park.
Another fast-growing body of science provides the other key happiness lesson: the alarming new research on how constant digital connection,and designed-for-addiction smartphones and social media, are creating adepression and anxiety epidemic. The two most actionable lessons fromthe happiness science are becoming clear: the world – and the wellnessworld – needs to put a much more powerful focus on the wider concept ofhappiness generally, and on driving much more social connection andtechnology disconnection specifically. We predict insights from theannual happiness reports and wider “happiness science” will continue tograb the world’s attention in 2018 and will directly shape moregovernment policy and workplace wellness strategy – as well as whatwellness businesses will (and should) increasingly focus on. Happinessis no longer some frivolous concept, as evidence mounts that it has apowerful impact on everything from physical health to employeeproductivity.
There’s so much action on the happiness front. Governments are moving beyond the narrow lens of GDP to tackle the problem of unhappypopulations: the UAE has appointed the world’s first Minister forHappiness and the UK just appointed a Minister of Loneliness. In theface of school violence and a high-stress curricula only focused on high grades, schools are now actively teaching happiness. For instance, this April, Delhi, India will launch daily “happiness” classes for studentsat all public schools from nursery school through 8th grade.
From a surge in women-only, wellness-infused clubs and co-working spaces–to a storm of FemTech “solving” for women’s bodies
2017 was a year of attacks on, and fighting back, by women: The U.S.presidential administration threatening women’s rights, the 5million-strong global Women’s March, Harvey Weinstein, MeToo, theexposure of the Silicon Valley boys club. #Resist and #thefutureisfemale became global movements, and “feminism” was rightly named the word ofthe year. With this new feminist wave, we’ve also seen a shift in theself-care concept: from more selfish (me) to more political (us). Ofcourse, the reality is that the woman-dominated wellness world has beensteadily solving for women’s bodies and lives for years, creating, ineffect, a supplemental, woman-focused healthcare system. With thisconfluence of forces, we predict new intersections between women’sempowerment, feminism and wellness in 2018. The woman-empowering message in wellness will get more explicit and the parameters of whatconstitutes wellness for women will radically expand. By women, forwomen, wellness solutions will march strong.
We’ll see more women-only clubs, co-working spaces, and collectives:where women work, network, empower each other, unwind and learn – withmuch wellness on tap (From NYC’s The Wing to LA’s WMN Space). TheFemTech wave will only rise, with a new army of women doctors,technologists and designers “solving” for women’s actual bodies andlives – whether apps putting fertility, contraception and hormonetracking in women’s hands (Natural Cycles, MOODY U) to “smart” clothingengineered for real women’s bodies (Universal Standard) to a raft offor-women sexual wellness products/platforms. Women of color will movethe industry beyond #WellnessSoWhite, whether with for-them fitness andyoga classes to beauty brands rolling out cosmetic lines that reflectdozens of skin tones (Fenty Beauty).
More wellness travel will be squarely aimed at women’s empowerment:from more tough all-women’s adventure travel to more “painmoons,”wellness retreats providing women emotional healing after divorce,breakups, grief, anger, loss of sexual happiness, etc. There will alsobe new, more feminist beauty programs, that put a brain back in thebeauty equation – like Six Senses soon-to-launch Holistic Anti-Agingclinics. This fourth wave of feminism is galvanizing this rush offor-women, by-women wellness. But no matter the future politicalclimate, this trend comes down to one fact: the sheer growth in women’sspending power, because economists agree – the global economic future is female.
Source: Global Wellness Summit
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shahizam.f@mhtc.org.my
Muhammad Rasydan Ma’at
Asst. Manager, Communications
+603 8776 6168
rasydan.m@mhtc.org.my
Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC), established in 2009 under the purview of the Ministry of Health (MOH) Malaysia, is entrusted with developing and nurturing the “Malaysia Healthcare” brand. MHTC enhances, coordinates, and promotes Malaysia’s healthcare travel industry by fostering industry collaborations and building valuable public-private partnerships both domestically and internationally. With 80 member hospitals nationwide, MHTC continues to elevate the healthcare travel ecosystem through strong branding, seamless patient experiences, and strategic market initiatives. In line with these efforts, MHTC is spearheading the Malaysia Year of Medical Tourism (MYMT) 2026, the nation’s first dedicated year to celebrate and advance healthcare travel. MYMT 2026 serves as a milestone initiative to showcase Malaysia’s world-class healthcare offerings, strengthen its position as the premier global healthcare destination, and highlight the industry’s significant contribution to the national economy. More information can be found at https://www.mhtc.org.my/.
