The Global Wellness Summit (GWS) released its annual Future of Wellness report this week. The organization’s forecast identifies a dozen key trends that will influence the global wellness economy in 2023.
“Cast your mind back to 2019, the highwater mark of the hyper-consumerist, product-flooded wellness market–with so many evidence-challenged trends-a-minute,” says GWS chair and CEO Susie Ellis. “This year’s report is proof that the wellness market of just three years ago suddenly feels archaic. Wellness in 2023 (and beyond) will be more serious and science-backed, but also more social and sensory.”
Key themes from the 106-page analysis include a radical shift in consumer values post-pandemic; a return to the roots of wellness, but with a renewed, multisensory spin; and extra emphasis on lab-tested, science-backed methods.
The 12 wellness trends for 2023 are:
- Wellness + Gathering: Wellness Comes for the Loneliness Epidemic
Instead of focusing on “me time” and “digital wellness” programs, anticipate a movement toward social self-care
- Wellness + Travel: From Global Smorgasbord to Hyper-Indigenous
Greater emphasis will be placed on authenticity, with travelers seeking out indigenous travel for deeper cultural experiences
- Wellness + Workplace: Workplace Wellness Finally Starts to Mean Something
Meaningful solutions are replacing outdated, superficial wellness schemes in the workplace
- Wellness + Beauty: From “Clean” to Biotech Beauty
Data-backed (and even lab-created) products are being favored over “clean beauty” options often associated with false claims
- Wellness + Cities: Urban Infrastructure Just Might Save Cities
No longer perceived solely as a luxury, urban wellness infrastructure is needed to fuel post-Covid recovery and cultivate happier and healthier citizens
- Wellness + Weight: The Skinny on Brown Fat and Eliminating Obesity
Michael Roizen, MD, explores how transforming white/yellow fat into beige/brown fat could conquer obesity, thus increasing longevity
- Wellness + Governments: The Case for Coming Together
Public policies regarding wellness are expected to evolve, multiply, and strengthen
- Wellness + Water: Blue, Hot, and Wild
Hot springs destinations will see a resurgence, while wild and cross-country swimming goes global
- Wellness + Sports: New Business Models for Hospitality
Hotel brands will employ pro-athlete-level equipment and double down on fitness classes and wellness programming
- Wellness + Senses: Multisensory Integration
Companies will tap into multiple senses to amplify the wellbeing experience and influence behavioral change
- Wellness + Biohacking: The Wild, Wild West of Biohacking
Super-technologies—like AI, 3D tissue printing, nanobotics, probiotics, and many more—create countless possibilities
- Wellness + Faith: Having Faith in Business
The pandemic led to a revival of faith, and the corporate world is encouraging it as companies address inclusivity
