From Room Service to Stem Cells: Inside the Rise of Longevity Tourism

This year, beauty’s obsession with visible transformation has evolved into a preoccupation with longevity, spanning biomarkers, hormone health, inflammation and cellular repair. For a growing cohort of high-spending consumers, that logic doesn’t stop at the airport gate. Travel, too, is becoming a tool for optimization.

This shift is already visible in how trips are planned. Skyscanner’s 2026 Travel Trends report shows that 27% of Gen Zs plan beauty treatments or skincare shopping while traveling, compared with just 4% of baby boomers. While cultural curiosity plays a role — 27% of travelers want to experience local beauty rituals — digital influence is nearly as powerful, with 21% citing TikTok and social media as motivation for beauty pilgrimages. Skyscanner has labeled this traveler, who combines holidays with well-being and self-improvement, the “Glowmad”, but the behavior itself extends well beyond a single consumer type.

What has shifted most is expectation. A facial or IV drip will no longer suffice; travelers want treatments once confined to elite medical settings, from hormone testing and hyperbaric oxygen therapy to stem cell interventions and experimental detoxification procedures. Celebrity behavior has helped normalize the shift — though it, for now, remains in the Kar-Jenner realm. Kim Kardashian has documented glow-focused trips to South Korea centered on lasers and skin boosters, while Kylie Jenner has spoken openly about traveling to Mexico for stem cell therapy to address back pain.

“The pandemic fundamentally shifted how we think about health and wellness,” says Suzanne Scott, founder of wellness consultancy Seen Group. “It moved the conversation from treatment to prevention. People began managing their health proactively and viewing aging as something to slow and optimize, not simply respond to.” At the same time, expectations around downtime have shifted. “Resting is now seen as passive,” Scott adds. “Even time off is expected to deliver returns.”

Hotels as longevity hubs

From a commercial perspective, the convergence of longevity, beauty and hospitality is increasingly difficult for hotels to ignore. Wellness drives longer stays, higher spend per guest and stronger repeat visitation. As a result, luxury properties are repositioning themselves not just as places to rest, but as platforms for transformation — capable of delivering medical-grade services within environments designed for discretion and comfort.

Importantly, the shift is no longer confined to dedicated wellness resorts. At One&Only Palmilla in Los Cabos — long positioned around golf and beachside luxury — guests can now book high-performance facials and longevity-aligned treatments developed in partnership with world renowned anti-inflammatory pioneer Dr. Barbara Sturm. Urban luxury hotels are following suit. At the Bvlgari Hotel Tokyo, its spa now pairs traditional treatments with more advanced interventions, including a recently introduced hyperbaric oxygen chamber. Meanwhile, Dubai’s Royal Atlantic hotel features an in-house clinic, Aeon, offering advanced treatments ranging from exosome and stem cell therapy to ozone therapy. The latter of which is designed to filter the blood and help reduce toxins, infections and chemical impurities.

“This consumer is choosing hotels because they soften something that can otherwise feel very clinical,” Scott says. “But it’s also about efficiency. Time is a resource.” Hotels offer a setting where optimization can occur without friction — folded into travel rather than carved out from it.

That philosophy is already being put into practice at Upper House in Hong Kong, where wellness is designed to sit naturally within the rhythm of a stay rather than operate as a scheduled intervention. With 117 rooms in the heart of the city, the property treats wellness less as an add-on and more as an extension of everyday life, allowing guests to engage deeply without feeling funneled through a prescriptive program. Current highlights include 10x Longevity, positioned as a pro-aging, longevity and recovery treatment, alongside Peak Metabolism by Miles Price, chiropractic care from Up Health and laser therapy.

For Kristina Snaith-Lense, general manager of Upper House Shenzhen and head of wellness for the Upper House brand, this integration is where hotels hold a decisive advantage. “What’s so special about our industry, especially our houses, is they are uniquely placed to integrate wellness seamlessly into travel and everyday life,” she says. “This is what sets them apart from clinics, medspas or private members’ clubs. Rather than trying to replicate their medical depth or exclusivity, they’ll compete by doing something different — and arguably much more relevant — making wellness a way of life.”

For many hotel groups, the strongest commercial case for longevity programming lies with women. Women account for an estimated 60% to 80% of solo travelers, and frustration with one-size-fits-all wellness models is growing. Programs that recognize hormonal shifts, aging cycles and emotional health are not only resonating more deeply, but are proving far stickier than generic offerings.

“Traditionally, wellness has been approached in the same way for both men and women, although this one-size-fits-all approach isn’t doing justice to women’s unique hormonal composition,” says Anna Bjurstam, Six Senses’s wellness pioneer. Bjurstam describes a marked shift in demand: women are no longer passively consuming wellness, they’re actively reclaiming it. “We’ve moved beyond the outdated model of discipline-based self-improvement into one where connection, pleasure and feminine wisdom are central.”

That insight has directly shaped Six Senses’s strategy. The luxury hospitality wellness brand has sharpened its focus on women’s health with the launch of its Female Wellness Program, developed in collaboration with women’s health advocate Dr. Mindy Pelz and now live across five of its properties. Similarly, Canyon Ranch — one of the US’s most established destination wellness brands — is investing $500 million in a 600-acre Austin property dedicated to women’s health, with a 40,000-square-foot spa, hormone therapy and programs addressing everything from sleep to postpartum depression, opening next year.

Partnering with experts and making it work

As hotels move deeper into longevity and medical-grade wellness, few are attempting to build that expertise in-house. Instead, the most effective models are being built through long-term partnerships with trusted practitioners — a strategy that allows hotels to expand their offerings without diluting credibility or overstepping regulatory boundaries.

For practitioners, the appeal is equally clear. Hospitality environments offer something most clinics cannot: time, discretion and continuity of experience. London-based plastic and reconstructive surgeon Ash Soni has been in residence at The Langham hotel for nearly two years, offering procedures within a setting that allows patients to arrive early, use spa facilities and recover discreetly on site. “The environment allows me to offer something I simply can’t in a standalone clinic,” he says.

This model also reflects a broader shift in how aesthetic tourism operates. Dr. Soni’s clientele include A-listers from Los Angeles and New York, as well as ultra-high-net-worth families from the UAE, many of whom travel to London specifically for his approach. “They will travel to see the person they trust,” he notes, adding that demand for aesthetic tourism has increased markedly over the past two to three years. In this context, destination matters less than reputation and hotels function as a trusted, neutral platform that gains extra business.

The future of longevity tourism

As the Glowmad mindset matures, the focus is shifting from experience alone to outcomes. Treatments are becoming more transformative (and more expensive) and travelers increasingly want proof that their investment has paid off.

Measurement is likely to become central. Resorts are already experimenting with biometric tracking, blood testing and personalized diagnostics, allowing guests to monitor inflammation markers, antioxidant levels, collagen production, sleep quality and gut health before and after their stay. “If guests can see tangible improvements, they’re far more likely to return,” says Seen Group’s Scott. “It builds loyalty and reinforces the value proposition.”

Food will play a growing role, too. Anti-inflammatory, hormone-balancing menus are becoming standard at high-end wellness destinations, and Scott predicts clearer labeling is next. “I wouldn’t be surprised if menus start calling out hormone-supportive or anti-inflammatory dishes in the same way they currently label vegan or gluten-free options,” she says.

Further ahead, the integration of at-home-style diagnostics into hotel stays may feel less far-fetched than it sounds. “Who’s to say the future Glowmad won’t do a microbiome or stool test in their hotel bathroom?” Scott adds. “There’s a huge opportunity for partnerships here, especially as longevity doctors and biohackers become household names.”

Sleep is also emerging as one of the most significant — and most underserved — frontiers. Despite being central to longevity, it remains one of the hardest health behaviors to maintain while traveling. Hotels are increasingly responding by treating sleep not as an active pillar of their wellness offering. At Upper House, sleep optimization is embedded across the guest journey rather than isolated as a single service. “Sleep is continuing to be an important factor, but with needs becoming increasingly unmet,” says Snaith-Lense. “Our health and wellness journey across all of our houses is designed to help guests maintain healthy habits while traveling, from a holistic perspective.” That includes sleep assessments conducted through its partnership with Up Health chiropractors, alongside in-room support such as complimentary AG1 supplements, formulated to support brain, gut and overall health.

Dr. Barbara Sturm sees these developments as part of a wider evolution toward preventative, science-led luxury wellness. “I think it will evolve to offer deeper, more personalized skin-health programs — integrating diagnostics, inflammation-focused treatments, and expert education,” she says. Crucially, Dr. Sturm positions skincare as just one component of a broader longevity ecosystem, encompassing nutrition, recovery, movement and mental well-being. “The future of luxury wellness lies in combining science with experience,” she adds. “The goal won’t just be to relax — it will be to return home refreshed and renewed, both inside and out.”

What remains consistent is the Glowmad’s underlying motivation: these travelers want the best practitioners, the most advanced treatments and results they can quantify, but they also want them delivered in luxurious settings. As wellness, aesthetics and hospitality continue to converge, the glow-up is no longer a side effect of travel. For this consumer, it is the point of the journey.