The Future is Regenerative: Inside the 2024 Global Wellness Summit at St. Andrews

In November 2024, the historic town of St. Andrews, Scotland, welcomed the 18th Global Wellness Summit (GWS) at the renowned Old Course Hotel, Golf Resort & Spa. Hosting over 500 delegates from 43 countries, the event marked a definitive inflection point for the wellness industry. Under the banner of "A Watershed Moment for Wellness," the summit explored how wellness has evolved into a defining force shaping global health, the economy, and lifestyle. With the industry now valued at over $6.3 trillion, and projected to exceed $7 trillion by 2025, this year’s summit was less a conference and more a strategic reset.

Set against the timeless beauty of Scotland’s windswept coastline and scholarly gravitas, the theme "A Time of Transformation" set a serious tone. Gone were mere recovery narratives. In their place: a sweeping recalibration of wellness as a central metric of human progress. Wellness, once siloed as a lifestyle niche, is now a blueprint influencing policy, design, technology, and planetary health.

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Market Insights: Wellness as Cultural Infrastructure

The release of the 2024 Global Wellness Economy Monitor by the Global Wellness Institute (GWI) served as a cornerstone. Presented by Ophelia Yeung, the report revealed that the global wellness economy reached $6.3 trillion in 2023, with a 5.9% compound annual growth rate post-pandemic. The industry is expected to surge to nearly $9 trillion by 2028, growing at 7.3% annually. The United States leads globally, commanding a $2 trillion market and an annual per capita spend of over $6,000.

Beyond its size, the sector's rapid expansion signals a philosophical shift: wellness is no longer optional. As Yeung put it, "It’s essential infrastructure—personal, social, and planetary."

Yet, Yeung cautioned against mistaking economic expansion for equitable access. While sectors like mental wellness and wellness tourism are booming, other domains such as traditional medicine and workplace wellness reveal uneven growth. Regional nuances, particularly in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, are redefining how and where wellness scales.

High-growth segments include wellness tourism, which rebounded to $651 billion in 2022 and is projected to exceed $1.4 trillion by 2027. The spa industry also surged to $104.5 billion in 2022, with an 8.3% annual growth outlook. Emerging sectors such as wellness real estate, personalized medicine, and mental wellness are also reshaping the industry’s future.

Breakout sessions delved into wellness as a design principle in everyday spaces: airports, urban housing, and smart cities. Neuroaesthetics and biophilic design are no longer fringe concepts—they are becoming standard for environments seeking to improve cognition, longevity, and emotional well-being.

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Leadership Voices: Urgency, Ethics, and Radical Innovation

Neil Jacobs, CEO of Six Senses, delivered a keynote on regenerative hospitality, emphasizing that sustainability is no longer enough. "Regeneration is not a trend; it’s a responsibility," Jacobs asserted. His talk offered a vision of hospitality that centers local culture, environmental stewardship, and sensorial design as baseline—not differentiators.

From waste-free kitchens to AI-curated wellness programming, Jacobs argued for integrated experiences that function as both sanctuary and laboratory. Notably, he advocated for wellness to serve host communities just as much as it serves guests.

Aradhana Khowala, CEO of Aptamind Partners, offered one of the summit’s most resonant perspectives. With data-backed urgency, she called out the industry’s inequities, especially around access to capital for women-led and BIPOC-owned ventures. "Inclusion is not a box to check. It's a new economic model," she said. Her frameworks for stakeholder alignment and conscious investment struck a pragmatic, actionable tone.

Khowala’s insights were not just ideological but strategic. Her firm’s research shows that inclusive wellness models outperform conventional ones in trust, retention, and impact.

Longevity as Lifestyle: From Lab Bench to Daily Ritual

A prominent thread was the mainstreaming of longevity science. Once confined to clinical settings, longevity is now a lifestyle, embedded into everything from workplace policy to hospitality design Data from GWI supports this pivot: sectors like personalized medicine ($781 billion), mental wellness ($233 billion), and wellness real estate ($438 billion) are rapidly expanding. Longevity, in this frame, is not about extending years but optimizing the quality of life within them—for everyone, not just the privileged few.

AI and Emotional Intelligence: The New Wellness Interface

AI-driven tools dominated discussions on mental health innovation. From biofeedback-driven journaling apps to emotional analytics, the mood was exploratory but measured.

Sessions raised critical ethical questions: Who gets access to AI wellness tools? Who regulates them? Are they inclusive, or just scalable? Indigenous leaders cautioned against displacing ancestral wisdom with digital prescriptions, advocating instead for blended models that respect lived knowledge.

Wellness for Whom? Designing Inclusive Systems

Khowala's keynote dovetailed with ongoing debates around inclusivity. She posed the urgent question: "Who is wellness truly for?" Her call was clear—design for access, not afterthought. Investment in community-based care, multilingual wellness platforms, and diverse practitioner pipelines are now imperatives, not ideals.

With a $6 trillion+ global footprint, the industry has a responsibility to address social determinants of health, not just consumer experience.

A Founder’s Perspective: Reclaiming Wellness as a Commons

As a wellness founder, I left St. Andrews with both clarity and conviction. The summit underscored what many of us in the field already sense: wellness is no longer about exclusivity. It is the scaffolding for a new, more conscious economy.

The most moving moments weren’t on stage but in side conversations: a neuroscientist discussing climate grief with a monk; a designer questioning the ethics of scent; a teenager asking why wellness rarely includes climate action. These unscripted exchanges are what define the true work ahead.

Looking Forward: Wellness as a Regenerative Lens

The 2024 Global Wellness Summit wasn’t just about where we are—it was about where we’re going. From regenerative hospitality to algorithmic ethics, the future of wellness is about integration and stewardship.

Key emerging trends include:

• Longevity science as a consumer-facing sector
• Digital wellness with human-centric design
• Nature-based rituals gaining traction amid screen fatigue
• Culinary wellness rooted in terroir and traditional fermentation

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Sources:

• Global Wellness Institute, Global Wellness Economy Monitor 2024
• Global Wellness Summit 2024
• Ophelia Yeung
• Neil Jacobs
• Aradhana Khowala

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