More soulful, personal retreats in unexpected destinations   

by Mia Taylor

Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic, which changed life around the world overnight and caused more than 7 million deaths, interest in wellness travel has skyrocketed. Numerous studies over the years have highlighted this development, including most recently a 2025 survey conducted by travel insurer Squaremouth, which revealed that 24 percent of respondents planned to take a health and wellness trip in the next year—a figure that represented a 51 percent increase from just one year earlier.

At the same time that demand for wellness travel has been exploding, women-owned travel companies have been busy crafting increasingly unique and innovative offerings, moving well beyond the yoga or spa-centred trips that long dominated this type of travel. Wellness travel in 2026 includes a far broader range of activities, everything from a heightened focus on connecting with nature to meaningful cultural engagement and immersive learning.

And that’s not the only change afoot. Wellness travel and retreats are also taking place in ever more diverse, unexpected, and adventurous destinations around the globe, beyond traditional wellness travel locations like Bali (which was made famous by the bestselling book and hit movie Eat, Pray, Love). Along with all that, the women creating these trips are making a point of supporting locally owned and women-owned businesses in the destinations where the retreats or wellness activities take place.

“In 2026, the concept of wellness has evolved into a very broad and sophisticated umbrella,” says Chelsea Ross, founder of Goddess Retreats, which offers women-only wellness programs in Bali. “It’s no longer just a singular pursuit, but an integration of physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. Today, women are moving away from the idea of a holiday as a simple indulgence or a temporary escape. Instead, they are seeking a deeper form of travel that is truly restorative, but one that offers real, practical tools to enrich their lives long after they return home.”

Translation: This is an especially exciting time to be contemplating a wellness getaway for your travel to-do list.

With all of this in mind, we spoke with five of the women-owned travel and wellness retreat companies featured in JourneyWoman’s Women’s Travel Directory to find out more about how this style of travel has changed and what’s new and exciting for 2026.

The evolution of wellness travel

When Jools Sampson founded the UK-based company Reclaim Yourself in the mid-2000s and began offering wellness trips and restorative yoga retreats, there were very few other companies doing the same thing. “Most were simply yoga teachers taking their own students away,” begins Sampson, pointing out that retreats as a form of travel weren’t even widely understood at that point.

“I often had to explain what they were,” adds Sampson, whose company began with a mission of offering small-group wellbeing journeys in extraordinary places. Initially, that meant mainly yoga trips, but over time, Reclaim Yourself retreats became far more experiential, pioneering a model of travel that combined wellbeing with culture, nature and responsible tourism.

Similarly, when Ross of Goddess Retreats entered the business in 2003, she says wellness travel looked very different. It was split into two distinct camps. “You went to a spa for your body and an ashram for your soul,” says Ross.

“Back then, if a woman wanted to step away from her daily life, she generally had to choose between two extremes that rarely spoke to one another,” Ross explains. “On one side were the high-end luxury spas. These were beautiful, co-ed spaces focused almost entirely on the physical body and spa luxury. While they were lovely, they often lacked a deeper communal soul or a focus on the specific emotional needs of women.”

At the other end of the spectrum were hardcore spiritual retreats, which often featured silent meditation programs, strict fasting, or ashrams affiliated with religious or spiritual groups. “You might find yourself sleeping on a thin mattress in a monastic-style room or camping on a remote sprawling property,” adds Ross.

While all of these types of trips still exist, wellness travel and retreats have evolved significantly over the years. Ross describes it as a coming together of the two extremes. “Over the last two decades, and especially following the pandemic, we have seen these worlds finally merge,” she says.

Meaning wellness travel has evolved to become a more holistic experience, one that includes self-discovery without sacrificing comfort. And depending on the company or provider, it may also include immersion in nature, adventure, opportunities for cultural engagement, learning experiences, a focus on emotional well-being, and more.

“Women are at the forefront of this shift,” says Sampson. “More women are seeking trips and experiences that feel enriching and supportive, rather than indulgent or escapist.”

Furthermore, as wellness travel offerings have evolved, this style of travel has transitioned from a largely niche activity to a mainstream, incredibly lucrative part of the global travel industry. Research from Skift shows that wellness travel is now a dynamic, multi-billion-dollar market.

And perhaps as a natural extension of all of this exciting growth and expansion, conversations around wellness travel and retreats have also evolved, shifting from “What is a retreat?” to “Which retreat is right for me?”

Wellness travel trends in 2026

So what does wellness travel in 2026 look like exactly? In many ways, the answer to that question really depends on the company leading the retreat and the individual participating in the retreat.

Cambridge says there’s now a plethora of amazing wellness travel options, each with its own niche. That includes the journeys she offers through Wanderlust Solo Women Tours, which feature a wide range of activities, allowing participants to do everything from giving yoga a try to experiencing a sound journey, or getting creative with pottery or jewelry making. Additional activities on Cambridge’s retreats (depending on the trip) might include e-bike exploration, nature walks, and learning about local traditions and spiritual connections.

On top of an increasingly diverse range of wellness activities on offer, Cambridge notes that there’s also a recent shift toward slower, more transformational journeys that emphasize the “why” rather than the “where.”

“With awareness growing around the importance of supporting our nervous systems and mental wellness, these trends are important to watch,” Cambridge says. “Mental wellness is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the wellness travel market.”

“In the past, a wellness or personal development retreat was often seen as a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ experience – something outside the rhythm of a regular holiday,” Ross explains. “Today, that perception has completely changed.” Meaning, wellness travel is quickly becoming a recurring tradition.

Data collected by Ross underscores this shift: 1 in 10 Goddess Retreats guests now return annually, and nearly 25 per cent return within two years.

And because “wellness” is such a broad umbrella, the industry is moving away from one-size-fits-all programming toward more personalized, individualized wellness offerings.

“A woman’s needs change depending on her specific season of life – whether she’s navigating a high-pressure career, the intensity of motherhood, or the transition into empty nesting and retirement,” adds Ross. “Modern retreats are now designed to meet a woman exactly where she is, allowing her to choose between active movement, creative inspiration, or deep therapeutic work based on her personal rhythm.”

Increasingly diverse wellness travel destinations

Another exciting development in the wellness travel space, circa 2026: the growing diversity of destinations serving as backdrops for these getaways. Nearly all of the company leaders we spoke with were especially excited about the range of destinations they’ve now expanded into. That includes many off-the-beaten-path places that are not typically top of mind for wellness travel.

“Wellness retreats used to be offered primarily in Mexico, Costa Rica and Bali. I’ve always avoided doing retreats in those places because I didn’t want to follow the crowd,” says Jeni Martinez, who founded Jeni’s Global Yoga Trips in 2006, a company that offers retreats featuring daily yoga and meditation, as well as immersive cultural experiences.

“I’m excited to see more wellness retreats in Thailand, Turkey, Slovenia, Montenegro and other less well-known countries,” adds Martinez. “Personally, I want to keep developing new retreats in Japan and Cambodia.”

“Next week, we’re going to Cambodia for the first time,” Martinez continues. “In May, we’re leading a hiking and yoga retreat on the South West Coastal Path in the UK for the first time.”

Sampson also has a long list of new destinations her company will be taking wellness travellers to in 2026. That includes new retreats in Okinawa, Japan and Nepal, and a return to Patagonia after a successful pilot last year.

Okinawa offers Blue Zone (regions around the world where people live much longer than average) contextualization to the retreat, explains Sampson, as well as authentic immersion away from mass tourism. In Nepal, her company has developed a new partnership that allows retreat participants to focus on meditation and contrast therapy, including sauna and cold immersion.

And these aren’t the only unexpected destinations Sampson’s company is expanding into. “I believe we are the only company currently running wellness retreats in Mongolia and in Svalbard, both of which are very remote and adventurous destinations with incredible nature and a real sense of discovery,” she says.

Sharon McLean, founder of New Zealand-based Solo Kiwi Ventures Ltd, whose small group retreats focus on serving Gen X women, is also bringing wellness travellers to new locations in 2026. “I’m really excited about our trips to Rarotonga and Aitutaki. Aitutaki has been voted the best lagoon in the world,” she says.

The coming decade in women’s wellness travel

The evolution of women’s wellness travel has only just begun. The women leading this space predict that the coming years will bring an ever more diverse and fascinating range of offerings.

In some cases, that will mean increasingly providing travellers with an antidote to a world in which AI and technology are all too pervasive. This reality is increasingly triggering a desire among wellness seekers to engage in opportunities that offer a respite and a chance to disconnect and a return to real, meaningful, human interaction and experiences.

“The next decade is about reconnecting through genuine human connection with other women who truly understand where we’re at, and returning to yourself in nature without all the noise,” says McLean. “We’re going to see more of us prioritizing these immersive experiences to reset, [and] rediscover our spark.”

Cambridge offers a similar prediction amid the boom of AI content: “I envision that people seek out real journeys, and though most wellness travel experiences are still a privilege to many, I hope there is a shift to greater accessibility and inclusiveness,” she says.

The wellness travel space is also moving toward the niche of “longevity” travel and “bio” wellness, according to Cambridge. These emerging forms of wellness travel often combine advanced medical diagnostic tests and assessments, along with evidence-based interventions, and luxury hospitality to optimize human healthspan.

“We’re moving away from the outdated idea that a woman discovers her passion or her wellness routine in her twenties, and it stays static,” says Ross. “In reality, we’re continually reinventing ourselves, emotionally, spiritually, and physically, at every stage of our lives.

The generation of women currently in their 40s, 50s, and 60s is leading this charge. Just as they pioneered the initial demand for wellness decades ago, they are now redefining what it means to enter the second half of life.”

That redefining includes a much stronger focus on long-term vitality and optimum longevity among older wellness travelers. Women are no longer content to simply “grow old”; they want to optimize their health to remain physically strong, mentally inspired, and passionate about life.

“The wellness travel space of the coming decade will need to recognize that what wellness looks like for women in their 50s is fundamentally different from what it looked like for those in their 30s,” says Ross, who concludes: “I see wellness travel becoming a primary vehicle for this lifelong evolution. By creating spaces for women to awaken their well-being at every age, we aren’t just helping them through a transition; we are supporting a ripple effect of empowerment that flows out into their families, their careers, and the world at large.”

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