Australia is the most desirable wellness tourism destination, ahead of New Zealand, Bali, Japan and the South Pacific, amid surging interest in wild swimming, bathhouses and ice plunges with $29 billion spent annually on wellness travel in Australia.
The Well Traveller x Global Wellness Institute (GWI) 2025 Survey findings revealed strong demand for this style of travel with more than half of Aussies (56%) planning a domestic break that includes wellbeing experiences in the next 12 months.
The survey also showed one in four Aussies haven’t had a three-day holiday in over a year.
It’s a prime opportunity for travel advisors to get ahead of demand with wellness tourism packages that prioritise holistic health amid the growing interest in travel that supports wellbeing.
GWI Wellness Tourism Initiative Chair Katherine Droga said Australians are looking for options locally rather than overseas, which underlines the abundance of offerings at home.
Overall, travellers take 14.6 million wellbeing-related trips a year in Australia and 94 per cent are Australians taking Aussie wellness trips.
Aussies are increasingly keen to tap into the latest health-related trends, such as bathing rituals (54%) like wild swimming, bathhouses, thermal springs and ice plunges.
More than half (52%) are interested in nature-based activities, 16 per cent are tapping into animal-assisted wellbeing experiences, such as equine therapy, with health tech (48%), sleep optimisation and gut health also growing trends among Aussies.
Despite this increased appetite, the research showed a decline in overall wellbeing with the national average at 6.5 out of 10, down from 6.7 in 2022.
Droga said these results revealed Australians are in urgent need of a break.
“Balance is slipping for Australians – financially, physically and emotionally. Annual leave stockpiling is leaving people exhausted and disconnected. Too many people are postponing their rest, when in reality shorter, more frequent breaks are proven to have a greater positive impact on wellbeing,” she said.
