A spa weekend with a massage tacked on no longer cuts it. Karen Campbell, chief executive of wellness retreat group Jayasom, sat down with Breaking Travel News to explain how wellness travel has shifted from pampering to something closer to preventative healthcare — and what that means for anyone booking a retreat.
Her core argument: the market has split into what the Global Wellness Institute calls primary and secondary wellness. Secondary wellness is the massage during a beach holiday. Primary wellness is when improving your health is the whole point of the trip. Travellers increasingly fall into the first camp, arriving with goals around sleep, nutrition, stress, recovery and healthy ageing — and wanting tools they can keep using at home.
Campbell is refreshingly sceptical about the hype around "longevity", one of hospitality's buzziest trends. Living longer, she says, matters less than living well. Before anyone reaches for high-tech interventions, the fundamentals do the heavy lifting: not smoking, limiting alcohol, regular exercise, decent food, healthy weight, and genuine human connection. Jayasom's approach is to build on that base rather than bury it in clinical jargon.
Personalisation, meanwhile, starts with conversation rather than data. Each guest is matched with a Wellness Advisor who shapes a programme around their goals — whether that's a structured regime or simply rest. Diagnostics and wearables have a role (the Jayasom app can sync with selected devices, with consent), but Campbell insists technology should support the experience, not become it. Clinical services are delivered by qualified professionals, and she's candid that no retreat should promise outcomes it can't guarantee.
Expectations also differ across generations and cultures. Some guests want stress relief, others strength and mobility; families want to build good habits together, while solo travellers and couples often seek reconnection. Campbell stresses that programmes need cultural awareness — attitudes to food, privacy and family vary widely between markets — without relying on stereotypes.
The big growth story she flags is Saudi Arabia. With its ambition, quality-of-life agenda and the chance to design wellness into destinations from scratch, the Kingdom could build something distinctive rather than importing existing models. Jayasom is part of that push with Jayasom AMAALA, a retreat on Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast whose wellness centre will offer more than 200 therapies and treatments across six areas: traditional and holistic health, physiotherapy and recovery, strength and mobility, spa and hydrotherapy, aesthetic and clinical services, and nutrition.
Why does this matter to travellers? Because it signals what to look for when booking a wellness stay. Campbell's advice, read between the lines: choose retreats that start with your goals rather than a fixed menu, that employ qualified practitioners for anything clinical, and that focus on sustainable habits over quick fixes. A good retreat won't transform you in a week — but it should send you home knowing what actually works for you.
Original interview: Breaking Travel News
