ITB Berlin Convention 2014 brought some interesting data regarding the state of wellness tourism in Europe. While many tourists seem to be unaware of it, global wellness tourism is already a market worth US$439 billion. Moreover, thanks to fast development, it will add as much as 55% by 2017, increasing the market to US$678.5 billion.
Currently, Europe occupies the leading position in terms of the number of wellness trips (if counted international and domestic together) over 202 million. More than a half of all wellness trips (39%) are made by Europeans. Europe also occupies the leading position in the list of annual wellness expenditures. Six of ten nations spending the most on wellness are European (Germany, Austria, France, UK, Italy and Switzerland). Germany can also be called the most sought after country for wellness tourists. This kind of tourism brings the country US$42.2 billion and over 49 million trips. That means that almost every 1 dollar out of 10 spent on wellness tourism in the world comes to Germany. The second most popular country in the world for wellness tourists is France. The country’s score is 27.3 million of trips per year or US$24.1 billion in expenditures. Austria occupies the third place (11.3 million trips and US$14 billion respectively).