The conference in Dubai this November will tackle the biggest movement in health and wellness—the powerful focus on longevity and healthspan—with global leaders discussing the future, the controversies, and the evidence. The 2025 co-chairs are Michael Roizen, MD, longevity pioneer and Cleveland Clinic’s chief wellness officer; Jeremy Jauncey, founder, Beautiful Destinations; Ömer K. Isvan, president, Servotel; and Anna Bjurstam, wellness pioneer, Six Senses
MIAMI, July 23, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — The Global Wellness Summit (GWS), the foremost gathering of leaders in the $6.3 trillion global wellness economy, today announced the theme and co-chairs for its 19th annual conference taking place in Dubai from November 18-21, 2025. The event will bring together CEOs of wellness companies, doctors and academics, investors, tech leaders and policymakers for four packed days of exploring the very different future ahead for all eleven wellness sectors, including wellness tourism, physical activity, mental wellness, beauty, spas and wellness real estate.
Top Left Clockwise: Mike Roizen, MD, Jeremy Jauncey, Ömer K. Isvan, Anna Bjurstam
But with a recent, and seismic, shift toward longevity and healthspan now rewriting the health and wellness markets and consumer mindsets, this year’s GWS will feature high-profile leaders in the longevity space, often with radically different points of view, having provocative debates about the future, the most promising innovations, and the state of the evidence––with a special focus on the role of fundamental wellness practices in that future.
This is the first time that the Summit is being held in the Middle East’s Gulf Region, an ideal location as the Middle East-North Africa more broadly, and the UAE specifically, is seeing world-leading growth in their overall wellness economies and wellness tourism markets. The event will be held at the soon-to-open, stunning wellness destination, Mandarin Oriental Downtown Dubai.
“The speed at which longevity has shaken up the wellness, health, tech and biotech industries is astounding; it’s a true inflection point for our industry and world,” said Nancy Davis, chief creative officer and executive director of the GWS. “We will convene the innovators from across the space, often embracing dramatically different approaches, to have an open, evidence-focused discussion on what’s ahead and why. High-level, bring-everyone-to-the-table conversations are what we do best. And we’re thrilled to bring the Summit to the UAE, a country making extraordinary investments in preventative health and wellness infrastructure and tourism.”
Michael Roizen, MD, co-chair and chief wellness officer at the Cleveland Clinic, added: “Wellness naturally evolves to longevity. I’m excited to help create a Summit that will powerfully portray, and help the industry understand, this evolution––and bring together the trailblazers and the most important new scientific research in longevity and healthspan.”
New Research & Collaborative Platforms:
There will be a special focus at the Summit on the fastest-growing wellness market, wellness real estate. The Global Wellness Institute (GWI) will present new research and global case studies for this market, which is pegged to reach $1.1 trillion by 2029. Wellness real estate has seen especially explosive growth in the Middle East-North Africa, expanding from $710 million in 2019 to $2 billion in 2024. The GWI will also unveil the 2025 Global Wellness Economy Monitor, providing all new data and insights on the global wellness market and each of its sectors.
Additionally, this year’s Summit will feature a new collaborative element; in closed-door sessions, executives from different wellness segments (whether in hospitality or tech) will tackle this question: “What can we accomplish together that we can’t accomplish on our own?” The goal: bring fierce competitors together to find common ground and solutions that can move the industry forward.
The 2025 Co-Chairs:
To shape what promises to be the biggest, most future-focused Summit to date, the GWS has named four diverse, high-profile leaders in medicine, business, hospitality and tourism as co-chairs:
Mike Roizen, MD: Dr. Roizen, a renowned integrative medicine pioneer, is the Cleveland Clinic’s first chief wellness officer. He has authored 165 peer-reviewed medical publications and has 14 patents. While longevity is today’s hottest topic, he was investigating the scientific basis for extending healthspan decades ago as founder of the RealAge concept, an evidence-based program that calculates the aging effect of more than 100 different health behaviors. He is also the author of five number one New York Times best sellers, including his recent co-authored book, The Great Age Reboot: Cracking the Longevity Code for a Younger Tomorrow.
Jeremy Jauncey: The UAE-based founder and CEO of Beautiful Destinations is a British-born serial entrepreneur, travel writer and social media influencer with millions of followers on Instagram. The Financial Times called him the “world’s most influential traveler” and Fast Company magazine voted Beautiful Destinations one of the most innovative companies in the world.
Ömer K. Isvan: The president of Servotel Corporation (headquartered in Turkey) leads what is widely recognized as one of the top advising companies in the global investment and development of hotels, resorts and integrated mixed-use destinations. His experience spans 43+ countries and numerous projects, and he has advised investors in every step of development, from greenfield stage to asset management.
Anna Bjurstam: Sweden-based Bjurstam has been a wellness industry leader for 25 years. She is currently the wellness pioneer and strategic advisor for Six Senses, helping it grow from eight wellness resorts to 27 open properties, with 38 more on the way. She is founder and wellness pioneer at Raison d’Etre, one of the leading global spa and wellbeing consultancies, and is also an investor and entrepreneur.
The Middle East: Wellness Growth Leader
The Middle East-North Africa region has experienced incredible recent growth in its wellness markets. Its overall wellness economy, now worth $165 billion-plus, was the second-fastest growing regional market from 2019-2023 (6.7% annual growth), trailing only North America at 8.2%. When it comes to wellness tourism, the Middle East has been by far the world’s fastest-growing market: revenues grew 11.6% annually across those years, twice as fast as any other global region, to reach $19 billion-plus. Governments in the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are making powerful investments in preventative health, wellness and sustainability as part of their national vision plans, to make the GCC a new world hub for wellbeing. The UAE plays a pivotal role as the region’s largest wellness market ($34 billion), and at the national level, it’s been the second-fastest growing wellness tourism market in the world (16.5% annually), trailing only China (18%). There’s just so much going on in wellness and longevity in the UAE, from SHA Emirates building the first “healthy living island” in AlJurfas, with AI-powered longevity solutions (opening 2026), to the development of forward-thinking wellness real estate communities such as Saadiyat Grove by Aldar Properties.
“I could not be more excited to welcome leaders from the wellness industry to our home in Dubai,” said Jauncey. “We have so much happening here to share with you, across all areas of health, wellness, and, of course, hospitality, that I’m sure you’ll be impressed with the vision, and we hope to make this the biggest and best Global Wellness Summit yet.”
Registration is open—apply now, as rates go up July 31.
Accredited media can apply to attend here.
About the Global Wellness Summit: The Global Wellness Summit brings together leaders and visionaries to positively shape the future of the $6.3 trillion global wellness economy. In addition to an annual conference, held at a different location around the globe, GWS also hosts annual in-person events such as the Wellness Real Estate & Communities Symposium and the Beauty & the Brain Symposium, along with virtual gatherings, including Wellness Master Classes and Wellness Sector Spotlights. The organization’s Future of Wellness report forecasts the top wellness trends for the year ahead and is oft-quoted in the media. The 19th annual Global Wellness Summit will be held in Dubai, November 18-21, 2025.
SOURCE Global Wellness Summit
