The high -end wellness resorts, clinics and resorts are part of the ambitious national development programs in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its neighbors.
According to the medical magazine The Lancet, the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, along with the rest of the Middle East and North Africa, will lead the world in youth obesity by 2050.
Think again. The tourism market in the Gulf Cooperation Council is scheduled to grow about 17 % annual CAGR, to $ 1.4 trillion by 2027, according to the projections of the Global Institute of wellness (GWI), a Miami -based non -profit organization. The Middle East, including the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, represents only about 2 % of the prosperous global market today, which is expected to exceed $ 1 trillion this year, but it is the fastest region for well -being, as GWI calculated.
The Gulf Cooperation Council governments believe that wellness is suitable because it combines two fields betting on rapid growth: tourism, biotechnology, pharmaceutical preparations, and medical innovation. On the tourist side, they are already building many large -scale projects, including Alula in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Red Sea project; Dirieah, Qiddiya, and Neom. Amman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, all of whom follow ambitious initiatives.
Although everything is related to wellness, more than 600 hotel projects with 140,000 rooms were more than development in the Middle East in early 2024, according to the future: 2025 Trends.
Experts say that the ambitious national development programs that have been launched in the past decade, such as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s 2030 vision, the UAE vision 2031, and the Qatar National Vision 2030, lead the amazing numbers. Designed to reduce dependence on oil and gas and encourage economic diversification, these programs help direct investment to the targeted sectors.
Priorities differ, but most include tourism, health care, sports and cultural heritage.
“Tourism has become a major column in national diversification agendas, especially in countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar,” says Vivek Madan, the partner, strategy and the Middle East. “These governments are invested extensively in the infrastructure and brands of the destination to reduce dependence on hydrocarbons and cancel the long -term sustainable economic growth insurance.”
Before the launch of its diversification campaign, Saudi Arabia was already receiving large flows from religious travelers and companies.
“You have an ecosystem” that includes international operators and a talent group, “says Osissama Al -Kadiri, head of hospitality, tourism and entertainment consulting in the Knight Frank region, a global real estate consulting company that takes hospitality, tourism and entertainment. “They are low -hanging fruits that attract additional players to the game and open the country on the entertainment part. It looked like the direct way to diversification.”
The GWS report, “The value of the well -being in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia alone is $ 19.8 billion, with well -being of well -being growing at an annual rate of 66 %.”
Wellness is the replacement of import
The Al -Afia Travel Market is increasingly divided into two distinct parts, although with some cross pollination. “SoftCare” tends to be the lowest, simpler and slower, according to GWS. Think of nutrition programs, alternative treatments, meditation, fitness classes, health assessments, and stress management programs. “Strict care” means high -end and high technical medicine, such as biological clinics and longevity. Most of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries invest in both.
In addition to attracting foreign visitors, modern centers are also designed to meet the needs of the developed local population who would travel abroad for high -quality treatment: the health and wellness industry as replacement of import.
“People from the Middle East love to go to health and wellness clinics in Switzerland and Germany,” Koreena Getz, founder and executive director of Star-Cat notes a London-based commercial consultant company specialized in the region. “Of course, it makes sense to cooperate (with foreign investors) so that you can keep money in the country.”
The project ranges from SoftCare, which reflects its aspirations.
The UAE SHA will open next year as an average for the Spanish clinic, and the GWS report notes. The bills themselves as the first “island of life” in the world, “the resort will include 100 housing and combine” clinical care with mental life “.
The Red Sea project in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has the imagination of the local and foreign population alike, partly due to the promotional social media functions by Portuguese soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo, who was made during a break from the representative of the local side, Al -Nasser. Ghoitz says that tourism reinforcements “have already invented the entire program around it.” “You can do Ronaldo’s experience in the Red Sea, and you can do exactly what he did.”
The development, which says Madan, says, “It integrates wellness in high -end resorts such as Desert Rock and Amaaala”, extending to 28,000 square kilometers, and includes more than 90 islands, targeting 150 million visitors annually by 2030 to contribute $ 5.3 billion in GDP SAUDI.
Through the price at the top of $ 500 million, Therme Dubai is to become the longest well -being center in the world when it opens in 2028. With the spirit of skiing in Dubai, the famous interior slopes in the desert city, the center will contain the largest plant park in the world, three waterfalls worth 18 meters, and a water park in addition to a group of SPA Fecches around it. The capacity will be 1.7 million visitors annually.
“It is like the concept of tropical wellness,” says Al -Kadiri. “It will be in this place where you will re -create tropical weather conditions,” gives the benefits of related wellness.
Unlike the amazing Dubai, Oman is developing coastal attractions, mountains and thermal, “benefiting from its natural assets to attract the well -being of environmentally well -being,” in the words of the Wellness Wellness service, which is based on Alwaleeed, Fitlee for Corporate Wellness, and the RIYDH Foundation, which is based in RIYDH. The Omanis want to focus on “calm luxury” and “originality”, as Al -Kadiri notes. He adds that the nearby heritage sites must be combined with the offers of wellness to emphasize cultural travel.
Madan says that the Zolla Al -Afia Resort in Qatar by Shiva Som, a spa operator in Bangkok, aims to become “the first family offer in the region.” The project “indicates a shift towards size and development in the infrastructure of wellness. It is one of the largest well -being and a single resort in the Middle East, which was established in traditional Arab and Islamic medicine (Taim).”
Dubai and Abu Dhabi lead the area in hardliner care. Last year, Dubai opened a long distance center by Clinique La Prairie in partnership with the famous Swiss life clinic. In April, Abu Dhabi launched the Helm Abu Dhabi Group, a research and development center in health, endurance, longevity, and medicine. It is expected to contribute $ 25.6 billion in the governorate’s GDP, establish 30,000 new jobs, and achieve $ 11.5 billion of investment by 2045 by taking advantage of the global health care market expected to reach $ 25.3 trillion by that time.
“While the well -being of well -being and the HELM Cluster initiative is distinguished efforts, it is involved in supplementary goals,” says Sami Khawaga, a partner at PWC’s Strategy & East Middle said. “Helm Cluster has a broader concentration that includes advanced biotechnology, pharmaceutical manufacturing, digital health, artificial intelligence integration, accuracy and preventive medicine: they are all supported by advanced infrastructure.”
Huge high -end projects pay most attention, but there are early indications that the economy of wellness may spread to the average citizens of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.
“These initiatives (big tourism) not only attract international visitors, but also enhances local wellness cultures, which enhances a more awareness group of health,” says the GWS report.
Local and expatriate residents fill the newly opened fitness clubs. About 100 decades ago, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is now proud of 2100 promises.
