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Bodies in Transit: The Global Business of Self-Care
The price of looking and feeling good.
Passport Insights
August 31, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes
🎬 Opening Scene
Steam rises over blue waters, blending the horizon with a volcanic landscape. People in white robes, wearing silica masks, float in silence or snap selfies.
What you see is more than a thermal bath. It's an investment in health, image, and an experience that promises renewal. Here, the bath isn’t just hot water, it's part of a business where the body is the destination and wellness is the product.
🏛️ Origin
From ancient rituals to modern status
Did you know the history of spas is thousands of years old? In ancient Rome, baths were a place to heal and socialize. In Islamic hammams and Japanese onsens, water was a pillar of physical and spiritual balance. In all these cultures, people traveled in search of their healing powers.
In the 20th century, everything changed. Spas moved into hotels and became focused on beauty and luxury. Traditional baths were joined by massages, hydrotherapy, and later, technologies like cryotherapy.
Wellness shifted from a communal ritual to a personal, and often exclusive, experience. The body has transformed into a destination and a status symbol.
🔬The Phenomenon
Wellness is more than self-care; it's a blend of science, nature, technology, and luxury. Have you noticed how it's transformed into a global journey, ritual, and even a lifestyle?
🇨🇭 Switzerland: In clinics like Clinique La Prairie, wellness is a science. Here, cellular treatments, vitamins, and anti-aging programs are combined with the discretion and service of ultra-luxury hotels.
🇮🇸 Iceland: With its healing geothermal waters in an almost otherworldly landscape, the Blue Lagoon offers an experience where the spa is far more than just relaxation. It's a fusion of health, nature, and visual beauty.
🇦🇪 Dubai: Elite wellness is taken to a whole new level. In ultra-luxury hotels, you'll find everything from hyperbaric oxygen therapy and cryotherapy to robotic lymphatic drainage and sleep capsules. 24-karat gold treatments are the ultimate symbol of opulence, mixing rejuvenation with an incredible sensory and visual experience.
