Equinox Executive Chairman Harvey Spevak declared health the new luxury, citing soaring consumer spending on wellness and longevity programs.

Spevak’s comments come as Equinox’s Optimize membership, a $40,000 annual program, maintains a waitlist of more than 1,000 people. The offering includes personalized training, nutrition coaching, sleep guidance, massage therapy, and advanced biomarker testing through a partnership with Function Health.

“Health is the new luxury,” Spevak told CNBC. “The No. 1 thing in the experience economy, besides travel, that the consumer wants, is, ‘How do I live a high-performance lifestyle?'”

The global wellness market hit $6.8 trillion in 2024 and is projected to reach nearly $10 trillion by 2030, according to the Global Wellness Institute. This growth reflects heightened demand among affluent consumers for preventive health and performance optimization.

Spevak described 2025 as a record year for Equinox, with 2026 expected to surpass it. The company operates 115 fitness clubs and plans to add 40 more in locations including Nashville, Tennessee; Toronto; Charlotte, North Carolina; and South Florida.

“Younger people, particularly young women, are more focused now on what’s going to happen in 20, 30, 40 years,” Spevak said. “That used to not be the case.”

Demand for biohacking and personalization is rising. Sixty percent of Gen Z and millennial consumers prioritize healthy aging as top or very important in 2025, up from a year ago. Seventy-two percent are open to spending more on longevity solutions.

The rise of GLP-1 medications, used by over 2% of Americans, has boosted business. Usage jumped 600% in six years. These drugs kickstart weight loss but need lifestyle changes like exercise and diet, Spevak said.

“What you’re seeing is people are thinking about how to live a high-performance lifestyle,” he added. “There’s still great demand for luxury products, of course, but it’s under pressure. It’s because the consumer has shifted to unique experiences, meaning health and wellness.”

Industry growth stems from post-pandemic awareness, technological advances in health tracking, and demographic shifts toward proactive care. Wellness tourism and corporate programs contribute to the sector’s resilience.

Equinox is expanding into hotels and hospitality, with nearly a dozen properties planned worldwide over the next seven to eight years. These include sites in the Middle East, the Caribbean, and the U.S., building on its Manhattan Hudson Yards hotel, which opened in 2019, and a second in Saudi Arabia.

As wellness spending climbs, Equinox positions itself at the forefront, blending fitness with cutting-edge health tech for those willing to invest in longer, better lives.