World's Best Wellness Specialist By Condé Nast Traveller 2026

Healing Holidays has once again been crowned World's Best Wellness Specialist in the Condé Nast Traveller Reader's Choice Awards 2026, a title the agency has now proudly held since 2019. This latest recognition cements Healing Holidays' position at the very top of the global wellness travel industry, adding to an already remarkable collection of accolades that includes the UK's Best Wellness Travel Specialist award and founder Frances Geoghegan's individual title as the world's top wellness travel specialist.

Voted for by Condé Nast Traveller's readership of discerning, well-travelled luxury holidaymakers, the Reader's Choice Awards are among the most respected accolades in the travel industry precisely because they are decided by travellers themselves, not by an internal panel. For a specialist agency to be named the best in the world for wellness travel, year after year, is a reflection of consistently exceptional service, insider access, and genuine transformational results for clients.

A Title Held Since 2019

Since first receiving the World's Best Wellness Specialist title in 2019, Healing Holidays has defended and reaffirmed this position every year, an unmatched streak in the wellness travel category. This sustained recognition sets Healing Holidays apart from competitors who may earn a single accolade but struggle to maintain the standard year after year. It signals something readers of Condé Nast Traveller consistently confirm: that Healing Holidays' expertise, network, and level of personalised service remain unrivalled.

This 2026 award also arrives alongside two other major honours for the agency:

• UK's Best Wellness Travel Specialist: Condé Nast Traveller described Healing Holidays as "the leading authority on wellness travel," praising the agency's rigorous, hands-on approach of personally testing every spa and retreat before recommending it to clients, likened by the publication to the vetting process behind the Michelin Guide.
• Frances Geoghegan, named the World's Top Wellness Travel Specialist 2026: Founder and owner of Healing Holidays, Frances was individually named number one on Condé Nast Traveler's prestigious Top Travel Specialists list, confirming her as the undisputed global reference in luxury wellness travel.

Together, these three honours make Healing Holidays one of the most decorated names in wellness travel today, recognised simultaneously at the individual, national, and global level.

Why Healing Holidays Keeps Winning

Founded by wellness travel pioneer Frances Geoghegan more than 20 years ago, Healing Holidays was built on the belief that truly transformative health journeys require specialist knowledge that goes far beyond a standard travel booking. Over two decades, the team has built deep, trusted relationships with the world's finest wellness destinations, from Ayurvedic ashrams in Kerala to cutting-edge medical spas in the Austrian Alps, from tropical sanctuaries in Southeast Asia to therapeutic thermal springs across Europe.

Being named the world's best wellness specialist means:

• Exclusive access: priority bookings and room categories unavailable to the general public.
• Negotiated rates: preferential pricing and added-value packages you won't find booking directly.
• Personal site visits: consultants travel extensively to test treatments, meet practitioners, and assess facilities first-hand, from palace spas to intimate holistic retreats.
• Impartial expertise: unlike resorts promoting their own properties, Healing Holidays offers unbiased guidance across its entire global portfolio.

This is the foundation that has allowed Healing Holidays to remain the reference point for readers of Condé Nast Traveller, and for travellers seeking genuine expertise rather than a generic booking service.

What This Recognition Means for Travellers

For anyone planning a wellness holiday, this award is a reassurance rather than just a title. It confirms that when you book with Healing Holidays, you are working with a team that has been independently and repeatedly validated by one of the most discerning travel readerships in the world. Whether the goal is deep relaxation, medical rejuvenation, longevity, weight management, or stress recovery, clients can trust that every recommendation has been personally vetted by the team.

Signature Experiences Behind the Award

Healing Holidays' award-winning expertise spans some of the most sought-after wellness destinations and retreat concepts in the world, including:

• Europe: from Alpine medical spas to Mediterranean thermal retreats, offering some of the continent's most advanced wellness facilities.
• Southeast Asia: tropical sanctuaries in Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, and Vietnam blending holistic healing with luxury.
• India: authentic Ayurvedic retreats rooted in centuries-old healing traditions.
• Medical spa retreats: clinically-led programmes combining diagnostics and treatment with five-star comfort.
• Anti-ageing and longevity retreats: cutting-edge protocols designed to support long-term health and vitality.

And much more, across a global portfolio crafted to meet every wellness ambition, however specific or ambitious it may be.

Looking Ahead

With the World's Best Wellness Specialist title now held since 2019, alongside the UK's Best Wellness Travel Specialist award and Frances Geoghegan's individual recognition, Healing Holidays enters the rest of 2026 with its position more firmly established than ever. The team continues to expand its global network of retreats and destinations, staying ahead of emerging wellness trends while holding firm to the personalised, expert-led approach that earned these accolades in the first place.

To find out more about the team behind these awards and the philosophy driving them, visit the About Healing Holidays page, or speak to a specialist to start planning a tailor-made wellness holiday.

Ready to Plan Your Own Wellness Journey?

For those seeking a truly transformative escape, whether it is deep restoration, medical rejuvenation, or a bespoke longevity programme, there has never been a more assured way to begin than with the world's most trusted name in wellness travel. As the reigning World's Best Wellness Specialist, Healing Holidays offers exactly what discerning travellers value most: insider access to the finest retreats on earth, expertise earned through decades of personal site visits, and a level of care reserved for those who accept nothing less than exceptional.

Speak to a Healing Holidays specialist today to design a tailor-made wellness holiday built entirely around your goals, and experience first-hand why the world's most discerning travellers continue to trust the very best.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the Condé Nast Traveller Reader's Choice Awards?

The Condé Nast Traveller Reader's Choice Awards are among the most prestigious accolades in the travel industry, voted for directly by Condé Nast Traveller's readership of experienced, discerning travellers, rather than by an internal editorial panel. Being named a winner reflects genuine, sustained traveller satisfaction rather than a one-off endorsement.

2. Since when has Healing Holidays held the title of World's Best Wellness Specialist?

Healing Holidays has held the World's Best Wellness Specialist title since 2019, having successfully defended it every year through to the 2026 Reader's Choice Awards.

3. What other awards has Healing Holidays received alongside this title?

In addition to being named World's Best Wellness Specialist, Healing Holidays has also been named the UK's Best Wellness Travel Specialist, and founder Frances Geoghegan was individually recognised as the world's top wellness travel specialist for 2026.

4. What does it mean to book with a "World's Best" wellness specialist?

It means access to exclusive rates and room categories, personally vetted retreats and spas,  consultants who have visited the destinations first-hand, and impartial advice across a global portfolio, rather than recommendations driven by a single resort's own marketing.

5. Which destinations and retreat types are Healing Holidays best known for?

Healing Holidays is particularly renowned for its expertise across Europe, Southeast Asia, and India, as well as specialist retreat categories such as medical spas and anti-ageing and longevity retreats. Above all, Healing Holidays is best known for its consultative expertise: matching each traveller with precisely the right retreat for their individual wellness goals.