Becoming immortal: future wellness and medical tourism markets

Abstract

Purpose – Is humanity heading to immortal living? If so, what areas of society are playing an active role in
achieving this? In order to understand this, the study explores the relationship between immortality and the
wellness and medical tourism industry to seek potential relationships between them and ultimately, asks difficult
questions about the growth of these tourism sectors and the potential need for greater regulation of them.

Design/methodology/approach – Taking a pragmatic philosophical approach and through the examination
of refined information from secondary sources and published material and reports, the study presents original
theoretical knowledge and a model exploring tourism and human immortality.

Findings – This paper argues that continued growth in the wellness and medical markets today could lead to a
world where transhumanists and cyborgs are present in our world, even taking over from Homo sapiens. The
study presents a model highlighting the potential role of wellness and medical tourism markets, illustrating the
potential for future consumer services that could further fuel the search for immortality. Thus, how such markets
and consumer desires are (in)directly supporting humanities desire for (non-human) immortal existence.

Originality/value – Today, individuals are driven by wellness practices and medical and cosmetic desires and
are willing to travel the globe in search of companies who are either capable of carrying out the desired
procedures or seeking prices more affordable to them. This research offers novel insights into these complex
relationships and maps the affiliation between wellness and medical practices and the concept of immortality