At Wellness Resorts, Ozempic Becomes Part Of The Treatment Menu

Back in 2021, when the world was baking sourdough bread and hoarding toilet paper, Movara was riding a pandemic high. The fitness and weight-loss resort in the red rocks of Ivins, Utah, was packed, sold out for 18 weeks straight. It wasn't alone. Hilton Head Health, another such resort in South Carolina, similarly had a six- to eight-week waitlist. So did Skyterra Wellness Retreat in Pisgah Forest, North Carolina. The dog days of lockdowns, it turns out, were a boom time for many destination spas.

Not long after life returned to normal(ish) for most people, things got weird for detox retreats. People got vaccinated, shed their masks and started heading to Italy en masse for indulgences such as seaside spritzes. On the other hand international guests, already skittish about US travel, hesitated further. Then, before business could rebound, a new disruptor entered the scene: the GLP-1.

The Type 2 diabetes drugs, like Ozempic and Wegovy, that have become widely used off-label for weight loss now seem to promise what spas had never been able to ensure: effortless, long-lasting results for about $500 a month, depending on insurance. No sweaty hikes, rigorous calisthenics classes or calorie counting needed.

As a result, only five years after their highest high, some wellness resorts are scrambling to avoid a lowest low. And it's not just detox retreats: GLP-1s have sent shock waves through the $6.3 trillion global wellness market. The secret to avoiding a crash of the destination spa industry, it turns out, might be embracing their current pharmacological threat as a key part of their program.

Movara co-founder Michelle Kelsch initially wrote off GLP-1s as a fad and shunned them, as she did with trends like Atkins, HCG, Whole30 and intermittent fasting. "If it's something you can't do for the rest of your life, it's not going to work," she'd tell clients, reinforcing her 30-year mantra of exercise, discipline and unglamorous calorie math.

But as adoption skyrocketed with amazing results, Kelsch started to learn more. "Over the years we have seen many things come and go claiming to provide results, but nothing ever like this," she says. "Most things caused more frustration and contributed to a negative experience. This is the first thing I've seen in 25 years that aligns with what I've always taught."

The Great GLPivot

At Hilton Head Health (also known as H3), new guest arrivals dipped in 2023. A year later, thanks to marketing efforts and new programs, representatives for the resort say they were back up, though they declined to share figures.

While the resort doesn't ask guests specifically about their GLP-1 use on intake forms-and people don't always tell the truth, anyway-program director David Chesworth attributes at least some of the decrease to injectable medications. Would-be guests who are willing to spend money to work on their health concerns are "going to try it on this drug first as opposed to going to a weight-loss program," he says.  

That informed some of the thinking behind the resort's new H3 Experience, which can last as little as four days and helps guests weigh the pros and cons of GLP-1s as part of a more holistic and personal approach to physical and mental health. (Chesworth stresses that the resort always encourages guests to consult with their doctors before making any decisions about medication.)  

At the Ranch, which has operated in Malibu, California, since 2010, the philosophy is the same as it's always been, with a heavy focus on discipline: vegan fare, no caffeine, crack-of-dawn yoga, four-hour hikes each day. But the guest mix now includes more menopausal women, more GLP-1 users and more interest in what comes after the weight drops, including maintenance, longevity and aging well. Supporting these guests has become lucrative for the resorts. Programs that come with support for GLP-1 users cost upwards of $12,400 for six nights; a standard program at the Ranch goes for $9,200 for the same duration.

"We're seeing a noticeable shift toward sustaining health," says Nicky Swierszcz, a senior program guide and clinical nutritionist at the Ranch's Hudson Valley outpost, in Sloatsburg, New York.

And there are new considerations, too, such as the dietary needs that come with GLP-1 use. "We don't want to send guests home weighing less just by way of dehydration or muscle atrophy," says Alex Timmons, owner of Mountain Trek Health Reset Retreat in Ainsworth Hot Springs, British Columbia. The resort, known for its intense one- to two-week fitness programs, now "meticulously balances calories, macronutrients, meal timing, physical exertion activities and timing of physical activities to align with natural hormone rhythms," Timmons says.

Meanwhile Skyterra, well regarded for its individualized retreats in North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains, has partnered with a local doctor for guests who are on GLP-1s, want to get on them or are transitioning off them. Retreats that include consultations on how to maintain muscle mass on GLP-1s cost $18,480 for four weeks, with weekly online support groups to help maintain progress in the real world.

The Future Of GLP-1s And Spas

This isn't the first time wellness resorts have had to rebrand their offerings. Craig Oliver, founder of Spas of America, says the industry has been subject to similar shifts with each passing fitness trend, including the sudden adoption of aerobics in the 80s and the resurgence of yoga in the early aughts. "Overnight, spas were having to come up with aerobics classes," he says. "Pilates was a big craze. Everyone had to reshape the room for reformers."

A 2024 KFF survey found that about 1 in 8 US adults have used a GLP-1 drug like Ozempic, while 1 in 6 Americans practice yoga, according to a 2024 CDC survey. But use of GLP-1s is skyrocketing; it's expected to increase by more than 73% in 2025, reaching as many as 1 in 5 adult Americans. That growth is partially thanks to increasingly easy access: In August, Novo Nordisk slashed the price of Ozempic in half, from $1,000 to $499, and its rival Eli Lilly is submitting a daily pill, orforglipron, for FDA approval by the end of this year.

Which is to say resorts have no choice but to adapt to the new drugs. Susie Ellis, chair and chief executive officer of the Global Wellness Institute, calls this the future of the industry and predicts that spas will have to embrace a "new marriage" of medicine, wellness and high-tech biohacking. "All spas and resorts will need to do a rethink to meet the unique needs of GLP-1 takers," she says.

Movara's Kelsch has already done that. She was so impressed by her guests' results that she decided to try a GLP-1 herself. In March the mom of six, who says she no longer looked or felt like the co-founder of a weight-loss resort, started injecting 2.5-milliliter shots of Zepbound into her abdomen. The typical side effects-mild nausea, constipation, slight stomach pains-were nonexistent. Within six months, she lost 20 pounds. She even got her husband and four of her children on the drugs; they, too, wanted to slim down.

As the weight-loss resort owner now says, GLP-1s "may honestly be as essential for people struggling with extra weight as corrective lenses for people with bad eyesight."