Dive Brief:
- Marriott International plans to enter into a joint venture with the Leali family to bring their luxury wellness hospitality brand Lefay under Marriott’s system, the hotel company announced Tuesday.
- Through the deal, Lefay will become the first brand in Marriott’s portfolio dedicated exclusively to luxury wellness, per a release. Currently, the Italian brand operates two resorts in Lago di Garda and Dolomiti, Italy, with three more properties in the pipeline across Tuscany, Southern Italy and the Swiss Alps. These properties will operate under long-term hotel management agreements with the new joint venture.
- Lefay joins Marriott’s Luxury Group portfolio, which includes The Ritz-Carlton and St. Regis brands, as the hotel company targets “a rapidly expanding global audience seeking transformative travel experiences focused on health and longevity,” according to the company.
Dive Insight:
The addition of Lefay will “thoughtfully expand Marriott’s presence in the luxury wellness space,” which is “increasingly defined by wellbeing, purpose and meaningful experiences,” Marriott CEO Anthony Capuano said in the release.
Each Lefay property is designed to blend “architectural harmony with the natural environment, expansive indoor‑outdoor spaces, sustainable materials and wellness programs that integrate movement, nutrition, and preventative health,” Marriott detailed in the release. Brand properties offer a la carte treatments as well as structured multiday wellness programs.
The new joint venture is intended to scale the brand globally, “leveraging Marriott’s powerful development capabilities,” per the release.
Marriott International Development will be responsible for sourcing and managing execution of new deals for the Lefay brand, a Marriott spokesperson told Hotel Dive. The team has already identified several priority leisure destinations, though the spokesperson did not specify if any are based in the U.S. The company sees significant long‑term growth potential for Lefay across a range of markets around the world, as demand for luxury wellness travel continues to expand, the spokesperson said.
The global wellness tourism industry is expected to be worth roughly $1.35 trillion in 2028, up more than 100% on the market size from 2022 when global wellness tourism stood at just over $637 billion, Forbes previously reported. To capitalize on growth in this market, hospitality brands like Appellation and SBE’s The Estate have expanded wellness offerings to include health and longevity programming.
Marriott now joins competitors in the space, with a brand that “represents a new expression of luxury, one that is wellness‑first, deeply experiential, and emotionally resonant,” Tina Edmundson, president of luxury at Marriott, said in a statement.
The joint venture is subject to customary approvals and closing conditions, per Marriott.
