As wellness and longevity continue to reshape global tourism and hospitality, Greece is increasingly seen as having the foundations to emerge as a leading year-round destination in the sector.
Approaching its 20th anniversary in 2027, Greek wellness and spa management company AEGEO says it is positioning itself to play a key role in that transformation.
AEGEO CEO Zacharias Chnaris.
Founded in 2007, the company today operates more than 220 wellness centers across Greece and Cyprus through partnerships with leading international hotel brands and groups, drawing on nearly two decades of experience in integrating wellness into the hospitality guest experience.
For CEO Zacharias Chnaris, however, the conversation extends far beyond spa operations.
“Operating a spa well is no longer enough,” he says, highlighting that wellness must become a strategic pillar of the hotel experience rather than a standalone facility.
Looking beyond individual properties, he believes Greece has a unique opportunity to lead internationally.
“Greece should not enter the global Wellness & Longevity market as a follower,” he says, but build on its authentic strengths to establish itself as a leading year-round destination.
In this interview, Zacharias Chnaris reflects on the journey of AEGEO ahead of its 20-year milestone, discusses the company’s evolution from spa management to holistic Wellness & Longevity experiences, and explains why he believes a distinctly Greek approach to wellbeing can help shape the next chapter of both hospitality and Greek tourism.
- GTP: AEGEO will celebrate 20 years in hospitality in 2027. As the company approaches this milestone, how would you describe its position today and the evolution of its role within the hospitality industry?
Zacharias Chnaris: AEGEO is entering the most significant transformation in its history.
Over the years, we have served more than 3.5 million guests, partnered with some of the region’s leading hotels and hotel groups, and helped shape the spa and wellness hospitality market.
But the landscape is shifting. The traveller is changing. The very meaning of wellness is changing. And with it, so is the role of AEGEO.
Operating a spa well is no longer enough. The real task today is to create integrated Wellness & Longevity experiences that connect the hotel, the destination, the guest, and the rising expectations of the international traveller.
This is why AEGEO is evolving from a spa operator into a holistic curator of Wellness & Longevity experiences. We are moving from managing services to creating value. From the spa as a space to wellness as a strategic advantage for the hotel.
The distinction matters. We do not simply come in to run a spa. We help hotels weave wellness into the entire guest experience and turn it into a driver of differentiation, loyalty, perceived value and commercial momentum.
- GTP: You describe AEGEO as undergoing its most significant transformation to date. What is driving this shift, and why is now the right time to redefine the company’s role?
Zacharias Chnaris: Because Wellness & Longevity is no longer a trend. It is one of the defining strategic shifts in the global economy.
According to the Global Wellness Institute, the global wellness economy reached $6.8 trillion in 2024 and is projected to reach $9.8 trillion by 2029. Wellness tourism alone accounted for $894 billion in 2024.
The message in those numbers is unambiguous. The guest is no longer seeking accommodation, rest or luxury alone. The guest wants to leave as a better version of themselves, returning to daily life more balanced, more restored, more energized.
This is reshaping hospitality, and it opens a substantial opportunity for Greek hotels.
But we should be candid: as the market grows, it grows more demanding. Wellness and longevity are not simple hotel functions. A beautiful spa, a service menu and a few skilled therapists are no longer enough.
The field demands deep knowledge, specialization, trained people, technology, operating standards, personalization and constant evolution.
That is precisely why the role of a specialized wellness operator has never mattered more.
AEGEO believes wellness should be viewed not as a standalone hotel facility, but as a strategic asset that enhances differentiation, guest loyalty and long-term value.
- GTP: As wellness becomes an increasingly important part of the hospitality offering, why do you believe hotels should partner with a specialized wellness operator rather than manage these services in-house?
Zacharias Chnaris: Because wellness has become a highly specialized discipline.
A hotelier already runs a complex operation: rooms, F&B, people, costs, quality, sales, reviews, guest experience, and competition. Wellness and longevity add another layer of expertise entirely, one that is evolving internationally at remarkable speed.
Having a spa does not, in itself, create value. Value emerges from the right design, the right team, training, standards, commercial strategy, personalization, and genuine integration with the wider hotel experience.
A specialized operator removes that complexity for the hotelier. It takes on a demanding discipline and runs it professionally. And, most important of all, it can turn the spa from an isolated facility into a strategic asset for the entire property.
For us, the question is no longer “Do I have a spa?” The real question is: “Do I have the right partner to turn wellness into an advantage for my hotel?”
- GTP: AEGEO has grown significantly over the past two decades. What do you believe distinguishes the company and its approach to wellness hospitality today?
Personalized wellness begins with people, making continuous education and talent development central to the company’s long-term strategy, according to AEGEO.
Zacharias Chnaris: Because AEGEO has the knowledge, the experience and the scale to do it properly.
We understand the hotel business deeply. We have worked across different models of hospitality, different audiences, different scales and different needs. We know what operations mean in practice, not only on paper.
We invest in our people, in their training, their specialization, and a genuine culture of hospitality and care. In wellness, the person is not merely part of the service. The person is the experience.
We invest in technology because the next era of wellness will be far more personalized. Guests no longer want a generic service. They want an experience that understands them, that answers their needs, that respects their rhythm and meets them in their moment.
And we have built what we believe is a genuinely distinctive philosophy: Hippocratic Wellness & Longevity™.
Our foundation is the Hippocratic view of the human being: body, mind, nutrition, movement, environment and way of life. This timeless Greek philosophy now meets the modern global conversation on longevity, prevention, quality of life and hyper-personalized care.
That combination is what sets us apart. We are not adopting an international wellness trend. We are creating a proposition that is Greek, authentic, contemporary and globally competitive.
AEGEO is not simply an operator. It is a strategic partner to the hotel.
- GTP: AEGEO’s philosophy draws on Hippocratic principles while embracing modern wellness trends. Why do you believe this approach is particularly relevant for Greece?
Zacharias Chnaris: Greece holds a remarkable opportunity.
It has Hippocrates. It has the Mediterranean diet. It has the light, the sea, the landscape, the herbs, the idea of measure and balance, human connection, hospitality, and community. It has a way of life bound up with prevention, simplicity, quality and wellbeing.
Greece does not need to imitate another country’s wellness model. It already has its own authentic foundation.
The task is to translate that foundation into a contemporary, organized, high-quality and internationally recognizable experience.
That is exactly what AEGEO is working toward: to connect Greek wellness philosophy with the modern global need for longevity, prevention, recovery, emotional balance and a better way of living.
Greece should not enter the global Wellness & Longevity market as a follower. It has every element required to lead.
If not Greece, then who?
- GTP: You argue that Greece has all the ingredients to become a leading Wellness & Longevity destination. What will it take for the country to turn that potential into a 365-day tourism advantage?
Zacharias Chnaris: Yes. And I believe it is one of the most important strategic objectives for the next chapter of Greek tourism.
Greece has long been synonymous with summer, sea and sun. These are powerful assets. But they are not the whole of the Greek proposition.
Wellness and longevity can give the country a genuine year-round narrative: extending the season, attracting higher-value travellers, creating new experiences across a wider range of destinations, and elevating the hotel product itself.
Greece can be a destination for renewal, recovery, balance, prevention, Mediterranean living, emotional well-being, and longevity.
To get there, we have to move from a general narrative to an organized experience. From “we have a beautiful country” to “we create experiences that guests understand, remember and value.”
That is where the opportunity lies for hotels. And that is where AEGEO has its role to play.
Greece does not need to imitate international wellness models but build on its own authentic philosophy of health, balance and prevention, says AEGEO’s CEO.
- GTP: What does this shift towards Wellness & Longevity mean for Greek hotels, and how can they benefit from embracing this approach?
Zacharias Chnaris: It means an immediate opportunity to differentiate and to create value.
Wellness should no longer be treated as a secondary amenity. It can become a strategic component of the hotel product.
It can lift the hotel’s perceived value. It can support higher ADR and RevPAR. It can open new revenue streams. It can help a hotel stand apart from its competition. It can strengthen the guest experience and deepen the relationship with the brand.
This is why AEGEO is designing new partnership models with hoteliers, models that are more modern, more flexible and more strategic.
These models do not treat the spa as an isolated space. They treat wellness as part of the hotel’s overall commercial and experiential strategy.
Our aim is for the partnership to create value on every side: for the guest, who receives a richer and more personalized experience; for the hotel, which strengthens its product, differentiates itself and develops new revenue; and for the destination, which gains a more meaningful reason to draw visitors.
- GTP: From a hotelier’s perspective, how quickly can investing in a more integrated wellness strategy begin to deliver tangible value?
Zacharias Chnaris: It can deliver value immediately, given the right design and the right execution.
This is not a theoretical vision reserved for the future. It is an approach that can begin today.
A hotel can immediately upgrade how it presents, sells and integrates wellness into the guest experience.
It can use wellness to sharpen its positioning, raise the perceived value of its product, and differentiate in ways the guest registers at once.
AEGEO can support that transition, because we already have the knowledge, the people, the operational experience and the strategic approach to make it work in practice.
The market is moving now. The hoteliers who move early will hold the advantage.
As wellness becomes increasingly specialized, AEGEO says hotels can benefit from partnering with experienced operators to strengthen both the guest experience and business performance.
- GTP: Looking ahead, what is AEGEO’s next ambition, and how does it fit into your broader vision for the future of wellness hospitality?
Zacharias Chnaris: To grow AEGEO into an international Wellness & Longevity brand with a Greek identity and a global outlook.
We want to help Greece earn a strong, recognizable and authentic place in the international wellness and longevity market. Not as a theory. As an experience.
The global figures show the opportunity is immense. But Greece’s position will not be won simply because we have history, natural beauty or warm hospitality. It will be won if we can turn those assets into experiences of real quality, delivered with consistency, specialization and international competitiveness.
AEGEO has the experience, the expertise, the people and the philosophy to contribute meaningfully to that effort.
We do not see the next chapter as a solo corporate journey. We see it as a shared opportunity for AEGEO, for hoteliers, for our partners, and for Greek tourism as a whole.
- GTP: What message would you like to leave with Greek hoteliers and tourism stakeholders as they plan for the future?
Zacharias Chnaris: The next great opportunity for Greek tourism is not only about more arrivals. It is about raising the value we offer the guest.
Wellness and longevity are now central to global demand. The question is whether Greek hotels will treat them as a simple amenity or as a strategic advantage.
The second path calls for specialization. It calls for the right operator. It calls for a partner who knows the market, invests in people, harnesses technology, holds a clear philosophy, understands the hotelier, and brings solutions that can be applied immediately.
That is the role AEGEO intends to play.
Greece can become the world’s leading Wellness & Longevity destination, 365 days a year. And Greek hotels can stand at the forefront of that transformation.
With the right strategy, wellness can become one of the most powerful value drivers in Greek hospitality.