How will the Miraval acquisition impact Hyatt’s wellness offering?
Hyatt is committed to widening the lens through which we view our core customer desires, and clearly the wellness tourism market is one where we are well-positioned to capitalise on those opportunities. One of the key insights we have understood well through ongoing engagement with our guests is how important it is to integrate wellness into their lives.
With the Miraval acquisition, Hyatt gains the operational excellence, the specialists’ expertise and a devoted clientele – as well as the Miraval Group suite of branded facilities, treatments and programming. We gain world-class wellness and mindfulness experiences for our guests, as well as the opportunity to grow wellness experiences in our existing portfolio. The acquisition is consistent with Hyatt’s growth strategy and our commitment to holistic health and wellness, but more importantly, it is also a demonstration point around our core purpose of caring for people so they can be their best.
How do you envision the two brands working together?
We think that there is a great opportunity to integrate some of the Miraval experience into hotel operations, and also beyond hotel stays. There are myriad dimensions along which we can extend the impact of the Miraval ethos and approach. For example, Miraval does a great job in engaging their associates in applying a mindful approach to care for guests. It could be that we tap into that spirit and adapt it to our existing hotel operations. Or we could work with owners to convert spas in some of our hotels to Miraval Life in Balance Spas if the fit is right.
A lot of the exact ways that will be brought to life are still to be determined – purposefully – as we learn. What we won’t do is grow the Miraval brand for the sake of growth. We’ll do it if it makes sense and we can deliver the experience and the impact with integrity.
What plans do you have for expanding the Miraval brand?
We intend to take the Miraval brand global. With our development and operations expertise worldwide, Miraval will be able to expand to even more destinations – including Miraval destination resorts similar to the Miraval Arizona Resort & Spa. Miraval business development efforts have already produced a strong pipeline of expansion opportunities and we anticipate these new developments will drive growth and brand awareness.
What Miraval has developed, and the intensity of the love and engagement that the guests see, hear and experience, is something we take very seriously and treat with a great deal of respect.
We want to make sure that we maintain the integrity of the brand and that we don’t make any changes that would negatively impact guests’ experiences. Everything Miraval guests love about the resort and spa experiences will be honoured as the Miraval team continues to evolve their approach. And, over time, guests will have more locations to choose from.
Hyatt is also actively pursuing a growth strategy beyond traditional hotel stays. By delivering more experiences, Hyatt can care for more people in more ways. The Miraval acquisition is an important proof point to this strategy – Miraval will spearhead a new wellness category within the Hyatt portfolio of brands.
How will the Miraval acquisition help Hyatt address corporate wellness?
This whole idea about wellness – through the lens of being more mindful about what you do and how you live your life – is increasingly in focus for major corporations. C-suite executives are very much thinking about how they can bring these kinds of holistic practices into what they do for their clients. This also has really taken hold with meeting planners and corporate travel planners. I think this is the beginning of what will be a very significant groundswell with a focus on wellness.
One of the key things I find so compelling about Miraval is the fact that mindfulness is at the centre of their approach. Mindfulness is something we’ve been working on at Hyatt for several years, working with outside researchers who were doing work on meditation and the impact it could have on your ability to practice empathy. We talk a lot about empathy being a central capacity within Hyatt – you can’t care for someone unless you understand them, and that requires the practice of empathy.
So in our investigation of how to elevate the capacity for empathy, we’ve done a fair amount in the context of how mindfulness is finding its way into companies, into workplaces. Miraval’s holistic approach, with mindfulness at the core, has great application to this increased interest in wellness by companies.
When I first came to Miraval Arizona, I did a floating meditation class. The ability to unplug from the day and really find an opportunity to calm your mind and reflect was very refreshing and calming – I came out of that experience with a great deal of awareness and focus.
The reason I’m so excited about this opportunity is that I wanted an approach that was grounded in a proven practice – one that has impact on people’s lives. Miraval is consistently looked at as a thought leader in the spa industry, developing innovative treatments and programming that are truly best-in-class.