Just over 100 people from 23 countries gathered in Berlin in March for the 2017 Healing Summit. Jane Kitchen reports on CSR, emotional healing and more
By Jane Kitchen | Published in Spa Business 2017 issue 2
Delegates heard that socially responsible investing is the fastest growing segment of the investor community
Organised by the Healing Hotels of the World, the Healing Summit’s mission is to provide content and inspiration to help build a global healing business community.
The event looks at what role businesses can play in finding new awareness, understanding and tools that can help benefit humanity. Speakers from across the spa and wellness industry, and beyond, looked at ways in which we can help create not just healing spaces, but healing environments, from the top down.
“The world has changed in ways we didn’t think possible, but there’s still work for all of us to do,” said Anne Biging, founder and CEO of Healing Hotels of the World, as she opened the conference. “Business and doing good can actually live side-by-side – it’s not either/or.”
Standing out Samantha Foster, director at Bangkok-based Destination Spa Management, highlighted ways that spa and wellness centres can stand out in the healing sector. “You can be better, be different, or change the playing field,” she explained. Foster said spas can be better by providing exemplary service, such as a wellness advisory team, which can offer support on the whole spectrum of wellness, or through offering personalisation of services, including diagnostic testing. “From the inside out or the outside in, technology is helping us produce better results for our guests,” said Foster. “It’s happening whether we like it or not, so we have to decide to what extent we engage.”
Being different might include offering the same services, but in a new way or location, such as ‘heli-yoga’ on a remote mountain top, or entertainment-based group exercise, such as drumming, said Foster. “Look at the culture of where you are and how you can package that for wellness,” she suggested.
Corporate social responsibility Asa Siegel, holistic health counselor and founder of US-based Stamba Superfoods, which produces nutritional supplements, spoke about successfully integrating doing good into a business model.
“When you learn something positive about what a company is doing, and you have the opportunity to give your business to that company or to a competitor, which one do you choose?” Siegel asked. “The easiest way of understanding this shift in paradigm is to think about how simple that decision is.”
Siegel also said that socially responsible investing is now the fastest growing segment of the investor community, and that companies such as How Good, a New York-based organisation that monitors and rates food on the grounds of its sustainability – and makes that information available to consumers through an app – are “set up to grow, expand and completely change the way the business world works.”
Rupert Schmid, president of skincare brand Biologique Recherche, said that having a corporate social responsibility report is crucial for a company. “State what you’ve done and what you will do,” he said. “We have to link what we’re doing here with the real world. If you invest in CSR, if you take care of the stakeholders, if you invest in the long-term, then you’ll be more profitable in the long run.”
A shifting sense of connection Neuroscientist Dr Marjorie Woollacott looked at how meditation increases a sense of connection with the world around us. “We’re moving from individualism to a sense of interconnectedness, which fosters compassion,” she explained. “Activity-dependent neuroplasticity means that our brain is constantly being shaped by what we’re doing and what we think, and much of the time this happens unwittingly. We need to make a conscious shift in what’s coming into our brains.”
Consumers are feeling that change as well, and are increasingly looking for ways to connect and learn, said Stella Photi, founder and MD of Wellbeing Escapes, a travel company specialising in healthy holidays. “In 2007, people were looking for something that would make them look good,” she said. “Now, people are asking, ‘How can I be better and feel better?’”
Trends popular with her wellness clients include therapeutic rest, digital detox, tailor-made fitness and emotional healing. “People want to mend their hearts,” Photi said. “There are emotional traumas that happen and they manifest in our bodies – and finally people are realising this.”
Dr Mariela Silveira, co-owner and medical director at Kurotel Longevity Medical Center and Spa in Brazil, spoke about the science of wellness and the role spas can play in emotional healing. “Even adults who have been through childhood trauma can be positively stimulated through different opportunities and feelings,” she said. “The human brain has the amazing ability to change throughout life, regardless of the age people are.”
Dr Silveira looked at how a search for happiness has changed us culturally and biologically, with dopamine training us to look for the easy reward pathway of pleasure, distracting us from other, deeper emotions. “Happiness does not exist in the way our community and culture have tried to define it,” she explained. “We have this pressure to be happy all the time – we’ve never had this issue before. We’re searching for happiness, and we get distracted with pleasures.”
Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
Wellness communities: Europe
Part 2 of our series explores some of
the most exciting European wellness
communities in development
Promotional feature: Babor
CEO Michael Schummert explains how the
company’s expertise in results-driven treatments makes its precision
‘Made in Germany’ products more relevant than ever before
In today’s premium spa environment, every detail shapes the guest experience – right down to
the softness of towels and the freshness of linens. [more...]
In a world where imbalance often accumulates quietly, Wildsmith unveils its newest
wellbeing innovation: Silent Loads, an approach designed to meet the needs of modern spa
guests with precision and depth. [more...]
+ More featured suppliers
COMPANY PROFILES
Templespa
Templespa was founded in 2000 by Liz and Mark Warom, seasoned entrepreneurs with a proven track reco [more...]
Just over 100 people from 23 countries gathered in Berlin in March for the 2017 Healing Summit. Jane Kitchen reports on CSR, emotional healing and more
By Jane Kitchen | Published in Spa Business 2017 issue 2
Delegates heard that socially responsible investing is the fastest growing segment of the investor community
Organised by the Healing Hotels of the World, the Healing Summit’s mission is to provide content and inspiration to help build a global healing business community.
The event looks at what role businesses can play in finding new awareness, understanding and tools that can help benefit humanity. Speakers from across the spa and wellness industry, and beyond, looked at ways in which we can help create not just healing spaces, but healing environments, from the top down.
“The world has changed in ways we didn’t think possible, but there’s still work for all of us to do,” said Anne Biging, founder and CEO of Healing Hotels of the World, as she opened the conference. “Business and doing good can actually live side-by-side – it’s not either/or.”
Standing out Samantha Foster, director at Bangkok-based Destination Spa Management, highlighted ways that spa and wellness centres can stand out in the healing sector. “You can be better, be different, or change the playing field,” she explained. Foster said spas can be better by providing exemplary service, such as a wellness advisory team, which can offer support on the whole spectrum of wellness, or through offering personalisation of services, including diagnostic testing. “From the inside out or the outside in, technology is helping us produce better results for our guests,” said Foster. “It’s happening whether we like it or not, so we have to decide to what extent we engage.”
Being different might include offering the same services, but in a new way or location, such as ‘heli-yoga’ on a remote mountain top, or entertainment-based group exercise, such as drumming, said Foster. “Look at the culture of where you are and how you can package that for wellness,” she suggested.
Corporate social responsibility Asa Siegel, holistic health counselor and founder of US-based Stamba Superfoods, which produces nutritional supplements, spoke about successfully integrating doing good into a business model.
“When you learn something positive about what a company is doing, and you have the opportunity to give your business to that company or to a competitor, which one do you choose?” Siegel asked. “The easiest way of understanding this shift in paradigm is to think about how simple that decision is.”
Siegel also said that socially responsible investing is now the fastest growing segment of the investor community, and that companies such as How Good, a New York-based organisation that monitors and rates food on the grounds of its sustainability – and makes that information available to consumers through an app – are “set up to grow, expand and completely change the way the business world works.”
Rupert Schmid, president of skincare brand Biologique Recherche, said that having a corporate social responsibility report is crucial for a company. “State what you’ve done and what you will do,” he said. “We have to link what we’re doing here with the real world. If you invest in CSR, if you take care of the stakeholders, if you invest in the long-term, then you’ll be more profitable in the long run.”
A shifting sense of connection Neuroscientist Dr Marjorie Woollacott looked at how meditation increases a sense of connection with the world around us. “We’re moving from individualism to a sense of interconnectedness, which fosters compassion,” she explained. “Activity-dependent neuroplasticity means that our brain is constantly being shaped by what we’re doing and what we think, and much of the time this happens unwittingly. We need to make a conscious shift in what’s coming into our brains.”
Consumers are feeling that change as well, and are increasingly looking for ways to connect and learn, said Stella Photi, founder and MD of Wellbeing Escapes, a travel company specialising in healthy holidays. “In 2007, people were looking for something that would make them look good,” she said. “Now, people are asking, ‘How can I be better and feel better?’”
Trends popular with her wellness clients include therapeutic rest, digital detox, tailor-made fitness and emotional healing. “People want to mend their hearts,” Photi said. “There are emotional traumas that happen and they manifest in our bodies – and finally people are realising this.”
Dr Mariela Silveira, co-owner and medical director at Kurotel Longevity Medical Center and Spa in Brazil, spoke about the science of wellness and the role spas can play in emotional healing. “Even adults who have been through childhood trauma can be positively stimulated through different opportunities and feelings,” she said. “The human brain has the amazing ability to change throughout life, regardless of the age people are.”
Dr Silveira looked at how a search for happiness has changed us culturally and biologically, with dopamine training us to look for the easy reward pathway of pleasure, distracting us from other, deeper emotions. “Happiness does not exist in the way our community and culture have tried to define it,” she explained. “We have this pressure to be happy all the time – we’ve never had this issue before. We’re searching for happiness, and we get distracted with pleasures.”
Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
Wellness communities: Europe
Part 2 of our series explores some of
the most exciting European wellness
communities in development
Promotional feature: Babor
CEO Michael Schummert explains how the
company’s expertise in results-driven treatments makes its precision
‘Made in Germany’ products more relevant than ever before
A recent survey by the UK Spa Association (UKSA) into the industry’s approach to cancer care
has revealed that almost half of participating respondents (46 per cent) are unaware that
cancer is a disability and guests with a cancer diagnosis must be given
Mexican operator, Solmar Hotels and Resorts, is hosting a series of events in celebration of
Global Wellness Day, including a Temazcal ceremony at its Playa Grande Resort and Spa in Los
Cabos.
Mandarin Oriental has announced a standalone residence brand, Mansions, which will debut at
Emirates Palace, Mandarin Oriental Mansions, Abu Dhabi, in 2029.
Four Seasons Resort The Nam Hai in Hoi An, Vietnam, has put together a Global Wellness Day
(GWD) agenda with activations rooted in nature and shaped by four pillars of Joy – in
alignment with the day’s theme #JoyMagenta.
The Global Wellness Summit (GWS) will celebrate its 20th anniversary at the 2026 event in
Phuket, Thailand, later this year with the theme: The Science, Art and Soul of Wellness.
Auko, an all-inclusive development, is opening in Phong Nha in Vietnam in Q3 2026, with a
series of 30 tented eco-lodges and wellness hospitality operations by Lumina Wellbeing.
Therme Manchester’s 28-acre development, which will include interconnected glass pavilions
that measure 65,000sq m, will be the largest bathing and wellbeing attraction in the world once
complete, according to prof David Russell, CEO of Therme UK.
Naples Beach Club, a Four Seasons Resort, has opened a 2,800sq m spa called The Sanctuary,
with the design and concept inspired by the Native American people that populated Florida’s
Southwest coast – the Calusa.
Swire Hotels’ luxury hospitality brand Upper House has revealed it will roll out its two-day
House of Healing retreats at its three hotels in Hong Kong, Chengdu and Shanghai.
In today’s premium spa environment, every detail shapes the guest experience – right down to
the softness of towels and the freshness of linens. [more...]
In a world where imbalance often accumulates quietly, Wildsmith unveils its newest
wellbeing innovation: Silent Loads, an approach designed to meet the needs of modern spa
guests with precision and depth. [more...]
+ More featured suppliers
COMPANY PROFILES
Templespa Templespa was founded in 2000 by Liz and Mark Warom, seasoned entrepreneurs with a proven track reco [more...]
