Charles Davidson, Peninsula Hot Springs Group
/ photo: PENINSULA HOT SPRINGS GROUP
How is the spa industry evolving? In the hot springs sector, a key change has been internationalisation – a collaboration of events, research, staff exchange/development and guest education around the world.
Organisations such as the Global Wellness Institute and its Hot Springs Initiative and the World Federation of Hydrotherapy and Climatotherapy are spearheading cross-continent cohesion in the sector. Examples of powerful and joyful events include Soakember, World Bathing Day and World Wellness Weekend.
Inroads have been made in education. Hezhou University in Guangxi, China has established a Hot Springs College and is now enrolling students and the Chisholm Institute in Australia is creating a diploma-level course for thermal bathing – it will run a trial for students in 2024 and the full course will be available in 2025.
These have been developed in partnership with the industry and are the first formal tertiary education programmes to focus on hot springs.
Building careers and happy lives for people working in our sector is the responsibility and obligation of our leaders. The culture and opportunities they create enable employees to ultimately deliver the best possible experiences.
What business models are most exciting? Those which benefit society, the environment and the economy. Wellness communities built around thermal bathing, for example, actively enable connections. My favourite view is seeing four generations of the same family ‘taking to the waters’, it’s a testament to the universality of the experience.
At the same time, hot springs are regional magnets. They attract guests of all cultures, who then partake in other local activities such as horse riding, sailing and wine tasting.
In China, they call this ‘hot springs plus’ and thermal waters are the universal connector.
Excitingly, some facilities are also evolving into cultural centres offering arts, music, education and performances as well as healing and wellness. Traditionally hot springs have been at the heart of cultural and musical celebration and we’re now seeing a reawakening of this across the globe.
What trends are having the greatest impact? Increasingly we’re seeing guests follow health practitioner-assisted learning with self-guided wellness habits and the industry is leaning into this ‘healthcare to self-care’ movement.
Recreational hot spring facilities currently being built, for example, are integrating healthcare design features and programmes so that they can support guests/patients following intensive stays at more medically focused thermal facilities such as those in Europe.
They’re working in a symbiotic and proactive way with hot spring clinics/hospitals, where medical staff teach bathing and lifestyle interventions over three- to four-week stays, to develop ongoing healthy habits. This co-creation and collaboration of services is a long-term trend for the hot springs spa sector.
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In celebration of Spa Business’ 20th anniversary, industry leaders take a look at how far the sector has come since the magazine’s inception in 2003, share personal career highlights and reveal their plans and ideas for the future.
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As Spa Business celebrates its 20th birthday, Katie Barnes pauses for thought and rejoices in the industry’s evolution
Spa People: 20th anniversary issue: Anna Bjurstam
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Jeremy McCarthy: Theory of evolution
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Charles Davidson, Peninsula Hot Springs Group
/ photo: PENINSULA HOT SPRINGS GROUP
How is the spa industry evolving? In the hot springs sector, a key change has been internationalisation – a collaboration of events, research, staff exchange/development and guest education around the world.
Organisations such as the Global Wellness Institute and its Hot Springs Initiative and the World Federation of Hydrotherapy and Climatotherapy are spearheading cross-continent cohesion in the sector. Examples of powerful and joyful events include Soakember, World Bathing Day and World Wellness Weekend.
Inroads have been made in education. Hezhou University in Guangxi, China has established a Hot Springs College and is now enrolling students and the Chisholm Institute in Australia is creating a diploma-level course for thermal bathing – it will run a trial for students in 2024 and the full course will be available in 2025.
These have been developed in partnership with the industry and are the first formal tertiary education programmes to focus on hot springs.
Building careers and happy lives for people working in our sector is the responsibility and obligation of our leaders. The culture and opportunities they create enable employees to ultimately deliver the best possible experiences.
What business models are most exciting? Those which benefit society, the environment and the economy. Wellness communities built around thermal bathing, for example, actively enable connections. My favourite view is seeing four generations of the same family ‘taking to the waters’, it’s a testament to the universality of the experience.
At the same time, hot springs are regional magnets. They attract guests of all cultures, who then partake in other local activities such as horse riding, sailing and wine tasting.
In China, they call this ‘hot springs plus’ and thermal waters are the universal connector.
Excitingly, some facilities are also evolving into cultural centres offering arts, music, education and performances as well as healing and wellness. Traditionally hot springs have been at the heart of cultural and musical celebration and we’re now seeing a reawakening of this across the globe.
What trends are having the greatest impact? Increasingly we’re seeing guests follow health practitioner-assisted learning with self-guided wellness habits and the industry is leaning into this ‘healthcare to self-care’ movement.
Recreational hot spring facilities currently being built, for example, are integrating healthcare design features and programmes so that they can support guests/patients following intensive stays at more medically focused thermal facilities such as those in Europe.
They’re working in a symbiotic and proactive way with hot spring clinics/hospitals, where medical staff teach bathing and lifestyle interventions over three- to four-week stays, to develop ongoing healthy habits. This co-creation and collaboration of services is a long-term trend for the hot springs spa sector.
More from spa industry leaders...
In celebration of Spa Business’ 20th anniversary, industry leaders take a look at how far the sector has come since the magazine’s inception in 2003, share personal career highlights and reveal their plans and ideas for the future.
Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
View contents of Spa Business 2023 issue 3
Editor's letter: Reflection point
As Spa Business celebrates its 20th birthday, Katie Barnes pauses for thought and rejoices in the industry’s evolution
Spa People: 20th anniversary issue: Anna Bjurstam
The strategic senior advisor at Six Senses and Raison d'Etre on being initiated as a shaman, why psychedelics are here to stay and her bigger fear for the global spa industry
Promotion: Klafs: Relax into wellbeing
Klafs and Studio F. A. Porsche have combined their design and wellness expertise to create an oasis for total-body relaxation
News report: Eastern promise
Japan’s spa industry is valued at US$4.2 billion and is part of the world's third highest-performing wellness economy
Jeremy McCarthy: Theory of evolution
From spa to wellness and now leisure – Spa Business’ contributing editor looks at where hospitality experiences are heading
Promotion: Lemi: Built to last
Lemi is committed to leading with innovation to create
cutting-edge treatment room solutions that excel
in terms of performance and eco-credentials
Promotion: G.M. COLLIN: Collagen pioneers
GM Collin’s expertise in collagen research and product formulation has resulted in the creation of a new serum that combats age-related skin degeneration
Promotion: Comfort Zone: A brighter future
Consumers are increasingly interested in reducing dark spots and hyperpigmentation and a new line from Comfort Zone has been launched to address this emerging need
Promotion: Art of Cryo: Life changing experience
Vikki and Robbie are often exhausted after work. A visit to the spa to experience
the Art of Cryo Tech-Spa Module is a chance to re-set and rejuvenate together
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.
LVMH-owned beauty house Guerlain will launch up to five spas with partners a year as part of
its plan to expand globally, according to the brand’s international spa and wellness director,
Diane Davody.
A new global study by Kevin Kelly and Peter Yesawich, called WELLSurvey 2.0, has revealed
more than half of consumers in the UK, US and Germany would not choose numerous high-
profile wellness resort brands for a future trip.
Luxury hospitality and wellness pioneer Jeremy McCarthy has launched Leisure Alchemy, a
digital platform that will provide professionals with strategic guidance on how to build
transformational leisure experiences that drive profit.
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