Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
View contents of Spa Business 2014 issue 3
Editor’s letter: Here comes China
As China opens up to the West, the nation’s attractions are
booming, with existing attractions reporting record attendances and
new museums, theme parks and science centres planned
Teamworking: The Art of Collaboration
Merlin’s Mark Fisher talks about working
with Hollywood studio DreamWorks on
the upcoming Shrek-themed midways,
how to spot a winning IP and the
importance of creative collaboration
Talking Point: Whose Museum Is It Anyway?
Five experts debate how museums
can tackle the controversial issue
of balancing the needs of the visitor
with their curatorial responsibilities
Analysis: TEA/AECOM Enduring Appeal
Theme park attendance for 2013
reached an all-time high, and museums
worldwide performed well. AECOM’s
economics experts crunch the numbers
Theme Parks: Oceans of Fun
Chimelong International Ocean Resort
is a big development on a small island.
Will its proximity to the gambling haven
of Macau be a help or a hindrance?
Museums: Virtual Visits
Europe’s biggest museum conference
looks at how technology and the digital
revolution can enhance the attraction. We
report from the event in Newcastle, UK
Technology: Face Reality
As Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg buys
Oculus VR and its Rift device, we look at
how far VR has come, and ask whether
it has a place in the attractions industry
Profile: Sarah Maltby
As Jorvik turns 30, director Sarah
Maltby talks about keeping archaeology
at the heart of what the Viking centre
does, and moving with the times
Storytelling: Inside Story
Abu Dhabi’s Yas Waterworld draws on
the local culture to create a narrative
journey for its visitors. Atkins Global
tells us about an innovative approach
Interview: Rick Schwartz
San Diego Zoo Global ambassador on the
Tiger Trail and conservation initiatives
Frida Kahlo Tour Location: Museo Frida Kahlo Design: Antenna International Increasing dwell time and boosting visitor engagement at the home of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo were the primary reasons for Museo Frida Kahlo launcing its first handheld interactive audiovisual digital guide. The guide takes visitors around the home and grounds of the cultural icon, located in Casa Azul, Coyoacan, Mexico.
The hour-long tour, in Spanish or English, describes the collection of different artefacts throughout her home and garden The museum particularly wanted people to spend more time in the outdoor space enjoying the sculptures.
“The museum wanted an audio tour that would be authentic in their eyes. They are very protective of Frida and didn’t want the story to be over-dramatised,” says Blaire Moskowitz, Antenna International’s marketing manager, Americas. “They wanted to highlight the fact that the home was the centre of her creative universe.” Visitors can click on images of artefacts and learn their significance, while constantly hearing commentary by the artist herself. During the guide’s development, Antenna had unlimited access to Kahlo’s letters, diaries, poetry, notes and memos.
Two games are also included. In the first, players are sent on a scavenger hunt to discover treasures hidden throughout the grounds by Frida’s naughty monkey. In the second, players make music with virtual conch shells, inspired by the shells which decorate the terraces at Casa Azul.
Frida Kahlo Tour
Frida Kahlo spent most of her life at Casa Azul, which became a museum in 1958
Kenwood House Tour for Visually Impaired and Deaf Location: Kenwood House Design: Acoustiguides English Heritage has launched a free app, via Android and iOS, to open up the experience of Kenwood House to visually impaired and deaf visitors. Using the Acoustiguide mobile platform, the British sign language app plays video of interpreters signing the commentaries. Each tour is subtitled. “English Heritage chose an app because it was the best tool to reach all visitors, since the house doesn’t have a main reception area, just floating volunteers in the welcome area,” says Sarah Mallett, Acoustiguides’ head of digital media sales and marketing, UK and Europe.
The tour of the Hampstead Heath, London, attraction is led by a narrator and includes insights from a number of different specialists. Each segment has a voice prompt that tells the visitor which commentary they are about to listen to.
The app presents Kenwood House through four different themes and includes a variety of visuals and maps.
Kenwood House Tour for Visually Impaired and Deaf
Shakespeare’s Globe Exhibition Tour Location: Shakespeare’s Globe Design: Acoustiguides Apps and audioguides provide an effective way of enhancing the vistor experience and help people from a multitude of nationalities. This summer, Shakespeare’s Globe Exhibition in London added Mandarin and Russian to the six languages that it already has on offer on its Opus Click multimedia guide.
The 60-minute multimedia tour, written by Acoustiguide’s creative team, gives an engaging account of the Globe’s history, from its construction in the 16th century to its accidental burning down in 1613 and rebuilding in the 20th century.
Back in Time: History and Royalty Tour Location: De Nieuwe Kerk Design: Guide ID Famous Dutch heritage site De Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam has opened its annual installation Back in Time: History and Royalty, which features a multimedia tour via the Podcatcher from Guide ID.
The tour allows the visitor to choose his or her own path through the exhibition as they navigate 600 years of history, medieval mysteries and royal traditions. A children’s trail and quiz provide another element to a family-oriented experience.
Manager of commercial business Heleen van Ketwich Verschuur says as well as being a flexible, user-friendly and easy-to-update guide, the Podcatcher is also effective for research and evaluation.
Back in Time: History and Royalty Tour
Houses of Parliament Family Tour Location: Houses of Parliament Design: Antenna International Historic and cultural sites can be less exciting for young visitors than they are for their parents, but not if illustrious histories are brought to life with guides designed specifically with them in mind.
London’s Houses of Parliament has created a version of its audio tour especially for families. The tour includes engaging commentary delivered in the style of a live news broadcast, with time-travelling reporters delivering stories associated with the historic building, from places like the Royal Gallery, Members’ Lobby and Queen’s Robing Room.
The tours are available in a range of languages, including Mandarin and Russian. Amy Pitts, head of visitor and retail services, says visitors are being offered a wider choice than ever before. “We are confident this summer’s tours will appeal to new audiences and encourage previous visitors to come back and see what we now have to offer,” she says.
Houses of Parliament Family Tour
Anne Frank House Tour Location: Anne Frank House Design: Guide ID The Anne Frank House in Amsterdam in the Netherlands has introduced Guide ID’s Podcatcher platform as a way of talking to a number of different nationalities.
The museum has also introduced an immersive video projection to give visitors a further opportunity to reflect on the life of the famed diarist. It shows people from across the world explaining what Frank means to them and how she has inspired them.
The narration has been translated into seven different languages which people can listen to on a small, handheld Podcatcher device provided to them at the museum.
Anne Frank House Tour
Diggerland UK Location: Diggerland Design: Diggerland Diggerland, the construction-themed adventure park, has launched an in-house designed smartphone app called Diggerland UK. The app is being used mainly for marketing purposes, making information about the park easily accessible.
The app will be accompanied by a new mobile website, set for launch in time for the 2015 season. A game will be downloadable later in the year.
The new app coincided with the opening of the first US Diggerland park in New Jersey in June this year.
Diggerland believes app-based guides are increasingly important to enhancing customer satisfaction. “More and more people are using apps with their smartphones and tablets,” says UK marketing manager Sherene Garvin-Mack. “At Diggerland we wanted to tap into this market by putting ourselves in front of a much larger, younger audience who, as our research has shown, prefer to search for information this way.”
The Spa Life UK Convention returns from 21–23 June 2026 at Whittlebury Park Hotel, Spa &
Golf Resort, bringing together spa managers, directors and owners for two days of focused
education, meaningful connection and commercial insight. [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...]
Robosculptor
Since its
inception in 2019, roboSculptor has grown
into an advanced, AI-powered platform
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Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
View contents of Spa Business 2014 issue 3
Editor’s letter: Here comes China
As China opens up to the West, the nation’s attractions are
booming, with existing attractions reporting record attendances and
new museums, theme parks and science centres planned
Teamworking: The Art of Collaboration
Merlin’s Mark Fisher talks about working
with Hollywood studio DreamWorks on
the upcoming Shrek-themed midways,
how to spot a winning IP and the
importance of creative collaboration
Talking Point: Whose Museum Is It Anyway?
Five experts debate how museums
can tackle the controversial issue
of balancing the needs of the visitor
with their curatorial responsibilities
Analysis: TEA/AECOM Enduring Appeal
Theme park attendance for 2013
reached an all-time high, and museums
worldwide performed well. AECOM’s
economics experts crunch the numbers
Theme Parks: Oceans of Fun
Chimelong International Ocean Resort
is a big development on a small island.
Will its proximity to the gambling haven
of Macau be a help or a hindrance?
Museums: Virtual Visits
Europe’s biggest museum conference
looks at how technology and the digital
revolution can enhance the attraction. We
report from the event in Newcastle, UK
Technology: Face Reality
As Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg buys
Oculus VR and its Rift device, we look at
how far VR has come, and ask whether
it has a place in the attractions industry
Profile: Sarah Maltby
As Jorvik turns 30, director Sarah
Maltby talks about keeping archaeology
at the heart of what the Viking centre
does, and moving with the times
Storytelling: Inside Story
Abu Dhabi’s Yas Waterworld draws on
the local culture to create a narrative
journey for its visitors. Atkins Global
tells us about an innovative approach
Interview: Rick Schwartz
San Diego Zoo Global ambassador on the
Tiger Trail and conservation initiatives
Frida Kahlo Tour Location: Museo Frida Kahlo Design: Antenna International Increasing dwell time and boosting visitor engagement at the home of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo were the primary reasons for Museo Frida Kahlo launcing its first handheld interactive audiovisual digital guide. The guide takes visitors around the home and grounds of the cultural icon, located in Casa Azul, Coyoacan, Mexico.
The hour-long tour, in Spanish or English, describes the collection of different artefacts throughout her home and garden The museum particularly wanted people to spend more time in the outdoor space enjoying the sculptures.
“The museum wanted an audio tour that would be authentic in their eyes. They are very protective of Frida and didn’t want the story to be over-dramatised,” says Blaire Moskowitz, Antenna International’s marketing manager, Americas. “They wanted to highlight the fact that the home was the centre of her creative universe.” Visitors can click on images of artefacts and learn their significance, while constantly hearing commentary by the artist herself. During the guide’s development, Antenna had unlimited access to Kahlo’s letters, diaries, poetry, notes and memos.
Two games are also included. In the first, players are sent on a scavenger hunt to discover treasures hidden throughout the grounds by Frida’s naughty monkey. In the second, players make music with virtual conch shells, inspired by the shells which decorate the terraces at Casa Azul.
Frida Kahlo Tour
Frida Kahlo spent most of her life at Casa Azul, which became a museum in 1958
Kenwood House Tour for Visually Impaired and Deaf Location: Kenwood House Design: Acoustiguides English Heritage has launched a free app, via Android and iOS, to open up the experience of Kenwood House to visually impaired and deaf visitors. Using the Acoustiguide mobile platform, the British sign language app plays video of interpreters signing the commentaries. Each tour is subtitled. “English Heritage chose an app because it was the best tool to reach all visitors, since the house doesn’t have a main reception area, just floating volunteers in the welcome area,” says Sarah Mallett, Acoustiguides’ head of digital media sales and marketing, UK and Europe.
The tour of the Hampstead Heath, London, attraction is led by a narrator and includes insights from a number of different specialists. Each segment has a voice prompt that tells the visitor which commentary they are about to listen to.
The app presents Kenwood House through four different themes and includes a variety of visuals and maps.
Kenwood House Tour for Visually Impaired and Deaf
Shakespeare’s Globe Exhibition Tour Location: Shakespeare’s Globe Design: Acoustiguides Apps and audioguides provide an effective way of enhancing the vistor experience and help people from a multitude of nationalities. This summer, Shakespeare’s Globe Exhibition in London added Mandarin and Russian to the six languages that it already has on offer on its Opus Click multimedia guide.
The 60-minute multimedia tour, written by Acoustiguide’s creative team, gives an engaging account of the Globe’s history, from its construction in the 16th century to its accidental burning down in 1613 and rebuilding in the 20th century.
Back in Time: History and Royalty Tour Location: De Nieuwe Kerk Design: Guide ID Famous Dutch heritage site De Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam has opened its annual installation Back in Time: History and Royalty, which features a multimedia tour via the Podcatcher from Guide ID.
The tour allows the visitor to choose his or her own path through the exhibition as they navigate 600 years of history, medieval mysteries and royal traditions. A children’s trail and quiz provide another element to a family-oriented experience.
Manager of commercial business Heleen van Ketwich Verschuur says as well as being a flexible, user-friendly and easy-to-update guide, the Podcatcher is also effective for research and evaluation.
Back in Time: History and Royalty Tour
Houses of Parliament Family Tour Location: Houses of Parliament Design: Antenna International Historic and cultural sites can be less exciting for young visitors than they are for their parents, but not if illustrious histories are brought to life with guides designed specifically with them in mind.
London’s Houses of Parliament has created a version of its audio tour especially for families. The tour includes engaging commentary delivered in the style of a live news broadcast, with time-travelling reporters delivering stories associated with the historic building, from places like the Royal Gallery, Members’ Lobby and Queen’s Robing Room.
The tours are available in a range of languages, including Mandarin and Russian. Amy Pitts, head of visitor and retail services, says visitors are being offered a wider choice than ever before. “We are confident this summer’s tours will appeal to new audiences and encourage previous visitors to come back and see what we now have to offer,” she says.
Houses of Parliament Family Tour
Anne Frank House Tour Location: Anne Frank House Design: Guide ID The Anne Frank House in Amsterdam in the Netherlands has introduced Guide ID’s Podcatcher platform as a way of talking to a number of different nationalities.
The museum has also introduced an immersive video projection to give visitors a further opportunity to reflect on the life of the famed diarist. It shows people from across the world explaining what Frank means to them and how she has inspired them.
The narration has been translated into seven different languages which people can listen to on a small, handheld Podcatcher device provided to them at the museum.
Anne Frank House Tour
Diggerland UK Location: Diggerland Design: Diggerland Diggerland, the construction-themed adventure park, has launched an in-house designed smartphone app called Diggerland UK. The app is being used mainly for marketing purposes, making information about the park easily accessible.
The app will be accompanied by a new mobile website, set for launch in time for the 2015 season. A game will be downloadable later in the year.
The new app coincided with the opening of the first US Diggerland park in New Jersey in June this year.
Diggerland believes app-based guides are increasingly important to enhancing customer satisfaction. “More and more people are using apps with their smartphones and tablets,” says UK marketing manager Sherene Garvin-Mack. “At Diggerland we wanted to tap into this market by putting ourselves in front of a much larger, younger audience who, as our research has shown, prefer to search for information this way.”
Premium London health club, KX Chelsea, will imminently unveil its most significant
redevelopment since its launch in 2002 to create an integrated wellness model combining
training, recovery and relaxation.
Rosewood Le Guanahani St Barth, on the northeast coast of Saint Barthélemy in the French
West Indies, is offering a programme of ocean-inspired yoga classes between 8-14 June to
celebrate Global Wellness Day (GWD).
Hotel de France, located on the British Isle of Jersey, has created a wellness retreat package
that includes a hot yoga session that will take place in Jersey Zoo’s butterfly sanctuary.
The Ritz-Carlton, Langkawi, in Malaysia, has revealed a schedule for Global Wellness Day
(GWD) that includes guided rainforest walks, mindful movement and guided coastal meditation
experiences.
Longevitix, a clinical platform for preventive and longevity medicine, has launched its AI-
powered intelligence system to help physicians deliver continuous, personalised longevity-
focused care at scale.
Atmantan Wellness Centre, an integrative wellness destination in Mulshi, near Pune in India, is
expanding its portfolio by adding a new centre in Hyderabad that will launch between 2028 and
2029.
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.
The Spa Life UK Convention returns from 21–23 June 2026 at Whittlebury Park Hotel, Spa &
Golf Resort, bringing together spa managers, directors and owners for two days of focused
education, meaningful connection and commercial insight. [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...]
