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As New Zealand announces its first wellbeing budget, matters of wellbeing and happiness are being recognised as essential to the health of democracy and political stability worldwide
By Liz Terry | Published in Spa Business 2019 issue 1
Jacinda Ardern announced her wellbeing budget in Davos
At the recent World Economic Summit in Davos, Jacinda Ardern, prime minister of New Zealand, announced that her government will publish the world’s first wellbeing budget in May this year.
Rather than being an add-on to a conventional budget, the wellbeing budget will permeate all aspects of government finance and have long-term goals and funding.
There will be key priority areas focused on intergenerational change, including living standards, human, social and natural capital, while areas of special concern will be mental health, climate change, digital transformation, social exclusion, health, housing and domestic violence.
Ardern believes neo-capitalism and the move away from kindness in social policy which we have seen in recent decades has created social problems which are giving rise to civil unrest, posing a threat to the world’s democracies and leading to the rise of nationalism, isolationism, protectionism and the abandonment of global institutions.
She said: “At a time when the international rules-based order is under strain and leaders around the world are grappling with understandably dissatisfied constituencies, I hope this wellbeing approach will provide a model which others, in turn might look to.
“I wholeheartedly believe that more compassionate domestic policies are a compelling alternative to the false promise of protectionism and isolation.”
Several governments have appointed ministers for happiness and wellbeing to bring a focus to this important area of policy, but this is the first time a government has opted to orientate all its major policies in this way.
It’s significant to hear our industry being proposed as part of the solution to such fundamental global issues and heralds challenging times, full of opportunities for us to be useful.
Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
Spa Programmes: On the menu
Event saunas, sunlight therapy
and health and happiness retreats
feature in our programming series
Interview: Marc Cohen
Dr Marc Cohen is launching an extreme
bathing retreat and writing children’s
books. He talks to Jane Kitchen
Promotional feature: Vital Tech
Infrared technology is growing in popularity, Vital Tech’s Alexandra Gavsevitch
and Serge Parienti explain how it works
Focus on: Equine therapy
What is equine therapy and how
can spas tap into horsepower?
Kathleen Whyman finds out
Wellness: Chill out
Is going sub-zero the next big thing?
Kath Hudson takes a closer look
at the benefits of cryotherapy
Promotional feature: The Wellness
Noha Khalil of The Wellness discusses how
gym and spa elements are increasingly
coming together through design to
deliver outstanding fitness concepts
As New Zealand announces its first wellbeing budget, matters of wellbeing and happiness are being recognised as essential to the health of democracy and political stability worldwide
By Liz Terry | Published in Spa Business 2019 issue 1
Jacinda Ardern announced her wellbeing budget in Davos
At the recent World Economic Summit in Davos, Jacinda Ardern, prime minister of New Zealand, announced that her government will publish the world’s first wellbeing budget in May this year.
Rather than being an add-on to a conventional budget, the wellbeing budget will permeate all aspects of government finance and have long-term goals and funding.
There will be key priority areas focused on intergenerational change, including living standards, human, social and natural capital, while areas of special concern will be mental health, climate change, digital transformation, social exclusion, health, housing and domestic violence.
Ardern believes neo-capitalism and the move away from kindness in social policy which we have seen in recent decades has created social problems which are giving rise to civil unrest, posing a threat to the world’s democracies and leading to the rise of nationalism, isolationism, protectionism and the abandonment of global institutions.
She said: “At a time when the international rules-based order is under strain and leaders around the world are grappling with understandably dissatisfied constituencies, I hope this wellbeing approach will provide a model which others, in turn might look to.
“I wholeheartedly believe that more compassionate domestic policies are a compelling alternative to the false promise of protectionism and isolation.”
Several governments have appointed ministers for happiness and wellbeing to bring a focus to this important area of policy, but this is the first time a government has opted to orientate all its major policies in this way.
It’s significant to hear our industry being proposed as part of the solution to such fundamental global issues and heralds challenging times, full of opportunities for us to be useful.
Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
Spa Programmes: On the menu
Event saunas, sunlight therapy
and health and happiness retreats
feature in our programming series
Interview: Marc Cohen
Dr Marc Cohen is launching an extreme
bathing retreat and writing children’s
books. He talks to Jane Kitchen
Promotional feature: Vital Tech
Infrared technology is growing in popularity, Vital Tech’s Alexandra Gavsevitch
and Serge Parienti explain how it works
Focus on: Equine therapy
What is equine therapy and how
can spas tap into horsepower?
Kathleen Whyman finds out
Wellness: Chill out
Is going sub-zero the next big thing?
Kath Hudson takes a closer look
at the benefits of cryotherapy
Promotional feature: The Wellness
Noha Khalil of The Wellness discusses how
gym and spa elements are increasingly
coming together through design to
deliver outstanding fitness concepts
People taking GLP-1 weight loss medications such as Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and Zepbound
may be losing weight, but they’re also becoming less physically active, according to new
research presented at the ENDO 2026 annual meeting of the Endocrine Society
Abu Dhabi-based investment firm Mubadala Capital has made a binding, fully financed
€1 billion
offer to acquire Pierre and Vacances SA, the European holiday resort operator behind the
continental European Center Parcs business.
Global retreat trade show, Synergy The Retreat Show, has launched a resource called The
Source, which hosts an open-access online Transformation Series programme.
The Standards Authority for Touch in Cancer Care (SATCC) charity has announced its first five-
day Living with Cancer and Beyond retreat, which will be held at Carden Park Hotel and Spa in
Cheshire, UK, between 1 and 5 September.
Patmos Aktis, a Luxury Collection Resort and Spa, has opened in Greece, with a renovated and
rebranded wellness offering called Ansana Wellness and Spa.
The Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, an Autograph Collection property in Hawaii, US, has opened its
22,000 sq ft indoor-outdoor Spa at Mauna Kea as the final step in the property’s overall
renovation, which has cost more than US$180 million (€166 million, £140 mill
The UK spa review and discovery platform for consumers, the Good Spa Guide, has announced
it will host the Good Spa Guide Awards 2026 during an event on 16 November at Sopwell House
Hotel in St Albans, UK.
Eighty-four per cent of consumers now say wellness is a top priority in their lives, with this
percentage increasing year on year, according to a preview presentation of McKinsey’s Future of
Wellness 2026 research report.
Mass protests have been taking place since Monday 1 June in Albania over the development of
a luxury resort by Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner.
Global Wellness Day (GWD) marked its 15th anniversary on Saturday 13 June 2026, with the
theme: #JoyMagenta – a celebration of the healing qualities of simple gestures and activities
that spark joy.
