Forward-thinking operators are reimagining meetings – turning them
into energising, health-conscious experiences that boost engagement
and business impact, says Jeremy McCarthy
Make meetings enjoyable. People who feel positive can process information better / photo: Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group
Nothing replaces face-to-face meetings. We know this because during COVID-19, we had three years to experiment with different ways of conducting business. We had Skype and Zoom calls, Teams meetings and digital webinars and teleconferences and virtual trade shows. For a while, we were all quite impressed with the technology and the efficiency of remote work. But as soon as the world opened up again, despite the health risks of group gatherings, people went back to face-to-face meetings.
That’s because business, at the end of the day, is all about relationships. And nothing builds stronger relationships than spending quality time together, being mindfully present and getting to know and trust one another in a way that is just not easy to do over a digital screen.
The issue is that travelling around the world for business is inherently unhealthy. Jetlag disrupts our sleep, we spend too much time being sedentary, sitting in planes, taxis and board rooms, and we’re often surrounded by unhealthy food and drink. This all impacts the effectiveness of in-person meetings, creating long moments of low focus and energy, offset only by short spikes of energy fuelled by sugar and caffeine.
Hilton in the Asia Pacific and Hyatt have recently announced wellness-focused MICE offerings (see www.spabusiness.com/hyattwcab). Meanwhile, Mandarin Oriental has just refreshed its Mindful Meetings programme, which it first introduced in 2018.
We think any business aiming to run more dynamic, healthier meetings should focus on five elements:
1 Nourishment Food served should be low in sugar and high in protein and nutrients. Increasingly, business travellers are seeking these options already, because they know it helps them perform better
2 MOVEMENT Offer wellness experts to lead stretch and movement breaks. Getting the body moving and the heart pumping makes a big difference to participants’ engagement levels (and overall health)
3 STILLNESS Too often, people are subjected to ‘death by PowerPoint’ with a glut of information they don’t have time to process. Presenters should give people time to reflect on information and take meaningful notes
4 CONNECTIONS The best meetings aren’t the ones with a completely packed agenda. They’re the ones where people have time for side conversations to get to know others on a personal level
5 WELLBEING Meetings should be enjoyable. Psychologists suggest that when people are in a positive emotional state, they process information better, are more future-oriented and open to new ideas. So bring in entertaining speakers, musical interludes, or stress-relieving spa therapies
I’ve seen first hand how a more mindful approach to corporate gatherings improves engagement, effectiveness and enjoyment. I’ve also seen how it’s become a differentiator for Mandarin Oriental. It’s not just a commodity based on the size of our ballroom and the number of breakout spaces, it’s a philosophy of hosting exceptional meetings that allow participants to depart feeling better than when they arrived. Make your next meeting more mindful and see if you notice the difference.
photo: Mandarin Oriental
Jeremy McCarthy has worked in the wellness sector for over 30 years. He’s been the group director of leisure, spa and wellness for Mandarin Oriental since 2014. Contact him with your views on Twitter @jeremymcc
Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
View contents of Spa Business 2025 issue 2
Editor’s letter: The Gen Z effect
With young adults reshaping our industry, affordable, community-based models are thriving, while traditional spas risk being left behind
Spa people: Novak Djokovic
Game, set, spa. The tennis star is poised to launch a biohacking pod while also entering a multi-year ambassador partnership with Aman
Spa people: Peter Attia
One of the most respected names in longevity medicine has co-founded preventative health clinic, Biograph
Spa people: Alexis Dean
The founder of Soak is on a mission to deliver social wellness without the hefty price tag across Australia
News report: Young influencers
Millennials and Gen Zers are redefining the wellness landscape according to new research by McKinsey
News report: Double vision
Fresh data from RLA Global reveals that hotels delivering wellness earn twice as much as those that don’t
Project preview: Laugarás Lagoon
Contrast bathing and fine dining are two USPs of a new geothermal destination in Iceland’s Golden Circle
Interview: Suzanne Holbrook
Marriott’s new global leader of spa, fitness and wellness talks candidly to Katie Barnes about her plans for the world’s largest hotel spa portfolio
Ask an expert: Vagus nerve
Insider insights into why this critical nerve is a key to wellbeing and how supportive treatments are set to shake up spa menus. Kath Hudson reports
Research: Marginally speaking
CBRE’s latest numbers show that spa revenues in US hotels have edged upward, profits have slipped slightly and costs are down
Investigation: Dealing with death
With a new openness emerging around the subject of end-of-life care, Julie Cramer investigates whether spas could offer death doula services
Trend: Head first
Judy Chapman tries out brain mapping at Gwinganna to see why it’s become so popular
First person: Relaxation rebooted
Does AI massage have a place in luxury spas? Cassandra Cavanah heads to The Ritz-Carlton Bacara, Santa Barbara to find out
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Forward-thinking operators are reimagining meetings – turning them
into energising, health-conscious experiences that boost engagement
and business impact, says Jeremy McCarthy
Make meetings enjoyable. People who feel positive can process information better / photo: Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group
Nothing replaces face-to-face meetings. We know this because during COVID-19, we had three years to experiment with different ways of conducting business. We had Skype and Zoom calls, Teams meetings and digital webinars and teleconferences and virtual trade shows. For a while, we were all quite impressed with the technology and the efficiency of remote work. But as soon as the world opened up again, despite the health risks of group gatherings, people went back to face-to-face meetings.
That’s because business, at the end of the day, is all about relationships. And nothing builds stronger relationships than spending quality time together, being mindfully present and getting to know and trust one another in a way that is just not easy to do over a digital screen.
The issue is that travelling around the world for business is inherently unhealthy. Jetlag disrupts our sleep, we spend too much time being sedentary, sitting in planes, taxis and board rooms, and we’re often surrounded by unhealthy food and drink. This all impacts the effectiveness of in-person meetings, creating long moments of low focus and energy, offset only by short spikes of energy fuelled by sugar and caffeine.
Hilton in the Asia Pacific and Hyatt have recently announced wellness-focused MICE offerings (see www.spabusiness.com/hyattwcab). Meanwhile, Mandarin Oriental has just refreshed its Mindful Meetings programme, which it first introduced in 2018.
We think any business aiming to run more dynamic, healthier meetings should focus on five elements:
1 Nourishment Food served should be low in sugar and high in protein and nutrients. Increasingly, business travellers are seeking these options already, because they know it helps them perform better
2 MOVEMENT Offer wellness experts to lead stretch and movement breaks. Getting the body moving and the heart pumping makes a big difference to participants’ engagement levels (and overall health)
3 STILLNESS Too often, people are subjected to ‘death by PowerPoint’ with a glut of information they don’t have time to process. Presenters should give people time to reflect on information and take meaningful notes
4 CONNECTIONS The best meetings aren’t the ones with a completely packed agenda. They’re the ones where people have time for side conversations to get to know others on a personal level
5 WELLBEING Meetings should be enjoyable. Psychologists suggest that when people are in a positive emotional state, they process information better, are more future-oriented and open to new ideas. So bring in entertaining speakers, musical interludes, or stress-relieving spa therapies
I’ve seen first hand how a more mindful approach to corporate gatherings improves engagement, effectiveness and enjoyment. I’ve also seen how it’s become a differentiator for Mandarin Oriental. It’s not just a commodity based on the size of our ballroom and the number of breakout spaces, it’s a philosophy of hosting exceptional meetings that allow participants to depart feeling better than when they arrived. Make your next meeting more mindful and see if you notice the difference.
photo: Mandarin Oriental
Jeremy McCarthy has worked in the wellness sector for over 30 years. He’s been the group director of leisure, spa and wellness for Mandarin Oriental since 2014. Contact him with your views on Twitter @jeremymcc
Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
View contents of Spa Business 2025 issue 2
Editor’s letter: The Gen Z effect
With young adults reshaping our industry, affordable, community-based models are thriving, while traditional spas risk being left behind
Spa people: Novak Djokovic
Game, set, spa. The tennis star is poised to launch a biohacking pod while also entering a multi-year ambassador partnership with Aman
Spa people: Peter Attia
One of the most respected names in longevity medicine has co-founded preventative health clinic, Biograph
Spa people: Alexis Dean
The founder of Soak is on a mission to deliver social wellness without the hefty price tag across Australia
News report: Young influencers
Millennials and Gen Zers are redefining the wellness landscape according to new research by McKinsey
News report: Double vision
Fresh data from RLA Global reveals that hotels delivering wellness earn twice as much as those that don’t
Project preview: Laugarás Lagoon
Contrast bathing and fine dining are two USPs of a new geothermal destination in Iceland’s Golden Circle
Interview: Suzanne Holbrook
Marriott’s new global leader of spa, fitness and wellness talks candidly to Katie Barnes about her plans for the world’s largest hotel spa portfolio
Ask an expert: Vagus nerve
Insider insights into why this critical nerve is a key to wellbeing and how supportive treatments are set to shake up spa menus. Kath Hudson reports
Research: Marginally speaking
CBRE’s latest numbers show that spa revenues in US hotels have edged upward, profits have slipped slightly and costs are down
Investigation: Dealing with death
With a new openness emerging around the subject of end-of-life care, Julie Cramer investigates whether spas could offer death doula services
Trend: Head first
Judy Chapman tries out brain mapping at Gwinganna to see why it’s become so popular
First person: Relaxation rebooted
Does AI massage have a place in luxury spas? Cassandra Cavanah heads to The Ritz-Carlton Bacara, Santa Barbara to find out
Hand and Stone Massage and Facial Spa, the spa business with more than 650 locations across
the US and Canada, has appointed franchise expert Carrie Walsh as CEO as the company plans
to expand.
Synergy – The Retreat Show, the global trade show for retreats, has launched a global research
initiative that will provide insights into the retreat sector from both consumer and industry
perspectives.
The Wellness Tourism Association (WTA) has published a non-regulatory global industry
framework designed to ensure the retreat market offers responsible experiences.
A new survey of UK and international spa practitioners shows that stress, burnout and
wellbeing concerns have caused one in three respondents to consider leaving the industry.
The UK's four Chief Medical Officers have published a refreshed edition of Physical activity
guidelines: UK Chief Medical Officers' report, updating the evidence that underpins the nation's
physical activity recommendations and placing greater emphasis on strength, balance, reducing
sedentary behaviour and, for the first time, supporting people taking weight loss medications.
Anna Bjurstam has left her role as Wellness Pioneer at Six Senses Hotels and Resorts and
launched a new wellness, longevity and “consciousness consultancy” called Wahayla.
Fairmont Cheshire, The Mere, has opened today (10 July) in the Northwest of England
with a
1,715sq m Fairmont Spa that has been designed using a ‘Wellness without Walls’
concept.
Wellness hotels generating less than US$1 million (€932,700, £785,200) – or 10 per cent of
total revenue from wellness and leisure – recorded the strongest RevPAR and TRevPAR growth
in 2025 across categories when compared with 2024, according to the latest Wellness Real
Estate Report by RLA Global, produced in partnership with P and L benchmarking firm HotStats.
In the fast-paced world of fitness and wellness, where high-intensity workouts push us to
our limits and the sweat pours, the importance of efficient recovery cannot be overstated. [more...]
+ More featured suppliers
COMPANY PROFILES
Trybe Trybe was founded back in 2020, and the past five years has seen Trybe become the fastest growing al [more...]
