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What are your pivotal career moments? I was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer in 1993. The wellness industry was still in its infancy, but I turned to yoga, meditation, detoxing and macrobiotic cuisine/targeted supplements in my two-year survival battle. I travelled the globe meeting academics such as Marc Cohen, Gerry Bodeker and Robert Thurman, learnt about the vast cosmos of complementary alternative modalities and experienced environments such as banyas, rasuls, hammams and bathhouses. The cancer-related downtime and healing regimes ultimately changed the direction of my career – for which I’m grateful.
What key innovations can you identify? There are so many! Those focused on mind and emotional health, tapping into binaural and solfeggio therapies, are particularly interesting. Examples include Mindsync, the Biohacking Orb, Sensync’s Vessel and Gharieni’s Welnamis.
What do you wish had been invented? The use and application of technology for diagnostics is already having a tremendous impact on personalised healing journeys. These often enable consumers to take charge of their own health. However, there’s a gap for devices and wearables to offer real-time advice to counterbalance the strains of everyday life – ‘your stress levels are too high, you need to take 10 minutes out to meditate’, ‘cut down on your carbs today, you’re not doing enough to burn them’.
Who are the biggest industry influencers? Gen Z continues to have a profound impact on wellness and leisure travel. They’re more concerned about sustainability in travel, accommodation and products than others.
They want elevated experiences off the beaten track and they’re big advocates of social wellness, shirking traditional spa experiences centred around solo, quiet-based activities.
What business models are the most exciting? Wellness real estate ventures, centred around healthy lifestyles, are prospering and influencing the wider communities around them. Our project in Appenzell, Switzerland, for example, will open early next year.
Traditional spas are being disrupted with the rise of social wellness clubs such as Remedy Place, Next Health, The Well and the one we’re developing in Four Seasons Bangkok. Based in cities, they’re leading the charge in making preventative medicine more accessible with their biohacking and high-tech modalities such as hyperbaric oxygen, cryotherapy, IV infusions, photobiomodulation and pulsed electromagnetic field therapy.
How can the industry realise its true potential? I applaud a more democratised global wellness economy. But I would like to see operators offering ‘sister’ models with a more accessible price point to ultimately offer wellness to all.
Birthday message to Spa Business
"I’m a regular reader and fan of Spa Business. It’s the go-to magazine for spa professionals. It ventures past the superficial to help us all stay attuned to global happenings and wider sector movements"
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
What are your pivotal career moments? I was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer in 1993. The wellness industry was still in its infancy, but I turned to yoga, meditation, detoxing and macrobiotic cuisine/targeted supplements in my two-year survival battle. I travelled the globe meeting academics such as Marc Cohen, Gerry Bodeker and Robert Thurman, learnt about the vast cosmos of complementary alternative modalities and experienced environments such as banyas, rasuls, hammams and bathhouses. The cancer-related downtime and healing regimes ultimately changed the direction of my career – for which I’m grateful.
What key innovations can you identify? There are so many! Those focused on mind and emotional health, tapping into binaural and solfeggio therapies, are particularly interesting. Examples include Mindsync, the Biohacking Orb, Sensync’s Vessel and Gharieni’s Welnamis.
What do you wish had been invented? The use and application of technology for diagnostics is already having a tremendous impact on personalised healing journeys. These often enable consumers to take charge of their own health. However, there’s a gap for devices and wearables to offer real-time advice to counterbalance the strains of everyday life – ‘your stress levels are too high, you need to take 10 minutes out to meditate’, ‘cut down on your carbs today, you’re not doing enough to burn them’.
Who are the biggest industry influencers? Gen Z continues to have a profound impact on wellness and leisure travel. They’re more concerned about sustainability in travel, accommodation and products than others.
They want elevated experiences off the beaten track and they’re big advocates of social wellness, shirking traditional spa experiences centred around solo, quiet-based activities.
What business models are the most exciting? Wellness real estate ventures, centred around healthy lifestyles, are prospering and influencing the wider communities around them. Our project in Appenzell, Switzerland, for example, will open early next year.
Traditional spas are being disrupted with the rise of social wellness clubs such as Remedy Place, Next Health, The Well and the one we’re developing in Four Seasons Bangkok. Based in cities, they’re leading the charge in making preventative medicine more accessible with their biohacking and high-tech modalities such as hyperbaric oxygen, cryotherapy, IV infusions, photobiomodulation and pulsed electromagnetic field therapy.
How can the industry realise its true potential? I applaud a more democratised global wellness economy. But I would like to see operators offering ‘sister’ models with a more accessible price point to ultimately offer wellness to all.
Birthday message to Spa Business
"I’m a regular reader and fan of Spa Business. It’s the go-to magazine for spa professionals. It ventures past the superficial to help us all stay attuned to global happenings and wider sector movements"
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
Preidlhof Luxury DolceVita Resort, a destination resort and spa in Naturno, South Tyrol in Italy,
will reveal a new spa in February 2027, which has been designed by wellness expert and
consultant Patrizia Bortolin.
Private hotel owner and developer HVL Hotels will open a new luxury resort and tourism
destination called Laval Hunter Valley in the second half of 2027 in Pokolbin, Australia.
The annual wellness festival dedicated to wellbeing, culture, longevity and human connection,
called Alma, will be hosted by Rocco Forte hotel, Verdura Resort in Sicily, Italy.
Capella Hotel Group has appointed Feisal Jaffer as chief development officer as the company
ramps up its global expansion of both its Capella and Patina brands.
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.
