What’s been the most pivotal moment in your career? In early 2008, I was still working as a spa director in Grand Cayman when, on one particularly auspicious day, I received a call from none other than Sue Harmsworth, asking me to join her team at ESPA.
Switching from 18 years of spa operations to being a vendor/consultant was a big learning curve but that experience gave me a huge advantage and was pivotal to my success. It helped me form some strong and long-lasting relationships which I treasure and nurture to this day. This is a relationship-driven industry without a doubt.
What do you still hope to accomplish? My one wish, and something I should have done much earlier, is to be a mentor. Now, as an ISPA Board member, I hope to be able to guide young people in our industry and open their eyes to the opportunities available to them. This is a fast-growing, global industry with a lack of qualified employees and little succession planning, but there are countless options for career advancement. It’s such a rewarding and enjoyable vocation.
How do you hope the industry will look in 2050? The self-care trend has helped the spa world bounce back from COVID-19 and I see it becoming more mainstream than ever. This translates into all kinds of statistical improvements, particularly spa-goer demographics – a balance between genders to reflect more male visitors and a wider age range.
Touchless therapies are more popular and there will always be a place for them, but nothing will replace human touch. Many people are increasingly suffering from loneliness and a machine can’t fill that void like a caring therapist does.
I hope wellness and spa become increasingly mainstream and affordable for all, while at the same time, creating meaningful and rewarding career paths for future generations.
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’s been the most pivotal moment in your career? In early 2008, I was still working as a spa director in Grand Cayman when, on one particularly auspicious day, I received a call from none other than Sue Harmsworth, asking me to join her team at ESPA.
Switching from 18 years of spa operations to being a vendor/consultant was a big learning curve but that experience gave me a huge advantage and was pivotal to my success. It helped me form some strong and long-lasting relationships which I treasure and nurture to this day. This is a relationship-driven industry without a doubt.
What do you still hope to accomplish? My one wish, and something I should have done much earlier, is to be a mentor. Now, as an ISPA Board member, I hope to be able to guide young people in our industry and open their eyes to the opportunities available to them. This is a fast-growing, global industry with a lack of qualified employees and little succession planning, but there are countless options for career advancement. It’s such a rewarding and enjoyable vocation.
How do you hope the industry will look in 2050? The self-care trend has helped the spa world bounce back from COVID-19 and I see it becoming more mainstream than ever. This translates into all kinds of statistical improvements, particularly spa-goer demographics – a balance between genders to reflect more male visitors and a wider age range.
Touchless therapies are more popular and there will always be a place for them, but nothing will replace human touch. Many people are increasingly suffering from loneliness and a machine can’t fill that void like a caring therapist does.
I hope wellness and spa become increasingly mainstream and affordable for all, while at the same time, creating meaningful and rewarding career paths for future generations.
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.
