Matt Sykes, former experience manager at Australia’s Peninsula Hot Springs, has proposed a blueprint for a hot springs bathing cycle around the emerging sector in the state of Victoria.
He recently presented the route to the spa industry for the first time at the Global Thermal Think Tank summit in China (see p62) and the California Hot Springs Convention in the USA.
The 900km Great Victorian Bathing Trail would run along Australia’s southern coast taking in a wide variety of bathing destinations such as hot springs and sea baths, river baths and beaches, mineral springs, forest baths and salt, ice and lake baths. In total, Sykes says it would connect around 50 locations, business and initiatives.
The proposed route will also link with Victoria’s Aboriginal Cultural Trail as well as hiking, rail and bike routes.
Sykes produced the blueprint after he won a 2018 fellowship at the Victoria Tourism Industry Council.
For research, he visited global thermal destinations, looking at industry benchmarks and experiencing a variety of international bathing methods. He started in southern and central Australia, he then travelled to Tasmania and then further afield to China and Japan. He also explored Europe, visiting Iceland, Finland and Norway, and then Denmark, Sweden and the UK.
The trail would begin at the Deep Blue Hotel and Hot Spring in Warrnambool and trace the coastline to the state’s eastern border Metung on the Gippsland Lakes in East Gippsland, where Peninsula Hot Springs is also developing a hot springs wellness hotel and bathing marina.
Along the way, people have the opportunity to experience the Twelve Apostles Hot Springs near Port Campbell, opening January 2022; Peninsula Hot Springs on the Mornington Peninsula; the Phillip Island Hot Springs and Saltwater Baths, which are under construction and the Nunduk Hot Springs Resort in Seacombe, East Gippsland which is scheduled to open in 2021.
Sykes argues the initiative will kickstart community and economic regeneration and is an opportunity to create a nature-based economy that is supportive of the local ecology.
“Victoria has a plethora of geothermal springs,” he says, “this creates a unique selling point globally for our state and positions Victoria prominently among destinations around the world that are focusing on this lucrative and growing sector.
“By 2030 we could create a signature wellness experience that’s nature-based, wellness-focused and defined by a common regenerative development philosophy.”
Sykes is now exploring the potential for other bathing trails in the Australian states of Queensland and New South Wales.
Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
View contents of Spa Business 2020 issue 1
Editor's letter: Time to shine
As spas reach peak revenues, now’s the time for our industry to act as a catalyst in working out how we measure the impact of an experience and the ‘return on wellness’ says Spa Business' editor Katie Barnes
Promotional feature: TechnoAlpin
If you want to deliver a hot and cold experience as part of your wellness programme, adding a snowroom will introduce a delightful and more gentle form of cold therapy, as Sara Brenninger explains
Trends: Spa Foresight™
Climate emergency, gen alpha and brain optimisation are among Spa Business’ latest trend predictions
Promotional feature: The Wellness
Investing in children’s facilities gives a spa and wellness offering a competitive edge, as well as helping the next generation achieve their potential, explains Mohammed Ibrahim, CEO of industry design and consultancy practice, The Wellness
Promotional feature: RKF Luxury Linen
As a symbol of luxury, innovation and quality in the world of spa and hospitality, much of RKF Luxury Linen’s success comes from its highly client-centric design process, says CEO Riadh Bouaziz
Design: Heat of the moment
From giant golden eggs and converted ski lifts to rustic, hand-crafted huts, we showcase the latest in heat experience design and innovations
Le Atelier by C.O.D.E. doesn't offer a standard bespoke service, it provides a highly
customised approach to designing massage beds and loungers in high-end wellness
environments. [more...]
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...]
Matt Sykes, former experience manager at Australia’s Peninsula Hot Springs, has proposed a blueprint for a hot springs bathing cycle around the emerging sector in the state of Victoria.
He recently presented the route to the spa industry for the first time at the Global Thermal Think Tank summit in China (see p62) and the California Hot Springs Convention in the USA.
The 900km Great Victorian Bathing Trail would run along Australia’s southern coast taking in a wide variety of bathing destinations such as hot springs and sea baths, river baths and beaches, mineral springs, forest baths and salt, ice and lake baths. In total, Sykes says it would connect around 50 locations, business and initiatives.
The proposed route will also link with Victoria’s Aboriginal Cultural Trail as well as hiking, rail and bike routes.
Sykes produced the blueprint after he won a 2018 fellowship at the Victoria Tourism Industry Council.
For research, he visited global thermal destinations, looking at industry benchmarks and experiencing a variety of international bathing methods. He started in southern and central Australia, he then travelled to Tasmania and then further afield to China and Japan. He also explored Europe, visiting Iceland, Finland and Norway, and then Denmark, Sweden and the UK.
The trail would begin at the Deep Blue Hotel and Hot Spring in Warrnambool and trace the coastline to the state’s eastern border Metung on the Gippsland Lakes in East Gippsland, where Peninsula Hot Springs is also developing a hot springs wellness hotel and bathing marina.
Along the way, people have the opportunity to experience the Twelve Apostles Hot Springs near Port Campbell, opening January 2022; Peninsula Hot Springs on the Mornington Peninsula; the Phillip Island Hot Springs and Saltwater Baths, which are under construction and the Nunduk Hot Springs Resort in Seacombe, East Gippsland which is scheduled to open in 2021.
Sykes argues the initiative will kickstart community and economic regeneration and is an opportunity to create a nature-based economy that is supportive of the local ecology.
“Victoria has a plethora of geothermal springs,” he says, “this creates a unique selling point globally for our state and positions Victoria prominently among destinations around the world that are focusing on this lucrative and growing sector.
“By 2030 we could create a signature wellness experience that’s nature-based, wellness-focused and defined by a common regenerative development philosophy.”
Sykes is now exploring the potential for other bathing trails in the Australian states of Queensland and New South Wales.
Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
View contents of Spa Business 2020 issue 1
Editor's letter: Time to shine
As spas reach peak revenues, now’s the time for our industry to act as a catalyst in working out how we measure the impact of an experience and the ‘return on wellness’ says Spa Business' editor Katie Barnes
Promotional feature: TechnoAlpin
If you want to deliver a hot and cold experience as part of your wellness programme, adding a snowroom will introduce a delightful and more gentle form of cold therapy, as Sara Brenninger explains
Trends: Spa Foresight™
Climate emergency, gen alpha and brain optimisation are among Spa Business’ latest trend predictions
Promotional feature: The Wellness
Investing in children’s facilities gives a spa and wellness offering a competitive edge, as well as helping the next generation achieve their potential, explains Mohammed Ibrahim, CEO of industry design and consultancy practice, The Wellness
Promotional feature: RKF Luxury Linen
As a symbol of luxury, innovation and quality in the world of spa and hospitality, much of RKF Luxury Linen’s success comes from its highly client-centric design process, says CEO Riadh Bouaziz
Design: Heat of the moment
From giant golden eggs and converted ski lifts to rustic, hand-crafted huts, we showcase the latest in heat experience design and innovations
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.
Le Atelier by C.O.D.E. doesn't offer a standard bespoke service, it provides a highly
customised approach to designing massage beds and loungers in high-end wellness
environments. [more...]
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...]
