Introduction
New York City-based spa industry leaders have for more than seven years created and refined two international organizations that today effectively promote and guide the resort spa industry. In playing this role, these leaders have demonstrated to spa and ancillary business owners and managers how mastering and embracing positive wellness values and programs can be both a civic duty and an attractive business opportunity.
The two organizations are the Global Spa and Wellness Institute (GSWI) and the Global Wellness Institute (GWI).
GSWI sponsors an annual Summit, helping each of the last seven years in a different part of the world. It’s an invitation-only meeting.
Global Wellness Institute
A parent organization, the GWI, operates year-round. It serves as a holding/umbrella type organization. In addition to organizing the Summit, it initiates and funds research and conducts wellness tourism. It is an international think-tank. Bring together leaders and visionaries. Its basic objective is to positively impact the future of the spa and wellness industry.
In carrying out its mission, GWI seeks to facilitate industry conversations and collaborations, create and make research information and industry insights widely available, and unleash product and service innovation, all while keeping in mind sustainable growth and best business practices.
GWI has embraced a proactive (versus preventative or medicalized) view of wellness, a global perspective, and commitments to integrity (eg, impartial investigation), shared problem solving, and the highest standards of reason, science, and integrity for evidence-based positions, whenever humanly possible.
All REAL wellness enthusiasts should welcome this powerful ally who seeks to drive the wellness movement around the world on a positive, multi-disciplinary basis, particularly one with resources and connections at the highest levels of decision-making in the sectors public and private.
The world spa and wellness summit
Dr. John Travis made a few presentations at the 8th Annual Global Spa and Wellness Summit (GSWS) in Marrakech, Morocco in September 2014. He and I learned a lot about the spa industry, much of which we didn’t recognize. We don’t fully appreciate it. . We met lovely people committed to positive wellness and all that goes with it (eg, green awareness, social policies, economic viability) like those we encountered over decades of attendance at the legendary University of Wisconsin National Wellness Conference -Steven’s Point. . And we developed a new appreciation for the potentials of the spa industry. Not last (new benefits will surely loom over time), we win more than a few lovely relationships and start collaborations that are likely to prove enjoyable and productive for years to come.
There were three full days of presentations and all kinds of substantive meetings and fun activities. Forty-five nations were represented among the approximately 400 delegates. The scope of the presentations was impressive, including attention to architectural design adaptations to the nature of the spa experience, the increasing focus on sustainability, the potential consequences of seismic generational and gender shifts, the anticipated impact of technology in human interaction and much more. The economic weight of the industry? No less than 3.4 trillion US dollars.
It is an understatement to suggest that the Summit was an extraordinary event. I came away feeling like it could be a milestone for the industry, and maybe for the wellness movement as well. It seems to me that spa leaders recognize that they can shape the wellness movement in the direction of positive wellness, as first proposed by Dr. Halbert L. Dunn and others half a century ago. By committing to REAL wellness, the industry will provide an invaluable service to its communities while increasing the success of spas around the world.
The spa advantage
When it comes to sponsoring REAL wellness education, destination resort spas have at least three advantages over corporate and institutional sponsors (eg, hospitals and universities):
- Spas have less reason to fear controversy. This allows wellness managers to offer conferences and workshops on topics where program participants may be offended by perspectives and facts that are out of their comfort zones. Corporate wellness managers, on the other hand, refrain from sponsoring vital programming such as reason, an appreciation of science and critical thinking skills, explorations of meaning and purpose, even a focus on humor and fun. Why? Because such discussions are likely to upset many employees, who would prefer not to entertain such thoughts. Many may feel that such issues cross borders, easily offend, or appear to criticize established norms. Imagine a corporate conference on the right to die. Not likely, but some experts, such as the late theologian Gerald A. Larue, have argued that we will never be so aware of the importance of seeking life until we have accepted the reality of mortality and our next encounter with death.
- Spas are not focused on cost containment. The company’s wellness offerings are designed almost entirely for short-term savings through lower healthcare utilization. So-called wellness teachings are, in fact, medicalized efforts at risk reduction and prevention.
- Spas do not primarily have doctors and other staff with medical training. Professionals promote what they know, and are not trained or oriented in the principles of physical and mental initiatives that lead to advanced states of well-being totally unrelated to disease or health problems.
The power of the spa industry to inform/shape real wellness
The spa industry wields a great deal of economic power and many opportunities for imaginative programming. The extent of this influence can be glimpsed in a report prepared by SRI International on the global spa and wellness economy. A slideshow on the GSWS website highlights key facts from this report.
Some of the most outstanding findings can be mentioned:
- The spa and wellness sector is currently a US$3.4 billion industry.
- The spa industry can be described into four economic segments: namely, 1) spa industry, 2) wellness tourism, 3) lifestyle, wellness products and services, and 4) hot springs and mineral waters.
- One segment, namely lifestyle, wellness products and services, is now valued at US$2.806 billion. This is a growth rate of 13 percent from the previous year.
- Worldwide there are 105,591 spas in operation. Asia, with 32,000 installations, has the most. The increases in all regions are attributed to the growth of the middle class.
the future is ahead
The spa industry has more promise and clout than any other in taking the wellness movement back to its roots as a positive concept to improve life, to think of health non-medically with optimism and joy, as far as the possible. All keynote presentations at the 2014 Summit stand to benefit a global audience thanks to the generosity of the GSWS. Spa professionals and clients who were unable to attend the Summit and the rest of the world, for that matter, can learn a lot from the resources available on the GSWS website.
This is true for the lucky 400 who attended, as multiple sessions were held at once in different locations throughout the Four Seasons, and even delegates were not able to partake of all the educational offerings. Don’t worry: the GSWS will post videos, white papers, transcripts, and PowerPoint presentations of all or most of the sessions, and hundreds of professional photos of the presentation and all the festivities are also available on the site.
How many conferences offer such generosity not only to their paying clients, but to all who need and are sure to appreciate such educational opportunities?
Additional data on the GSWS
GSWS is an international organization based in New York City. I had the pleasure of visiting and touring the head office a few years ago, and a few months later, Susie Ellis, President and CEO, joined me in a presentation on spas and wellness at the 2011 National Wellness Conference in Stevens. Point. WISCONSIN.
The GSWS mission states that the organization:
… represents senior executives and leaders united by a common interest in driving economic development and understanding of the spa and wellness industries. Delegates from various sectors, including hospitality, tourism, health and wellness, beauty, finance, medicine, real estate, manufacturing and technology, attend the organization’s annual summit, which is held in a different host country each year.
While the annual Summit is limited to those at the top tier of the spa industry and a few others with close ties to the industry from related sectors (and a few lucky outsiders who win the speaker lottery through invitations to attend as performers) , the information of all the Summits are eventually available to everyone. This is a very good thing, and I encourage you to take advantage of it.
Sit back and enjoy your next visit to a destination spa—or first, if you haven’t had one yet. Check out the wellness agenda – you may find that REAL wellness educational elements are offered.
