New research reaches the Summit

Rixos Hotels vice president Naim Maadad reports from the Global Spa Summit in Bali, which provided the launch platform for the first online research portal for the spa industry.

The Global Spa Summit (GSS), the leading annual event for spa and wellness industry executive heads from all around the globe, for the first time in its five-year history, convened in Asia on the island of Bali, Indonesia for its most recent edition in May.

Delegates from a diverse range of sectors including hospitality, tourism, finance, medicine, manufacturing, technology, consulting, products and other related industries attended this high-level gathering bearing the theme Engage the Change: The Customer, The Money, The Future.

The Summit focused its spotlight on the fastest-growing global spa, hotel and tourism markets in Asia. Leading the Summit were its three co-chairs for 2011, each of whom has served as Summit board member since its inception in 2007.

The first was Anne McCall Wilson, vice president spas, Fairmont Raffles Hotels International, Canada, who is the driving force behind the spa division for Fairmont Hotels International Inc.

With more than 20 years’ experience in the hospitality industry with international chains like Four Seasons and Hilton Hotels, Jeff Matthews, president and COO of Mandara Spas, Indonesia , who is a resident of (and expert on) Bali, also co-chaired the summit along with Susie Ellis, president of SpaFinder Inc, the world’s largest spa media and marketing company.

The high-profile event saw the launch of a remarkable achievement in spa online reference — www.spaevidence.com. It’s the world’s first online portal dedicated to the ever-mounting medical evidence that exists for spa and wellness services.

Susie Ellis announced the launch of the new portal, which consolidates clinical evidence about 22 key spa therapies from four pre-existing databases — Natural Standards, the Cochrane Library, Pub Med and the Trip Database.

The portal has been developed with support from Dr Ken Pelletier, Dr Daniel Friedland, Dr Marc Cohen and Nader Vasseghi.

In announcing the launch, Ellis paid tribute to industry contributors, sponsors and supporters for bringing www.spaevidence.com to fruition over the last year, since the idea was proposed at the Global Spa Summit in Istanbul in 2010.

With thousands of studies evaluating the benefits of various approaches such as massage, meditation and acupuncture, the GSS has put together — and made it easy to search — some of the most relevant sources of evidence-based information.

This free resource is designed to empower all consumers and patients — along with medical, spa and wellness professionals — to dive in and explore the hard science behind spas. Visit: http://spa.selfoptima.com/globalspasummit to find out more.

This years’ event concluded with the announcement that the next GSS will be taking place in the US, in Aspen, Colorado from June 4-6, 2012, in conjunction with the world-renowned global think-tank, the Aspen Institute. I’m already looking forward to attending…

10 New research reports
The release of new industry research is a hallmark of every Summit, and
the 10 research reports shared with delegates are now available to all at
www.globalspasummit.org

• GSS-sponsored “Wellness Tourism and Medical Tourism – Where Do Spas Fit?”
• Coyle Hospitality Group: “Priorities of Today’s Spa Consumers”
• Diagonal Reports: “Spa Market, USA”
• Euromonitor Int’l: “Consumer Mindsets, 2011”
• Euromonitor Int’l: “Post-Recession Consumer Dynamics”
• Horwath Consulting: “Global Hotel Market Sentiment Survey, 2011”
• Horwath Consulting: “Hotel Yearbook 2011: What To Expect in the Year Ahead”
• IDEA: “Fitness Programs and Equipment Trends” (Summary & Full Report)
• IHRSA: “Global Report – “State of the Health Club Industry”
• Smith Travel Research: “Global Hotel Performance, 2011”

GSS 2011 Delegate Survey Highlights
Every year a live poll of executive attendees at GSS — which numbered 275 delegates from 35 countries — provides a window into current industry performance and future directions. This year’s summary was as follows:

• The economic turnaround is directly, positively impacting the spa and wellness industries: 82% predict an increase in gross revenues for 2011.
• China ranks as the number one place industry leaders would like to expand their business (31%), followed by “other countries in Southeast Asia” (28%).
• 57% report that social media campaigns are driving an improvement in customers/sales, but 26% still don’t engage in any social media initiatives.
• 37% report that group buying/online deal sites have driven an improvement in customers/sales, but 58% don’t participate in group buying/online deal sites, the fastest-growing online category.
• Executives predict that among all spa/wellness segments over the next few years, Preventative Medicine will experience the greatest growth (44%), followed by Beauty & Cosmetic (24%).