NEWS
Clockwise from top: Student Challenge winners from the University of Denver; Sonu Shivdasani, Founder of Six Senses Resorts & Spas and Chairman and CEO of Soneva; GSWS 2013 is to be held in India; Charlene Florian, Vice President of Creative Development at Kerstin Florian International, US
Global Spa & Wellness Summit 2012
Young innovators 36
Winners of the ‘Spa of the Future’ Student Challenge announced
Each year at the GSWS, a selection of universities are invited to submit designs for the most innovative and potentially profi table spa of the future. Student teams are responsible for developing all the conceptual and fi nancial details of their project, and are then assigned a professional architect to bring their ideas to life. Taking top honours from participating
US universities this year were students from the University of Denver who won US$1,000 for ‘Defi ant!’, a spa for teenage girls that rejects the typical “pampering- patronizing-pink-and-sparkly-manicure” teen spa model to tackle the emotional, physical and social needs of real girls. Cornell University came second
Water of life
with its ‘Mente Spa & Studio’, which reimagines the “body-focused” gym as a sanctuary of social and intellectual engagement. Coming joint-third were Penn State University, whose students created a greenhouse concept, marrying intense sustainability practices with a “southern hospitality” approach, and the University of Houston, whose team proposed ‘ModerNature’, a social spa, revolving around principles from the Slow Movement. The panel of judges were: Thanisr
Chaturongkul, CFO, Chiva Som; Adrian Egger, Managing Director, Spa Division, KLAFS; Christopher Norton, Chair, Global Spa Task Force, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts and Niamh O’Connell, VP, Spa Operations, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts. Next year, when the Summit moves
In a GSWS programme where all speakers deserve mention for their excellent contributions, as well as the many delegates who contributed in daily breakout sessions, I must give the last word to Charlene Florian, Vice President of Creative Development at Kerstin Florian International US, and the Founder of Six Senses Resorts & Spas and Chairman and CEO of Soneva, Sonu Shivdasani, whose words particularly resonated with me. Bringing the whole Summit back to spas’ source, Florian asked delegates to refl ect on the power and possibilities of water, and our duty as an industry to explore its healing potential and protect it as a precious resource.
Shivdasani followed Florian with a sober reminder
to India, top universities from across the Asian region will be invited to compete in the 2013 Student Challenge.
that, today, nearly one billion people do not have access to clean drinking water, yet, ironically, the hotel industry is shipping branded bottled water around the world for hotel and resort guests. Announcing a new initiative called ‘THE-Water Campaign’, he said: “If we sell our own water in reusable bottles and donate 10 per cent of the proceeds, we can really reduce the world’s water crisis. As hoteliers, spas and restaurateurs, our industry can help solve this problem if we really get behind it.”
european spa |
www.europeanspamagazine.com
He played a video message from Richard Branson, who is also supporting the THE-Water Campaign, which promotes the use of on-site, triple fi ltered tap water served in reusable glass bottles as a more responsible alternative. Hotels signing up to the scheme will be asked to contribute 10 per cent of sales from this water, which will be distributed to a number of chosen water charities worldwide. Shivdasani revealed that if all 10 of the world’s largest hotel groups joined the scheme and donated the water sales of 4.3 million hotel rooms collectively, this could generate a staggering US$955 million (£614 million/780 million) a year to pass on to water charities.
For more about THE-Water Campaign, and how your business can get involved, turn to page 98.
STOP PRESS: India to host GSWS 2013
In 2013 the GSWS moves to India, one of the ancient ‘spiritual homes’ of the global wellness movement, and also one of the fastest-growing economies, technology sectors and spa industries. Dates and the exact venue will be announced in the coming months.
www.globalspaandwellnesssummit.org
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100