SUMMIT REVIEW
The last day saw the unveiling of the
GSS commissioned report – Wellness Tour- ism and Medical Tourism: Where Do Spas Fit? – Global medical tourism is currently a us$50bn (€34.8bn, £30.7bn) annual market, while the global wellness market generates us$106bn (€73.7bn, £65bn) annually. T e term health tourism, however, was found to be a misnomer. Ellis says: “T e bottom line is that well-
ness tourism is a phenomenon sweeping the globe and it is a huge boost to the spa indus- try as it directly and logically promotes spas. Our industry should be thrilled and be ‘beat- ing the drums’ to make sure governments are developing and promoting wellness and medical tourism... and that they recognise that wellness can be extremely lucrative.”
LIVE POLL
Overall, the atmosphere at the summit was positive and energetic. A live poll – delivered by GSS board member Richard Dusseau
– revealed that: 82 per cent of the delegates expect their gross revenue in 2011 will be
T
GSS delegates at the Indonesian Gala Night (top left); embracing traditional musical instruments (top right); and the live audience poll (right)
‘signifi cantly greater’ or ‘somewhat greater’ than in 2010. In addition, 74 per cent said their profi ts in 2011 would outweigh those in 2010. There were mixed responses on what
impact online deal websites have had. Only 14 per cent of delegates said engaging with social media has resulted in ‘major improve- ments’ in customers and sales, although 42 per cent said it had driven a ‘modest improvement’. Yet 26 per cent of delegates said they didn’t use social media campaigns at all. When it came to group buying or online deal sites, 27 per cent of delegates said they have driven a ‘modest improve- ment’ in business, yet a large number (58 per cent) avoided them altogether. Delegates also voted on which industry
segments they thought would experience greatest growth. Forty-four per cent said it
GSS LAUNCHES
SPAEVIDENCE.COM
he unveiling of the evidence-based medicine portal
spaevidence.com at this year’s GSS is an example
of how the event is achieving its goal to
“positively impact and shape the future of the global spa and wellness industries”. While the original brief was to create
a database of published research papers which highlight the proven benefi ts of spa therapies and services, further investiga- tion found that similar databases existed.
Spaevidence.com, therefore, draws on four highly-respected, pre-existing databases to collate clinical evidence on the effi cacy of 22 key spa therapies. T ere is also an option to submit papers for review and to access clinical trials devoted to spa/well- ness therapies underway worldwide.
Susie Ellis, the GSS board member who
launched it, says: “T is will have a real long- term eff ect as the spa industry increasingly becomes recognised for its part in preven- tion and the lowering of healthcare costs.” T e idea of
spaevidence.com was fi rst
proposed at the 2010 GSS in Istanbul by Dr Kenneth Pelletier (see sb10/3 p20), an expert in integrative medicine, and backed by spa consultant Dr Geraldine Mitton and Dr Marc Cohen, professor at RMIT Uni- versity, Australia, and GSS board member. It was developed over the following year with the support of Pelletier; Cohen; Dr Daniel Friedland, founder and CEO of SuperSmartHealth; and Nader Vasseghi, CEO of SelfOptima – the company which tailored the technology for the platform.
40 Read Spa Business online
spabusiness.com / digital
would be preventative medicine, 24 per cent said be beauty and cosmetics and 16 per cent voted for alternative therapies.
WHAT’S NEXT?
T e 2011 GSS closed with two announce- ments. Firstly, that the 2012 summit will be held on 4-6 June in Aspen, Colorado in collaboration with T e Aspen Institute – a global think tank that has attracted leaders such as Nelson Mandela and entrepreneurs such as Richard Branson. The second announcement was that
Philippe Bourguignon has been appointed to the GSS board of directors (see our interview on p44). Bourguignon is the vice-chairman of Revolution Places and CEO of Miraval. He’s also served as co-CEO of the World Economic Forum for two consecutive years. Bourgui- gnon, along with Richard Dusseau – founder of Spa Strategy and GSS board member – will be the co-chairs for next year’s GSS. Ellis concludes: “Highlights for me
included seeing 275 like-minded people establishing and renewing relationships. Per- sonal relationships form a strong bond that allow us to solve shared problems more eas- ily and that end up leading to improvements in our industry. T e value of this collabora- tion is greater than I might have imagined when the GSS began fi ve years ago. “We are thrilled to be planning our next
summit alongside the prestigious Aspen Institute... it will be an outstanding event that will take us to yet another level of accomplishments and infl uence.” ●
SPA BUSINESS 3 2011 ©Cybertrek 2011
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