SUMMIT REVIEW
PHILIPPE Q&A BOURGUIGNON
Philippe Bourguignon has been appointed as the new board member of the Global Spa Summit. The French businessman talks to Spa Business about joining the GSS team and bringing a fresh perspective
BACKGROUND
At the 2010 Global Spa Summit (GSS) in Istanbul, leaders in the worldwide spa indus- try heard Philippe Bourguignon speak about his vision for 2025. Making his fi rst public presentation in more than 10 years, he envi- sioned – among other things – a futuristic drinkable perfume by Chanel to make sweat smell sweet, a snack by Nestlé in collabora- tion with Shiseido to change hair colour, the feminisation of society and the ‘age of the singles’. And while Bourguignon confesses to being no spa expert, some interesting insights can be gained from his background in the travel and tourism industry. Bourguignon is vice-chairman of Steve
Case’s company Revolution Places and CEO of Revolution Places Development and Miraval destination spa in the US. In June, he was also appointed CEO of Case’s Executive Resorts. Prior to Revolution, he served as co-CEO of the World Economic Forum for two consecutive years and also as chairman and CEO of Euro Disney (now Disneyland Paris) from 1988 to 1997 and as chairman and CEO of Club Méditerranée
(ClubMed) from 1997 to 2003. In addition to now serving on the board of directors for the GSS, he’s been named co-chair for the next summit, scheduled to take place on 4-6 June 2012 in Aspen, Colorado.
How do you feel about being invited to join the GSS board? I genuinely feel very hon- oured. I’ve known the spa industry for a very long time, but I’m a new player in the indus- try, so it’s a privilege to be asked.
What do you hope to bring to the board? Whether you’re in the spa, hotel, travel, advertising or media industry – everybody is preoccupied with how the industry’s perform- ing and how it will perform. As I’m new to the spa industry, I hope to bring a fresh view. Beyond what I do professionally, one of my
passions is geopolitics and getting involved in think tanks. Understanding the way the world behaves – beyond what you read in the press – and exchanging ideas on global issues is really valuable and I hope to intro- duce this aspect too. For example, the UK prime minister, David Cameron, has said
Miraval offers more than 80 therapies, but Bourguignon feels spas are key to wellness and that an industry goal should be to dispel the notion that spas are frivolous
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that we should not just measure a country on its GDP, but look at the Happiness Index too. Happiness might sound like a light sub- ject, but it’s not and it’s a worldwide issue that spas could get involved in.
What does the collaboration with the Aspen Institute mean to the GSS? I was on the board of the Aspen Institute in France for 10 years and I’ve been to a number of its events. I got a lot out of it personally, includ- ing new ideas and ways of thinking. For the GSS, it will symbolise thinking on a global scale. T e fact that the GSS is returning to the US is also signifi cant, all eyes will be on the US once more and I strongly believe that 2012 will be the year of its comeback.
How did you fi rst get into the spa business? When I was CEO of ClubMed I introduced spa and wellness activities into the off ering – my vision was to evolve ClubMed globally as a
‘live healthier’ company. T ese plans were put on hold aſt er 9/11, but by the time I leſt , one- third of ClubMed properties had spas and up to 10 per cent off ered wellness activities.
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