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The Washington Spa Alliance’s fifth Annual Symposium


MARY BEMIS Co-founder and Symposium chair, Washington Spa Alliance


I


am very proud to report that spa his- tory was made in Washington, DC, on 17 March, when the Washington Spa Alliance (WSPA) gathered for its


fiſth Annual Symposium at the National Press Club. A highlight of the day’s activities, Mary-Elizabeth Gifford, pro- bono curator, announced the opening of the first-ever Spa Hall of Fame. Americans increasingly turn to the spa


community to learn about diet and exer- cise, the benefits of plant-based diets, to redefine ideas of beauty and wellbeing, and to learn techniques of mindfulness and preventive medicine,” noted Dr Brent Bauer, MD, director of the Mayo Clinic Complementary


and Integrat ive


Medicine Program and Rejuvenate at the Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Program. “With the founding of the Spa Hall of Fame, spa comes of age,” said Bauer. Class of 2015 inductees include: • Deborah Szekely: co-founder of Rancho La Puerta (1940); founder of the Golden Door (1958)


• Sheila Cluff: owner and founder of The Oaks at Ojai (1977)


• Jerrold Cohen: co-founder of Canyon Ranch (1979)


• Pat and Juanita Corbett: co-founders of Te Hills Health Ranch (1982)


• Professor Mary Huddleston Tabacchi: co- founders of the first university course on spa at Cornell University (1984)


• Clodagh: founder of Clodagh Design (1984)


• Ruth Stricker: founder of The Marsh (1985)


• Bernard Burt: historian and author of Fodor’s Health and Fitness Vacations in 1989 and co-founder of ISPA in 1991.


Gathered to salute these spa giants were the leaders and presidents of the regional spa associations from across the US. As a co- founder of the Washington Spa Alliance (WSPA) and the Symposium chair, I’d been hard at work on this special initiative. It had long been my hope to one day bring together all of the regional spa leadership in the States – in one room in our nation’s capital.


4 Members of Onyx and the site’s owning company, Sino Lanka Hotels Galle, celebrated the ground-breaking


Onyx breaks ground on Sri Lankan hotel Bob Kundanmal, owner of Sino Lanka


Tailand-based Onyx Hospitality Group has broken ground on its third project in Sri Lanka – the 172-bedroom Amari Galle. Te hospitality group’s hotel brand OZO


already features on the island, in the form of OZO Colombo and OZO Kandy – the latter of which will open this month. Owned by Sino Lanka Hotels Galle, Amari


Galle will be managed by Onyx under the full-service Amari brand and will offer guests a swimming pool, gym, Breeze spa, banqueting facilities and two restaurants.


Read Spa Opportunities online: www.spaopportunities.com/digital Hotels Galle, said the hotel will tar-


get business and leisure travelers as the country’s tourism industry takes off. “Sri Lanka’s tourism industry is growing


rapidly, with 2.5 million tourists expected to arrive by 2016,” he said. “Tis property, along with the other two OZOs in Colombo and Kandy, will help to meet the projected demand for new hotel rooms and contribute to Sri Lanka’s continued economic growth.” Details: http://lei.sr?a=y7c6J_S


Twitter: @spaopps © CYBERTREK 2015 Starwood plans luxury Latin American sites


Starwood Hotels & Resorts has announced that it will expand its luxury portfo- lio in Latin America and the Caribbean through a series of new hotel launches. Starwood will open high-


end properties under its St Regis, W Hotels and The Luxury Collection brands – taking the total of luxury properties under its operation in Latin America and the Caribbean from 19 to 22 by 2017. Solaz, a Luxury Collection


Hotel in Los Cabos – located at the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula – will be in full operation mode by 2017 with 18 branded res- idences and 131 guestrooms. In addition to a number of dining venues and bars, the mixed-use property will offer a 1,200sq ft (111sq m) fitness centre, ten- nis courts, 10,000sq ſt (929sq m) of meeting space and an 8,000sq ſt (743sq m) spa – the details of which have not yet been released. Te Santa Maria, a Luxury Collection Hotel in


W Panama will open in 2017, minutes away from the Zona Rosa area


Panama will mark the brand’s debut in the country by 2017. Complete with a Jack Nicklaus- designed golf course, the Santa Maria Golf & Country Club, the hotel will have 180 bed- rooms and will be located in Costa del Este. Tere will also be a pool, fitness centre and spa. Details: http://lei.sr?a=A5h2d_S


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