Wellness connections

The World Spa & Wellness Convention London brought together spa leaders from all four corners of the world for two days of networking, seminars, and education

Some 280 spa and wellness leaders from across the world united at the World Spa & Wellness Convention on March 5-6 at ExCeL London. Europe’s leading conference for the global spa and wellness industry provided a stellar two-day programme, packed with a mix of keynote sessions, panel discussions and interactive workshops, designed to offer insights and education for international spa leaders and their teams.

Popular panels

The weekend held several education sessions and seminars for delegates, with popular sessions including “Crossing the line: how far can Spas go to enhance guests’ relaxation and facilitate personal transformation using CBD and psilocybin mushrooms”. Speakers included Rudding Park’s head of spa, Sarah Johnson, co-founder of Communitas Daan Keiman, and Heather A. Lee, founder of Medicine Woman Retreats, who shared a vision of what psychedelic wellness may look like in the future via private weekend stays or plant medicine weeks with a certified psychedelic psychotherapist.

Another popular panel was “Raising the wow factor and TREVPAR [total revenue per available room]”, where Daniel

Thwaites group spa director Gemma Barratt shared some examples of add-ons that had boosted revenue, such as spa pop-up shops during peak times to increase visibility throughout the hotel. The group’s Christmas gifting experience, for example, supported an increase of 20% in retail and 45% in voucher sales.

Spa views

Michael Newcombe, global vice president of wellness at the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, said, “For me, it’s important to attend the convention because it’s an opportunity. I live in the US; our brand is global… the show brings the best brands – the suppliers meet vendors, meet us [the customers], and it’s the perfect setting. It has it all.”

Sarah Johnson, head of spa at Rudding Park, described the convention as, “inspirational”, adding, “It’s important to attend the convention to keep up with new trends, and meet like-minded professionals… It gives you the opportunity to expand your network and bring your teams to educate them.”

Jean-Guy de Gabriac, conference producer for WSW and founder of World Wellness Weekend, said, “It’s a place where we come together, to network… This is the place to work on your business, to get fresh ideas to take back to your office and to your team.”