World Spa & Wellness Convention 2026

World stage

At the World Spa & Wellness Convention 2026 in October, global spa leaders explored how data-led pricing, exceptional service and a renewed focus on recovery can help businesses thrive in a changing market

At this year’s World Spa & Wellness Convention in London, spa leaders met to share their ideas and experiences in a changing industry. As biohacking, AI and longevity shape the market, convention discussions focused on the core reality that sustainable growth requires commercial rigor, authentic human connection, and a need to reframe the longevity trend.

Smart pricing

During the panel titled “Boosting your total revenue with wellness – offers, breaks, retreats”, corporate leaders discussed replacing intuition with data-driven yield management.

Suzanne Holbrook, head of global spa, fitness and wellness at Marriott International, Ritz-Carlton, highlighted how automated dynamic pricing based on staff utilisation is transforming profitability.

“We base it on therapist occupancy rather than treatment room occupancy,” she shared. “You go on the back end, you build it all into your system. You say, ‘OK, once we get to 50% occupancy, push the price up $10. Once we get to 70%, push it up another $10.’And then it just runs for you but you do need to strategically adjust it based on your calendar... Be very strategic about your revenue optimisation because it’s really a make or break sometimes on your profit margin."

The value of touch

While systems optimise pricing, guest retention hinges on therapist excellence. Jennifer Holzworth, senior corporate director of spa operations at Montage International, urged operators to resist trend chasing in favour of flawless execution.

“What our guests are telling us in the luxury segment is that they don't need all the over-the-top things that we might get inundated with in the wellness space right now,” she said.

“They want the basics done perfectly. They want exceptional service. They want someone to hear them. You can create the most lavish membership, but if the person doesn't feel recognised, if they don't feel seen, you may not see that repeat business growing.”

Echoing this focus, Emlyn Brown, group director of wellbeing and resorts at Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, reminded delegates that hands-on therapies remain the commercial backbone of a spa.

“What we do for a living, which is incredible hands-on treatment delivery delivered by a highly qualified individual who’s present in the room, that's 85% of my business,” he said.

“And what will probably happen is this power of human touch and connection is going to increase in value. We can charge more and make more from it.”

The longevity reframe

On longevity, speakers rejected the idea of converting spas into pseudo-medical clinics. During his keynote, Piers Schmidt, a global advisor in hospitality and wellness, advocated pulling the “longevity lever” to enhance core operations without clinical liability.

“The question isn't ‘how do we become more clinical?’, it’s ‘what can we borrow from longevity to make what we already do more effective?’,” he said. “Guests aren't necessarily buying more time, they're buying better time.”

Dr George Gaitanos, chief operating and scientific officer at Chenot, urged operators to steer clients away from tracking every health metric and back towards true rest. “Please stop looking for perfect numbers. It’s ageing you faster than you think because you are focusing on performance,” he said. “Longevity requires recovery... And recovery is bringing back energy into the body.”

The World Spa & Wellness Convention will return to Excel London on October 10–11, 2027. Register your interest at professionalbeauty.co.uk/wsw-london