GWS launches weekly Wellness Sector Spotlights

The Global Wellness Summit (GWS) has begun a series of free, weekly 60-minute Zoom business sessions dedicated to specific wellness sector topics, which will take place every Tuesday at 3pm GMT (4pm CEST, 10am US Eastern Time).

The first in the Wellness Sector Spotlight calls, sponsored by Kohler Waters Spa, took place on  Tuesday, January 12 and was focused on the theme of ‘The best business move I made in 2020’.

More than 200 wellness professionals joined in from around the world, sharing their experiences and positive strategies that have been born from the pandemic, and how they had adapted their businesses to move forward in the coming months.

Designers, hospitality specialists, suppliers, spa operators, wellness practitioners and tech companies all participated in a fast-paced session hosted by Global Wellness Summit and Global Wellness Institute chair and CEO Susie Ellis.

Wellness Concierge services take off

Highlights from this first session included contributions from representatives of several spas in attendance, who shared how they had pivoted to shorter treatment times and reduced treatment menus, and worked to digitise wellness services during lockdown to forge deeper connections. New packages particularly focused on immunity and preventative health were a trend worldwide.

Numerous other successful wellness pivots galvanised by the pandemic were also highlighted by Nancy Davis chief creative officer and executive director at the Global Wellness Institute and Global Wellness Summit.

Notable contributions included those from Nthabiseng Shongwe of Spiral Aloe Health & Wellness in Johannesburg, South Africa, who said: “Our best business move in 2020 was to switch over to online health consultations. We rapidly changed all our communication lines and website CTAs to offer tele-consultations. We saw our customer-base grow rapidly as our audience could share our services.”

Looking to the future of health engagement, Grant Jones, vice-president of wellness at Garden of the Gods Resort, US, also shared the successful launch of the brand’s new wellness concierge memberships, designed to support specific healthcare needs and wellness goals.

“Our new memberships offer personalised and proactive healthcare through five different membership types, namely: Immunity, Health, Lifestyle, Cardiology and Premium VIP,” said Jones. “We project that our Immunity membership will account for 33% of new revenue we achieve in 2021.”

Biophilic design and creativity

Kevin Murphy, president of Murphy Hospitality Group in Canada, detailed plans for a new Nordic Spa development for 2021. He shared the creativity and ingenuity of his team as biggest lesson from 2020, saying: “Always put your people first… it’s the people in your business that will find the ways to pull you through this pandemic.”.

New York-based designer Shannon Burton of Terrapin Bright Green Group shared her work on biophilic design to promote natural healing from the senses.

“I am focusing on the 14 patterns of biophilia to include in the built environment,” she stated. “This helps immunity by triggering our natural healing through the five senses.”

From the UK, Cryotherapy Action’s Brahim Legroun detailed how the demand for immunity-boosting treatments can be served with whole-body cryotherapy technology.

Looking to the future, real estate private capital and development specialist Salim Dahdah, founder and CEO of ACCESSO Group, shared how the iconic destination of Riviera Maya in Mexico has engaged with real estate developers to explore new wellness-driven and anchored opportunities for their under-utilised space.

Digital innovation and forging deeper connections

The session concluded with attendees being split out into smaller breakout groups to share more detailed information and successes with one another.

Margareth Brephol of the award-winning, family-run spa destination Lapinha Spa, Brazil, shared how the pandemic had helped her team to “be more creative and more aware of the needs and resources we have from nature.”

Brephol detailed the success of their digital engagement with loyal guests and new markets, which has seen an 80% return rate. In addition, the destination’s pivot to launch an organic vegetable delivery programme during lockdown now delivers much needed fresh, organic produce boxes to residents in the nearest city 90km away.

Noah Bloom of Vancouver-based Run Go app company https://www.rungoapp.com shared his brand’s ingenious switch to help resorts and wellness destinations to offer digitised maps and brochures for guests to fully enjoy exploring outdoors, whether running or walking.