Forum Hotel Spa, Paris 2014-2015

from Gaming & Leisure Magazine

Winter 2015

www.gamingandleisuremagazine.com

It was a pleasure to attend the 7th edition of the Forum HOTel & SPA, this past June (2014).  Created by Madam Vladi Kovanic, and held at the Paris Four Seasons George V Hotel, this year’s forum was such a great success that they have already scheduled the 2015 event.

Gaming & Leisure Magazine
Winter 2015

I was fortunate to have an opportunity to chat with both Madam Vladi Kovanic (the forum’s creator), and their featured guest of honor, Mr. Ingo Schweder (CEO and founder of both, GOCO Hospitality and Horwath HTL Health & Wellness).

[G&L]  It was a pleasure to attend the 2014 Forum Hotel & Spa in Paris this past summer.  You're now preparing for the 8th Annual Forum.  Could you give us an idea what to expect at the 2015 Forum?

[Vladi K] With the number of delegates strictly limited to 120 people, The Forum offers each delegate the opportunity to gain valuable market insights, as well as a wealth of high-end networking and information sharing.

The theme for 2015 will be “Perfection”.   We expect it to be the year’s  “must attend event” for European Spa Directors and Managers .  We are inviting the top industry specialists from all over the world.

[G&L]  How did you get your start in the Spa & Wellness Industry?

Madam Vladi Kovanic

[Vladi K]   In Paris during the year 2000, I created “Aqua Expo”, the first water exhibition and water bar in France.  As water is the “blue gold” of our planet, we also note that everywhere where water brings  the energy.

Aqua Expo was for me a logical way to develop events where professionals could exchange their knowledge in the field of wellness and spa.  Along with the current Forum HOTel & SPA, I am also working as SPA consultant.

[Ingo S]  While I was working in several senior positions with Westin International, Ritz-Carlton, Shangri-La International, the Oberoi Group and the Rafael Hotel Group, I worked extremely hard and did not take care of my health. I was diagnosed with cancer at 34 and while I was fighting the disease, I visited spas all over the world, trying out holistic treatments, which might aid my recovery. I credit my full recovery to a combination of holistic treatments and my newfound love for yoga and meditation and consequently decided to combine my career in hospitality with spa and wellness. 

Mr. Ingo Schweder

In 2000 I became the Group Director of Spas for the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group and established their Lifestyle Division from the ground up. I was responsible for the worldwide operation, design and development of 15 resort spas on four continents. Five years ago I decided to open my own company and have developed successful spas since.

[G&L]  What innovations have you seen in the Spa industry in recent years?

[Vladi K]  The global spa economy has nearly doubled in the past 10 years.  We are no longer speaking about pampering but more and more we speak about innovative spa- where you can make retreat, where you can recharge your batteries and  change a view to your future life.

[Ingo S] ‘Wired wellness’ includes a huge array of wearable fitness and medical monitors and is one of the most dramatic, popular and widely adapted innovations. People already track their health and fitness data through these devises and spas can tab into this data to analyse the guest’s lifestyle and create personalized programs based on it. They can also create their own apps to support their guests in implementing the newly learned wellness lifestyle into their daily lives once they have left the destination spa.

Networking at Forum HOTel SPA 2014
Four Seasons George V, Paris

Given the new, always-on work model, more people aren’t just stressed out they’re burned out. As people are looking for ways to relax, yoga and meditation has become increasingly popular. This trend has brought an interest in more traditional medicine such as TCM and Ayurveda that focus on preventative medicine as opposed to disease treatment, which is more common in western medicine. Destination spas have recognized this demand and created new programs that help guests to reconnect with themselves and nature but also learn new ways to relax.

Thirdly, MediSpas have innovated their services significantly over the past five years and are now offering a vast selection of non-invasive, results driven treatments. 

[G&L]  What trends do you see in wellness for 2015-2016?

[Vladi K]  Each country has own specificity.  In Europe there is a growing focus on holistic spas and anti aging (the European population is rather old).  We see also development of cryotherapie, music therapy parallel to classical spa treatment.  For me the most important phenomena in the industry is still water and water treatments.

[Ingo S]

Networking at Forum HOTel SPA 2014
Four Seasons George V, Paris

Results-oriented treatments

Evidence-based wellness is becoming more important, i.e. consumers need to know that the treatments and wellness programs that they are receiving have been adequately researched and are safe and beneficial. Wired wellness supports this trend as people continue to track their food intake, exercise and sleep pattern via apps; for destination spas this means that they have access to months of valuable data, which they can use to develop personalized treatments and wellness programs.

Hot Springs

Natural healing assets (e.g. healing waters) will (re)gain popularity as evidenced by the growing interest in CAM, Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine and other non invasive approaches to healing and wellness. This fuels the demand for more thermal/mineral spring resorts that offer not only bathing but a luxurious holistic wellness experience.

Semi urban retreats

The increased development of semi-urban retreats is a good example of the industry responding to changing consumer trends. These tend to be 20-40-60 miles out from major cities like Beijing and New York and present a great model for people who are sometimes too busy to travel to remote locations or don’t want to spend valuable time on stressful air travel. GOCO Retreat Niutuo which we are opening at the end of 2015 is one of these examples as it is located 50km outside of Beijing and provides a holistic wellness experience together with natural hot spring bathing.

Networking at Forum HOTel SPA 2014
Four Seasons George V, Paris

[G&L]   Is it an industry that can be profitable in Europe and worldwide?

[Vladi K]  Yes, and I think it can be highly profitable -  if you hire good  spa experts  and invest properly. It is also important to mentor members of the spa teams to succeed and optimize Spa performance.

[Ingo S]  Yes, the industry can be profitable across the world. I have seen a tremendous growth in wellness tourism over the past years globally; it already represents a US$439 billion market (14% of world tourism expenditures) and is predicted to grow by 9 percent annually through 2017, 50 percent faster than “regular” tourism (SRI International, 2014).

Recent research published by SRI International (2014) has shown that Europe leads the way based on spa revenues with $ 29.8 billion but Asia still dominates with the highest number of spas. Europe still enjoys a healthy growth by 62% but emerging markets such as MENA (134%) and Africa (186%) are predicted to show the highest growth.

[G&L]  At the 2014 Forum, there were presentations on the role the industry can play in the “exchange in humanity”.   Can you discuss how Spas can play a role in humanity, including corporate social responsibility?

[Vladi K]  We are going back to about 500BC with the Greeks and Romans, where the spa is not only a place where guests entrust their body to therapist and relax, but also where they can go for healing nutrition and a cocoon for their soul.

I am member of CEWF, where in past 5 years we have provided over 90,000 hospital patients with about 185.000 beauty treatments. With these treatments we give patients hope in beating various diseases. 

Spa can give guests a positive mind set, we simply need to get them there.

[Ingo S]  Destination spas and wellness retreats are usually located in remote areas and therefore have the opportunity to add value to and enhance the community that they exist in. Companies can do this through a selection of activities such as creating jobs within the spa, developing employees through training programs, supporting local producers and businesses through sourcing local building materials and produce. But also through providing cultural programs for guests who can learn from and interact with the local community. Other activities include the protection and enhancement of the surrounding and the support of local charities. Fundamentally, destination spas can impact the health and life of their communities through educating their employees but also through extending services to their families such as a weekly free visit to a health clinic in the retreat.

Gaming & Leisure Magazine would like to thank both Madam Vladi Kovanic and Mr. Ingo Schweder for their participation in this discussion.  We would also like to invite spa specialists to join the Forum HOTel & SPA on May 28, 2015 in Paris.