The Global Spa & Wellness Summit (GSWS) has announced that a dedicated forum for "destination spas," defined as fully immersive, all-inclusive spa-and-wellness retreats, will take place on day one of the seventh annual conference being held in New Delhi, India, from Oct. 5 to 7. This Global Destination Spa Forum will represent the first time leaders from the 1,500-plus destination spas worldwide who will collectively strategize on how to best solve their biggest challenges and capitalize on their biggest future opportunities.
"Although destination spas are a smaller group than resort and day spas, they're often the leading innovators on the wellness frontier.
The programming, which typically spans fitness activities, nutritious cuisine, therapeutic and beauty treatments, preventative services and wellness education classes, is specifically designed to jump-start healthy lifestyle changes. And while destination spas represent only 2 percent (roughly 1,500 out of 72,000) of spa properties globally, they account for a much larger percentage of industry revenues (13 percent or $6 billion-plus USD) and employment (9 percent) as per the Global Spa Economy Report.
A group of destination spa leaders met informally at the 2012 Summit in Aspen, Colorado.
This year, GSWS organizers decided that this sector needed formal space on the agenda to help further an alliance and to collaboratively analyze their unique challenges and opportunities.