Emlyn Brown has joined AccorHotels as VP of well-being for its luxury brands and will work on spa and wellness for properties such as Sofitel, Pullman, Swissôtel and Grand Mercure, among others. He will be based in Paris.

His role will cover everything from design and concepts to facilities and programming.

He joins the team at Accor in place of industry veteran Andrew Gibson, who was VP of spa and wellness from 2014 to May this year, when he left to join the team at Larry Ellison's Sensei.

Brown previously spent three years at Resense Spas, where he was MD of Asia, based in Beijing and then global design director, based in Switzerland.

He also did a five-year stint with GOCO Hospitality as director of spa operations, based in Bangkok.

In welcoming him to the team, Accor's senior VP of luxury brands, Rick Harvey Lam, said: "Emlyn will direct our global strategy in the pivotal area of wellbeing, enhancing our luxury offering through transformative guest experiences. His experience, skill set and leadership traits also position him well for future success within the group."

Brown said: "AccorHotels' discerning, affluent clientele are well-travelled and increasingly motivated by the opportunity to maintain and even improve their approach to health and wellbeing during their journeys.

"My goal is to surpass the expectations of our guests and to infuse their entire experience with opportunities for transformative, innovative and extraordinary moments of wellbeing."

FOOTNOTES

About Resense

Resense was launched in 2009 as a collaboration between Kempinski Hotels and spa consultancy Raison d’Etre, with the aim of tailor-making holistic spa brands.

The company, which is based in Geneva, now has 50 spas in operation and development and operates two brands – Resense 'The European Spa' and Kempinski 'The Spa'. It also does white label spas.

About GOCO HospitalityGOCO Hospitality was founded by Ingo Schweder in 2009. The company, which is based in Bangkok offers a wide range of services, including spa concept design, masterplanning and architecture and spa operations.