During the European spa Association’s annual Congress in Rome last week, more than 130 members of the spa and health tourism industry from 21 countries gathered to celebrate innovation.

The ESPA Innovation AWards honour destinations, facilities or initiatives that represent innovation in the true sense of the word, the organisation said – that is, the development of a new, more creative or more effective approach to any aspect of spas and health resorts management, operations or marketing.

• Chaves Termas & Spa in Portugal was named winner in the Spa & Health Resort Destination category for its facilities, energy-saving measures, and training in hydrotherapy.

• Rochefort Thermal Center in the Czech Republic won in the Medical Spa category• Vidago Palace Hotel in Portugal was named winner in the category of Spa Hotel for the renovations of its Art Noveau resort and its integration of local thermal waters with new technology

•Shiseido Spa at Stejarii Country Club in Romania won for Spa Concept, for its integration of the environment in its spa design• Heilsustofnun NLFI was named winner in the Health Spa Programme category for its vocational stress-related disorders programming

• Daniel Binder of FK Joanneum University in Austria was named winner in the Spa Research category for the International Hospitality and Spa Management Program.

The winners were announced during the ESPA annual Congress Gala Dinner. Jury coordinator was architect Silvia Gianninni from Italy; members of the jury included Gunlaugur Jonsson, ESPA vice president, from Iceland; Christian Roques, president of the Association Francaise de la Recherche Termale (AFRETH), from France; Inga Dora Sigfusdottir, research professor in health and behaviour studies at Columbia University, from Iceland; Tobias Bielenstein, managing partner of EuropeSpa, from Germany; and Vojtech Franta, deputy mayor of Marianske Lazne Municipality in the Czech Republic.