Image: Actress and wellness advocate Mariel Hemingway, one of the speakers at GSWS

A Hollywood actress, the head of retail at Google, an ex-chair of Disney Imagineering, a previous surgeon general and the former President of Costa Rica formed part of the impressive list of speakers at this year's Global Spa & Wellness Summit (GSWS) held on 3-6 June.

Under the theme Innovation through Imagination, the speakers from outside the spa industry introduced some fresh ideas to help drive our sector forward. And in reflection of this more encompassing approach, the word wellness was added to the name of the summit.

Held at the Aspen Institute, Colorado, the 2012 summit attracted 325 leading spa professionals representing 40 nationalities. Co-chairs this year were GSWS board members Philippe Bourguignon, vice chair of Revolution Places and CEO of Exclusive Resorts, France (see Spa Business magazine issue 3, 2011, p44) who headed up the agenda; Richard Dusseau, president of Trilogy Spa Ventures; and Susie Ellis, president of SpaFinder Wellness (SB12/2 p52).

The need to tackle the growing health crisis worldwide was a focus for two keynote speakers - John Hickenlooper, the governor of Colorado and Dr Richard Carmona, the 17th US surgeon general and now vice chair for Canyon Ranch (for an interview with Carmona see SB09/1 p66).

It's predicted that chronic, yet preventable, diseases will cost the US alone US$5.5tn (4.4tn, euro £3.5tn) in the next few years, accounting for 20 per cent of GDP. Carmona feels spas could have a key role to play in the solution and challenged the audience to "develop a health and wellness policy platform that will allow you to speak as one" as a step towards teaching people how to lead healthy lifestyles.

Meanwhile, in a proactive and profound statement, Peter Rummell, chair of the Urban Land Institute and former chair of Disney Imagineering, warned the industry that it has a deadly definition - that spas are only for rich, white women. "If I was king of your world, I'd get rid of the word 'spa' because it's ruining your reputation and brand", he said.

Insightful and interesting pointers on technology were presented by Ted Souder, head of industry and retail at Google. His top tips were to incentivise clients to "check in" via Facebook or foursquare; to sign up to the online bulletin board Pinterest; and to set up systems which allow guests to view and book treatment rooms and therapists (as well as services) online.

Actress and wellness advocate Mariel Hemingway openly talked about mental health and how spas could help. "I come from seven suicides, including my grandfather [the great writer Ernest Hemingway], uncle, cousin and sister," she said. "That is why I sit here and talk about lifestyle. Having an understanding of holistic living is a powerful tool. I think the spa industry is doing a magnificent job of creating a sense of body, mind and spirit but you could be doing more as there's still a perception of pampering rather than lifestyle."

The third day of the summit had a stronger focus on industry issues and trends, including - as always - the unveiling of much-needed research and data.

For the first quarter of 2012, luxury hotels in the US sold more rooms (6.75 million) than ever before, announced Jan Freitag, senior VP of operations at Smith Travel Research, which could be a lead indicator the hotel spa industry. But the numbers aren't there yet.

Treatment room revenue from 2009-11 sat between US$136-137 (108-109 euro, £87-87.5), compared to the peak of US$146 (116 euro, £93) in 2007. This value erosion may have been heavily influenced by the arrival of flash deals like those by Groupon, says Freitag.

On a more positive note, Andrea Foster, vice president of PKF Consulting, predicted that the recovery of spa revenue is in sight. She said: "After several years of decreasing revenues, hotel spas saw increases in 2011 and [spa operators] have anecdotally shared in conversations I've had that they're not only beating budget this year, they're also reporting the best months their spas have had when comparing to the same months in previous years. This is good news."

For a more in-depth analysis of PKF's 2012 Trends in the Hotel Spa Industry report see SB12/2 p44.

The key piece of research unveiled at the summit was Spa Management Workforce & Education: Addressing Marketing Gaps, a report commissioned by the GSWS and conducted by SRI International.

Presenting the findings, SRI's senior economist, Katherine Johnston, told delegates there are 130,000-180,000 spa managers and directors in the global spa industry and only 4,000 students on management degree courses - courses which vary widely and which operators don't really feel meet their needs (for a feature article on spa management training, see SB12/2 p38).

Spa businesses and operators need to collaborate more closely with training providers and organisations to ensure that courses deliver what's needed, she said.

The event concluded with the announcement that next GSWS will take place in India under the guidance of co-chairs Andrew Gibson, group director of spas at Mandarin Oriental, and Emmanuel Burger, CEO of the Victoria-Jungfrau Collection, Switzerland. The exact venue and dates have yet to be revealed. For more, visit the GSWS homepage.