We aim to keep the Australasian Spa Industry updated with the latest information from around the globe.
Members of ASpa are eligible to contribute. If you'd like to contribute but aren't a member yet Click here
JUNE 2010
Biggest Morning Tea: One of ASpa’s members, Megan Waters of Serene Beauty & Medi Spa in Tugun on the Gold Coast recently hosted a charity morning tea. Megan and her Serene team raised over $600.00 to donate to the Cancer Council. Read more...
Athlegen has thrown its support behind ASpa and its mission to foster a vibrant and sustainable spa industry in Australasia, signing on as a sponsor of the industry peak body for 2010. Athlegen has supplied massage tables & equipment to some of the world’s most luxurious spa locations including 7-star hotels in Dubai. Read more...
LI'TYA presents "The Path of the Dream" a unique 2-day workshop in July which will inspire your true spirit. This workshop, presented by Anne Warren, offers to connect you with the indigenous aspect, inspire your lifestyle & wellness to learn the meaning behind the Four Tenents. Read more...
Global Spa & Hospitality Expo - FREE registration
You're invited to the first virtual trade show for Spa & Wellness professionals. Be part of a new era in our industry as attendees will enjoy educational presentations, key note addresses, networking, prizes, and new product information from 50 of the best suppliers – all from the privacy of your desk! This online event is the first of its kind in the industry and as an ASpa member, you can register free by clicking here.
Myspaguide.com.auis a new website launching in Australia in August 2010. Aiming to be the ultimate independent directory of Australian spas, myspaguide.com.au provides four crucial tools for spa seekers: a search tool, a chance to review spas, a place to read all about spa and connections to social media communities. You can register your spa on the website for FREE now. Click here to read more
APRIL 2010
ASpa launches LinkedIn Group - it's a great way to not only stay connected with other ASpa members, but also make new connections around the world. "With ASpa's renewed energy, and the wealth of exciting information we have to share, ASpa felt it was time to take its communication to the worldwide spa and wellness audience on LinkedIn." said ASpa's board member in charge of communications, Nikki Wells. "Members of the industry in the rest of the world are avid users of LinkedIn, and here at ASpa we believe that establishing our own group on this site will provide invaluable connections for our ASpa members here in Australia and New Zealand."
Daylesford massages its way into Guinness World Records on 30 March at Massage en Masse. Lavandula Lavender Farm hosted 263 qualified massage therapists & 263 volunteer "massagees" in the history making event. Guinness Book of Records adjudicator Chris Sheedy said the event was an historic moment for Daylesford with abundant enthusiasm from local spa &massage therapists. Tourism Victoria's Don Richter said setting the new world record confirms that Daylesford is the nation's leading spa &wellbeing destination.
Chuan Spa, Melbourne launches Phyt's Laboratories organic skin care & beauty range on 14 April. The Langham, Melbourne hosted the launch of Chuan Spa's third luxurious skin care & beauty range, Phyt's Laboratories. The certified organic range is an exciting addition to Chuan's comprehensive menu of spa treatments & retail offerings. Guests were treated to a preview of the new treatments, and sampled delectable organic canapes & refreshing cocktails on the Lanham's pool deck. The range is now available for guests to enjoy both in-spa and for purchase, giving guests a completely natural choice for their skin as well as a natural and organic choice for the environment.
Sasy n Savy announced as a finalist for Manufacturers Monthly Endeavour Awards to be held on 12th May in Sydney. Sasy n Savy which manufactures native Australian natural skin care & wellbeing products, has been nominated in two categories and has previously won 6 awards including 2006 National Australian Business Award. Currently they export to 18 countries throughout Asia, Middle East, USA and Pacific. www.sasynsavy.com.au
Asia Pacific Spa Wellness Coalition (APSWC) addressed the future of the spa industry at its 4th Annual Strategic Planning Forum recently in Bangkok. The theme of Vision 2020 gave participants opportunities to plan for the year 2020 and prepare the industry for the challenges ahead. Attended by over 60 senior spa industry experts fro the Asia Pacific rfegion and around the world, the high powered forum examined both the macro and micro perspectives. The macro view focused on issues relating to the environment and changing demographics, while the micro view looked at how the medical & spa industries might work together, how spas may need to provide more diagnostic services for successful treatments & the role of social media networking. www.apswc.org
Pinctada Cable Beach Spa Resort is official hotel for Paspaley Beach Polo, Sunday 23 May 2010. Australia's first and only beach polo event will be staged at Cable Beach in Broome and will see Australia's top professional polo players competing for the Paspaley Cup against the spectacular backdrop of Australia's Kimberley Coast. The event is the initiative of Marilynne Paspaley AM, Founder of Pinctada Hotels & Resorts and Polo Enterprises Australia. The event is free for the general public to enjoy from the sand dunes while major sponsor Pinctada and naming sponsor Paspaley will host a VIP marquee on the sand. For more information www.pinctada.com.au
Julie Garrow awarded Distinguished Industry Leader in Crystal Awards. "I am thrilled to receive this prestigious award and wish to thank the industry members who selected me. I also want to recognise the spa operators who have participated in Intelligent Spas' Benchmark Program since 2001, as without their support of reliable spa industry statistics, our research would not be possible. Thanks also to GRAS for hosting The Crystal Awards to promote standards int his important spa industry" stated Julie Garrow, Managing Director of 100% independent research company, Intelligent Spas. www.IntelligentSpas.com
Spa Life Magazine : rejuvenated and back in your spa and news stands in May. “I'm happy to announce a rejuvenated and revitalised Spa Life arrives in spas and on newsstands in May. All great brands constantly evolve and our relaunch publication contains several new sections as well as an exciting partnership with Day Spa Guide,” said Kris Abbey, publisher of Spa Life magazine.“Spa Life will continue to showcase beautiful spa escapes with exquisite photography and experiential editorial, and by consolidating print and internet we have created a louder voice to promote the spa Industry to spa-lovers everywhere.” www.spalife.com.au
SOUL Worldwide launches its popular free webinar series in Australia - One Size Doesn't Fit All! Customer personality profiling and marketing company, SOUL Worldwide will hold its first free webinar in Australia On Tuesday 25th May. "SOUL's webinars have proven to be hugely successful in the USA, and now we are offering these free educational events here in Australia." said Paul Liccione, SOUL's Sydney-based General Manager.
"Our free webinar, titled One Size Doesn't Fit All, teaches spas the difference between personality types, how to communicate with each of them in person and via marketing, and why treating all customers the same simply doesn't work." For more information email info@soulworldwide.com
LI'TYA's Cherry Alder Hydrating Body Lotion wins Nature & Health Magazine's 2010 Natural Beauty Award. The judges obviously adored the organic, native Australian ingredients in the Cherry Alder Hydrating Body Lotion and its ability to feed the skin a blend of potent minerals and anti-oxidants....as well as the soothing, hydrating quality of this rejuvenating moisturiser. Visit www.litya.com to order this award winning product.
Melle Beauty partners with SW Institute of Tafe Victoria Melannie Burgess–Pook is taking her approach to complete spa wellbeing services quite literally.
Creative Director and founder of the boutique body care collection Melle Beauty; Melannie has been working in conjunction with South West Institute of Tafe in the training and development of students aspiring to a career within the spa, health and wellness industry. Melannie says:-
“The partnership with SW Tafe has been an exciting opportunity for Melle Beauty. It is a wonderful to be involved with educating the SW Tafe students on Spa and wellness, and rewarding to demonstrate how their involvement in the industry can evolve from beginnings as a spa therapist through to business owner or they can continue their studies to complete their masters in wellness."
Providing Australian holistic and organic products from the Melle Beauty boutique body care for use in instruction and creating spa wellness menus and training programs, Melannie assists students to develop a broad range of skills; from technical knowledge to customer service and retail experience.
JANUARY 2010
Gaia Retreat & Spa voted number three of the top ten celebrity-owned hotels of the world. To read more click here.
Gwinganna Lifestyle Retreat recieves three international accolades, including Spa Finder's Favourite Spa in Australia, AsiaSpa Awards' Holistic Treatment of the Year and a place on the coveted Conde Nast Traveller Gold List for 2010. Read more...
Hahana Practical Training DVD & Stone Massage Manual. At long last, the Hahana Pratical Training DVD is available, coupled with the Hahana Stone Massage Training Manual (available for the first time independent of training). For more information click here.
Kirien Withers, founding editor of ASpa's Trade Media Sponsor - Spa Australasia magazine, is pleased to announce that from the forthcoming edition Virginia Muzik will uptake the role of Editor and Kirien will move into the role of Managing Editor. Kirien will continue to look after all the advertising featured in the magazine and Hari Kanellopoulos will continue to support Virginia and Kirien and the very important suppliers and service providers to our sector with their product, event and training information. You may know Virginia from her excellent work with Professional Beauty Magazine. Kirien thanks everyone who has supported, read and provided friendship and feedback over her 11 years as editor, and asks you to assist her in welcoming Virginia and supporting her in the new role. Kirien also says, she'll still be on the end of the phone or email, as usual, anytime you wish to contact. Virginia can be contacted on 02 9660 2113 and Kirien 02 6737 6881.
Julatten Mountain Spa Retreat is proud to be hosting many accredited educational retreats for therapists and retreat goers. Throughout the year we provide the space for body-workers to rejuvenate their spirit and inspire their work. Heartworks Lomi Lomi retreats offer the opportunity to align with a new style of massage, integrate Hawaiian life philosophies and share in the love and power of conscious bodywork.
Australian Bush Flower Essences retreats are also run providing therapists with a beautiful tool for emotional balance, cleansing and wellbeing. Over three days students learn the entire range and gain practitioner certification to share these remedies with clients and friends. Check website for details and more www.julattenretreat.com.au
Mineral Spa at Peppers Springs Retreat welcomes its new manager and showcases some fantastic group package deals. Click Here for more information.
November 2009 Safire Natural Skincare Launches new product...
Organic coffee beans, vanilla essences and raw sugar are just some of the raw food ingredients used to make Safire Natural Skincare's Mineral Body Scrub. To discover more or place an order click here
It is almost time to bare all for summer, get prepared with your organic PHYT'S Home Slimming products. On sale now. Further information and orders click here
Starwood to sell W and St. Regis spa operations....
Starwood Hotels & Resorts has agreed to sell its spa company, Bliss World Holdings, to Steiner Leisure for $100 million in cash. The transaction is expected to close on or before 31 December. Bliss World Holdings operates Bliss and Remede spas at W and St. Regis hotels, respectively.
In the hotel space, Bliss and Remede spas and amenities will remain exclusive to W and St. Regis.
"This sale is illustrative of our long-term strategy to focus purely on our growing and increasingly global hospitality business," said Starwood CEO Frits van Paasschen. "At the same time, we are delighted that we will continue our business relationship with Bliss."
In addition to the W and St. Regis spas, Bliss operates an e-commerce and catalog business and distributes products through Bloomingdale's, Harrods, Harvey Nichols, Macy's, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue and Sephora.
Bahamas-based Steiner Leisure offers spa services at 51 hotels and on 126 cruise ships. The public company has reported net income of $27.1 million through the first nine months of 2009. Read more
The Global Spa Summit - update Coyle Hospitality Group & WTS International – Complimentary
The goal of this research was to help the industry better understand the spa guest and improve its offerings. What surprised me is how respondents responded to the issue of "Which treatment are you most likely to give up if you had to cut your spa budget?"
The last treatment they would give up is…
1. Hair cut/color (no surprise)
2. Services indigenous to the area (I found this surprising – and encouraging!)
In 2007, IHRSA estimated that Health Club Industry yearly revenue was approximately 62 Billion and there were 108,059 clubs. (According to the Global Spa Economy Report, in 2007 spa revenue was approximately 47 Billion and there were 71,672 spas.) In 2008, the Health Club Industry saw an 11% increase in revenue and a 13% increase in the number of clubs from the previous year.
In Europe:
The country with the largest total number of fitness clubs? Italy, with 8,800
The country with the largest total fitness club revenue? The UK, with 8 billion
The country with the highest percentage of population who are members of a fitness club? Spain, at almost 17%.
Care to guess which piece of cardio equipment is the most popular this year?
October 2009 The 2007 Global Spa Economy Report, which was first presented at the 2008 Global Spa Summit at the Waldorf Astoria in May, is available in wide release.
The report has served as a foundation for comparison in subsequent studies and will no doubt continue to be viewed as the landmark study of the global spa industry. As a GSS invitee we encourage you to download a copy of this 64 page report if you do not already have one.
For those of you who may not be familiar with the Global Spa Economy Report, the study was conducted in 2007 by SRI International (founded as Stanford Research Institute)andprovided an important snapshot of the spa economy. The full report provides information by continent and country.
August 2009
Intelligent Spas has an updated Spa Benchmark for Dubai. Read more
The techniSPA machine has new additions. Your client’s body can get the looking slim work out. Discover more
Showcasing Victoria as the leading Australian destination for spa and wellbeing experiences, the interstate campaign raises awareness of Daylesford as the natural mineral springs ‘capital’ of Australia. A $7.3 million campaign. Read more
At the media launch for the spa and wellness campaign titled Daylesford, Lead a Double Life. Kim Whitehouse from Hepburn Bathhouse shared some insightful news. Click to read more
Introducing ‘Safire Natural Skincare’…proudly Australian owned and operated and is created with exotic natural botanicals and sublime native Australian essences that reflect a natural approach to the needs of our precious skin. Click to discover more
The latest marketing innovation to hit the spa industry is find4me. find4me has launched a simple, online solution so that clients can book last minute luxury treatments, personal training and yoga classes, integrated medicines as well as other wellbeing services. Click to read more
The wait is over. With a new range of 100% Organic Makeup, PHYT’S offers you a world of beauty and well-being unique in the market in which style meets nature.
Today, it is possible to combine being beautiful and glamorous with environmental concerns and health. PHYT'S makeup range cares for your skin like no other, utilising the PHYT'S unique formulations to look after your skin's health and balance whilst enhancing your features with the latest makeup colours. The natural active principles used in PHYT’S products mean that this range is remarkably effective and completely safe to use. Click here to read the flyer or visit www.phyts.com.au
June 2009 VitaMan reaches for the Stars For the latest information about the VitaMan range of luxurious products click here.
Essie Exculsive nail-care partner of Fashion Weekend Sydney click here for more information.
Ayurda has recently released its new international packaging for its beauty range click here to here more. Dr.Ajit, developer of Ayurda, was recently presented "The Acharya Upendra Roy Award" by AYA (Auurveda Yoga Australia) for his outstanding effort in propgation of Ayurveda in New Zealand and Australia for more information click here.
Aveda Institute Melbourne at Box Hill Institute is convening a Recruitment Fair on Monday 7th September 2009 for information about the fair and courses offered at Aveda Institute Box Hill please click here.
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Daylesford massages its way into Guinness World Records on 30 March at Massage en Masse. Lavandula Lavender Farm hosted 263 qualified massage therapists & 263 volunteer "massagees" in the history making event. Guinness Book of Records adjudicator Chris Sheedy said the event was an historic moment for Daylesford with abundant enthusiasm from local spa &massage therapists. Tourism Victoria's Don Richter said setting the new world record confirms that Daylesford is the nation's leading spa &wellbeing destination.
Chuan Spa, Melbourne launches Phyt's Laboratories organic skin care & beauty range 
Sasy n Savy announced as a finalist for Manufacturers Monthly Endeavour Awards
Pinctada Cable Beach Spa Resort is official hotel for Paspaley Beach Polo, Sunday 23 May 2010. Australia's first and only beach polo event will be staged at Cable Beach in Broome and will see Australia's top professional polo players competing for the Paspaley Cup against the spectacular backdrop of Australia's Kimberley Coast. The event is the initiative of Marilynne Paspaley AM, Founder of Pinctada Hotels & Resorts and Polo Enterprises Australia. The event is free for the general public to enjoy from the sand dunes while major sponsor Pinctada and naming sponsor Paspaley will host a VIP marquee on the sand. For more information 
Julie Garrow awarded Distinguished Industry Leader in Crystal Awards. "I am thrilled to receive this prestigious award and wish to thank the industry members who selected me. I also want to recognise the spa operators who have participated in Intelligent Spas' Benchmark Program since 2001, as without their support of reliable spa industry statistics, our research would not be possible. Thanks also to GRAS for hosting The Crystal Awards to promote standards int his important spa industry" stated Julie Garrow, Managing Director of 100% independent research company, Intelligent Spas. 
Melle Beauty partners with SW Institute of Tafe Victoria 