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Sport Wales deputy director of community sport Graham Williams
Sports Wales is hoping to create a “modern, fit-for-purpose and inclusive” sports facilities landscape following the publication of its 25-year improvement plan.
Earlier this month the funding body revealed its Facilities for Future Generations: A Blueprint for Sport and Active Recreation report in collaboration with the Welsh government, in which it set out a framework and recommendations to upgrade ageing stock in a sustainable manner.
The report recommended a strategy built on national and regional sports infrastructure plans, increased evidence gathering on facilities, and performance measures based on profitability and impact on activity habits.
Talking to Sports Management following the publication of the blueprint, Sport Wales deputy director of community sport Graham Williams emphasised the need for a “long-term, joined-up” view in the face of shrinking local authority budgets and changes to consumer tastes and needs.
“What we are facing today is some pretty significant revenue challenges around how we can maintain facilities,” said Williams. “One of the questions we’re posing back to the sector is can it just maintain what it’s got, what do we need for the future, and what aspects of the service needs to be delivered by other companies such as the private sector?”
The blueprint, according to Williams, was created on the request of the sport sector which was looking for advice in challenging circumstances, coupled with a government focus on the wellbeing of future generations. The government has launched a £5m (US$7.2m, €6.3m) interest free capital loan scheme which local government can access for improvements, making sure quality sports facilities can be found in hard-to-reach areas.
Sport Wales’ document called for local government to review all its current and planned provisions to make sure they are fit-for-purpose presently and in the future, integration of sporting infrastructure plans in wider estate strategies and a nationally coordinated review of aquatics facilities.
“This isn’t a top down blueprint. We haven’t sat in a room with government officials and said ‘this is what everyone needs to do,’” he said. “We’ve done this with the sector and on behalf of the sport sector in Wales. The actions have been checked and challenged.”
Following the publication of the strategy, deputy minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism Ken Skates will write to all his fellow ministers to raise awareness and to make sure the document is taken into account.
Williams added: “We’ve already started discussions with the sector about how we might move these nice words into action. We see this as the start of the journey, not the end.”
Four Seasons Resort The Nam Hai in Hoi An, Vietnam, has put together a Global Wellness Day
(GWD) agenda with activations rooted in nature and shaped by four pillars of Joy – in
alignment with the day’s theme #JoyMagenta.
The Global Wellness Summit (GWS) will celebrate its 20th anniversary at the 2026 event in
Phuket, Thailand, later this year with the theme: The Science, Art and Soul of Wellness.
Auko, an all-inclusive development, is opening in Phong Nha in Vietnam in Q3 2026, with a
series of 30 tented eco-lodges and wellness hospitality operations by Lumina Wellbeing.
Therme Manchester’s 28-acre development, which will include interconnected glass pavilions
that measure 65,000sq m, will be the largest bathing and wellbeing attraction in the world once
complete, according to prof David Russell, CEO of Therme UK.
Naples Beach Club, a Four Seasons Resort, has opened a 2,800sq m spa called The Sanctuary,
with the design and concept inspired by the Native American people that populated Florida’s
Southwest coast – the Calusa.
Swire Hotels’ luxury hospitality brand Upper House has revealed it will roll out its two-day
House of Healing retreats at its three hotels in Hong Kong, Chengdu and Shanghai.
LVMH-owned beauty house Guerlain will launch up to five spas with partners a year as part of
its plan to expand globally, according to the brand’s international spa and wellness director,
Diane Davody.
A new global study by Kevin Kelly and Peter Yesawich, called WELLSurvey 2.0, has revealed
more than half of consumers in the UK, US and Germany would not choose numerous high-
profile wellness resort brands for a future trip.
Luxury hospitality and wellness pioneer Jeremy McCarthy has launched Leisure Alchemy, a
digital platform that will provide professionals with strategic guidance on how to build
transformational leisure experiences that drive profit.
