A select number of suppliers were invited to a recent meeting of Four Seasons spa directors from the EMEA region to deliver presentations on their brands, exhibit products and attend discussions led by key industry leaders. The event, held at the Four Seasons Hotel Hampshire in England, was chaired by Simon Casson – regional VP and general manager for Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach and chair of the global spa taskforce.

Speakers at the event included Anni Hood, founder and CEO of Anni Hood Wellness Business Consultancy and K.I.S Lifestyle; Rob Berman, president of hospitality consultancy Impulse; and comedy writer and marketing specialist Guy Browning. This panel of speakers highlighted exciting trends and improvements to be made across the wellness world.

Browning detailed how lateral thinking should be applied to solve problems. He also demonstrated how a number of interactive scenario-solving situations can identify like-minded people – something that is useful when completing projects and pushing through new initiatives.

Berman mentioned the concept of ‘branding’ – and the impact a company can have on a consumer – is something that lots of successful firms are focusing on. By working on a company’s image and creating an individual sense of place, these firms are overcoming the corporate bureaucracy that may have held them back in the past.

Hood illustrated that industry disruptors create exciting developments, for example the effect of social media and the internet is creating a bizarre paradox within the wellness world: while spa aficionados believe in the power of human connection, we are no longer connecting in this way. We use devices to communicate and this is affecting our relationships and wellbeing, however, we need to stay connected via these devices and the internet in order to survive as a business.

“What we think is still to come [in terms of exciting innovations] is already here,” said Hood. “So while clients truly hanker after nature and the skills of a therapist, we have the ability to use the internet to drive our businesses hard.”

Casson noted the trend that’s really taking off is the need to personalise service to each individual customer. “People don’t just want us to ‘get it right’ in terms of service, but consumers are asking ‘get me right’ too,” said Casson.

The challenge, according to Casson, is training hotel staff to intuitively tell the difference between the needs of individual guests. “While you can’t pay for anticipation, what we can do is create a culture for staff to take the initiative and provide an exceptional experiential human interaction.”

With regard to improving the hotel and spa experience for guests, Berman suggested more interaction within rooms on a micro-level is an obvious thing for investors and management to take advantage of. He also said that hotel companies need to differentiate themselves in a public way to create guest loyalty.

Hood said she’d like to see more companies in the industry recognising people who, through no fault of their own, are struggling at the bottom of communities all over the world. “Wellness starts with shelter, warmth, security, health and many luxury hotel companies don’t offer this social aspect of wellness to people who need it most,” said Hood. Casson said that while Four Seasons might not have a so-called ‘social wellness product’ to offer guests, the hotel company has a number of initiatives in place to help struggling communities globally. For example, Four Seasons has committed to mentoring four people a year from a Filipino community – who are too old to receive sponsorship money from abroad – and training them.

Casson added that improvements need to be made to the senior structure of hotel businesses in terms of gender equality. “Women are sorely underrepresented as you go up the corporate chain so we need to create a level playing field. There aren’t enough women in senior roles to advocate female colleagues, so we’re working on making the field level.” Four Seasons is about to analyse the data from individual employee engagement surveys from its staff, which amount to more than 40,000 people. Casson noted that the firm’s leaders understand that it’s important to listen to employees and the company is working on ways to attract the next generation of hospitality staff. “The next generation of employees want to rise more quickly than ever before, so we are working on ways to achieve this.”

The speakers each offered advice to the conference’s attendees. Hood told delegates to never underestimate the importance of networking – both online and in person. She also advocated the hiring of people who share your vision and avoiding naysayers.

Casson told attendees to work phenomenally hard, be realistic about what you are not good at – be at ease with yourself and play your own tune – and to retain a belief in humanity. “Be interested in people’s stories at all levels to keep you grounded, but also aspirational,” she advised.

The event was organised by Akram Kawasmeh, senior director of spa for Four Seasons in the Middle East and Africa; senior spa director of Four Seasons Resort Marrakech, Verena Lasvigne-Fox; Alex Porteous – general manager of Four Seasons Resort Seychelles and chair of the Middle East and African spa taskforce; Felix Murillo, general manager at Four Seasons Resort Marrakech and chair of the European spa taskforce; and Maria Herrera, senior director of spa for Four Seasons Hotel Hampshire.