A crowd of over 2,200 spa community members came together 11-13 September for the 29th annual ISPA Conference & Expo, which took place at The Venetian Resort in Las Vegas, US.

This annual event hosts spa industry leaders from around the world as they attend keynote presentations, educational sessions and an expo floor featuring the latest spa industry products.

“We are grateful to our dedicated members and generous sponsors who helped make this year a success,” said ISPA president Lynne McNees. “This year’s ISPA Conference & Expo challenged our attendees to evolve in all aspects of their professional and personal lives, and we look forward to seeing the innovations that are created from this year’s event.”

The conference drew attendees from 32 countries around the world, and 220 companies exhibited on the expo floor.

Playing off this year’s theme of “Evolve”, attendees experienced keynote presentations from introvert expert Susan Cain, best-selling author Marcus Buckingham and philanthropist and CEO of Not Impossible Mick Ebeling. On the closing day of the event, the 2019 ISPA Alex Szekely Humanitarian Award, named in honour of the late spa pioneer Alex Szekely, was presented to Mick Ebeling to honour his philanthropic work.

Ebeling founded Not Impossible, a social innovation lab and production company, on the premise that nothing is impossible. His mantra of "commit, then figure it out" allows him to convene a disparate team of hackers, doers, makers and thinkers to create devices that better the world by bringing accessibility for all.

Additionally, Bryan Williams, long time speaker for ISPA, accepted the 2019 ISPA Dedicated Contributor Award; Jeremy McCarthy, group director of spa & wellness at Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, was honoured with the 2019 ISPA Visionary Award; Quincy Reynolds, senior at the University of Houston, won the 2019 ISPA Foundation Mary Tabacchi Scholarship; and the Noel Asmar Group won the ISPA Innovate of the Year Award.

ISPA will celebrate its 30th anniversary at the 2020 ISPA Conference & Expo, held at Gaylord National in National Harbor, Maryland, US, from 14-16 October 2020.