When Six Senses set about creating its Integrative Wellness programme, vice president of spa and wellness Anna Bjurstam said she started by looking at what sort of wellness guests the brand attracted.
While Six Senses has its share of primary wellness travellers, those who are looking for specialist wellness destinations, it also has a good mix of more mainstream secondary travellers – those who might be interested in wellness, but who also might like to have a beer on vacation. The challenge was to appeal to both kinds of travellers, said Bjurstam, who detailed results of the initial two months of the programme at the London Health Show last week.
Bjurstam said Six Senses wanted a high-level, serious, non-invasive, science-based wellness programme, with measurements in less than 15 minutes. And – perhaps most importantly – it wanted the programme to be systemised, rather than based on specific people or experts, so that it could continue long-term.
Six Senses engaged with “some of the best experts” said Bjurstam – prominent doctors Dr Mehmet Oz (known for his popular US television show), Dr Michael Breus and Dr Steven Gundry – to create the
Integrative Wellness programme, which recently launched at eight Six Senses locations.
Bjurstam said that education is a huge component of the programme’s launch, and the company has put together a series of short, focused, educational videos featuring the doctor partners that help guests understand a variety of wellness topics.
The programme itself includes medical screenings such as blood pressure, oximeter, BMI, stress levels and cardio levels, Doctor Oz’s RealAge Test, and Fusionetics, a performance healthcare system. A personalised Integrative Medicine programme is then created for each guest, including sleep, nutrition, fitness, as well as advice and tools on how to continue at home.
In the first two months, spas have averaged around 20 screenings per month, with some locations doing as many as 50 screenings per month.
“It’s better than we had hoped for,” said Bjurstam. “Every screening means an extra $800 to $2,000 in revenue, booked programmes, retail and more...It has helped with spa revenue – some spas are meeting their budgets in 20 days.”
Often, guests extend their stays after participating in the programme, said Bjurstam.
“Definitely something that we see is that a wellness programme where they get scientific data is something they’re asking for,” said Bjurstam. “Personalisation is also something they’re asking for...This is definitely part of the future.”
Bjurstam said Six Senses hopes to have the programme up and running at 20 resorts by the end of this year, but that it won’t roll it out in every spa.
“You have to look at who your customers are,” she explained.
It costs around US$30,000 (€28,000, £21,000) with equipment and two weeks’ training to get the Integrative Wellness programme up and running, and spas are seeing payback in three to eight months – sometimes sooner, said Bjurstam.
The programme will continue to grow and adapt, and Bjurstam said she’s looking at adding face scanners, meditation measurements, bone density scanners and more.
