New programs and resources designed to promote – and empower people in – spa careers to be presented at Spa Education Forum
New York, NY – August 14, 2014 – When the third annual Spa
Education Forum meets at the Global Spa & Wellness Summit in Marrakesh, Morocco
on September
10, a much-needed spa management mentorship program, and new
internship and spa career resources, will be unveiled.
Explosive global spa industry growth has led to a serious gap in the number
of spa managers and therapists needed, compared with the number of trained
people that can fill them. So the 2014 Spa Education Forum (with its theme
“Entice, Encourage and Elevate!”) will focus on better promoting spa careers,
driving more internships and providing one-on-one mentoring support for spa
managers along their career path. And these mentorship, internship and spa
career website initiatives to be announced are headed up by independent teams of
industry professionals who have volunteered their time to help ensure a bigger,
more competent workforce for the worldwide industry.
The 2014 Spa Education Forum will be facilitated by Anna Bjurstram,
GSWS Board Member and Vice President of Spas & Wellness, Six Senses Hotels,
Resorts & Spas, and Founder, Raison d’Être (Sweden); Lori Hutchinson, Founder,
Hutchinson Consulting (U.S.); and Jean-Guy de Gabriac, CEO &
Founder, TIP TOUCH International (Belgium).
Spa Manager Mentorship Program:
The new mentorship program is a Global Spa Management Education Initiative, a
group of industry leaders that formed following the 2012 GSWS in Aspen. The
6-month mentorship program, piloting January-June 2015 and spanning ten
countries, will initially pair 15 seasoned international spa director mentors
with 15 mentees. And based on the pilot results, the program will be rolled out
more widely to the day and hotel/resort spa segments in 2015/2016.
“Spa management is a very challenging career that requires a broad mix of
‘hard’ and ‘soft’ skills, combined with a deep passion for people,” said
Jean-Guy de Gabriac, director of the Mentorship Global Initiative Committee. “So
many junior spa managers with great potential feel frustrated and isolated, with
no one to turn to for guidance, best practices and inspiration to help them
master the challenges of daily operations faster and more smoothly. This new
program is designed to give them one-on-one, expert nurturing.”
The mentorship initiative comes in response to the 2013 Spa Career Path
Survey, where 94% of global spa managers reported that a good mentor is
important to a successful spa career – with 89% claiming that mentors helped
guide their own career path. The survey also found that mentoring was the #1
contributor to becoming a strong leader and understanding human resource issues.
Get Involved: Spa directors and managers with a minimum of
two years of experience are invited to submit an application to become a mentor
to Gabriac at jean-guy@tiptouch.com or
call +33 61 007 7777. Junior spa managers interested in becoming a mentee should
send their information to the same email.
New Spa Career & Internship Resources:
The spa and wellness industries are in dire need of more people generally: the
GSWS research report by SRI International, “Spa Management
Workforce & Education: Addressing Market Gaps” (2012), found that 95% of
industry leaders face challenges finding job candidates – and that while there
are 130,000-180,000 spa managers/directors currently working globally, there are
only 4,000 students worldwide currently enrolled in spa management-related
degree programs. And research shows that employment for massage therapists,
skincare specialists and manicurists/pedicurists will grow significantly faster
than the average profession in the near future.*
To help promote spa careers globally, and match more people to internships, a
group of industry leaders headed by Lori Hutchinson (Hutchinson Consulting) will
present a work-in-progress global website, “Promoting Spa and Wellness Careers,”
that will provide information on the benefits of a spa career; worldwide job and
educational opportunities, including mentorships and internships; career success
stories; and tools such as webinars, presentations and research reports.
In addition, a spa internship manual and Intern Spa Position Profile that can
be tailored to fit individual spa/wellness companies’ needs will be released
(created by Veljko Savic, Director of Spa & Retail Operations, Ritz-Carlton,
Sarasota, Florida, in collaboration with an expert from www.Internships.com.)
And at the Spa Education Forum, information on the howand why of
internships will help industry leaders offer more opportunities to students
interested in exploring a spa/wellness career.
To learn more about the spa career promotion website and internship
resources, contact Hutchinson at: lori@hutchinsonconsulting.
(+1) 707.935.9760.
“Attracting more people to spa careers – and supporting those newly on the
spa manager/director path – is mission-critical for our industry. And while
there is so much work to be done, the new mentorship program, spa career website
and internship tools are very much steps in the right direction,” said Anna
Bjurstram. “And we can thank industry leaders for spearheading these independent
initiatives – they’re donating their time and passion to build a stronger
industry workforce for our bright, collective future.”
About the Summit: The Global Spa & Wellness Summit (GSWS) is
an international organization representing senior executives and leaders from
over 40 countries, joined by a common interest in driving economic development
and understanding of the spa and wellness industries. Delegates from diverse
sectors, including hospitality, tourism, health and wellness, beauty, finance,
medical, real estate, manufacturing and technology, attend the organization’s
annual Summit, which is held in a different host country each year. After just
seven years, the GSWS is now considered the leading global research and
educational resource for the $2 trillion spa and wellness industry. It is known
for introducing major industry initiatives such as WellnessEvidence.com,
the world’s first online portal to the medical evidence behind common spa and
wellness therapies. For more information, visit www.gsws.org.
*For instance, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts that massage
therapist employment will grow 23% – skincare specialist employment 40% – and
manicurist/pedicurist 16% – from 2012-2022.
