With the new year, comes a new show—I’m headed back to Miami this month to speak at the inaugural Cosmoprof North America Miami show. My own little piece of it is a Spa and Beauty Trends panel I’ll be moderating on January 24th. I love talking spa and I love talking beauty—and where the two meet is fascinating. Joining me are panelists Pietro Simone, Tammy Pahel, and Alena Stavnjak.
By the way, the global spa market is now valued at $104.5 billion, and the personal care and beauty market at $1,088.7 billion, according to the 2023 Global Wellness Economy Monitor, published by the Global Wellness Institute.
I’ve been ruminating on what I learned at the 17th annual Global Wellness Summit, also held in Miami this past November. Kudos to Susie Ellis, Nancy Davis, and the entire team for a graceful pivot. The talk was all about community and transformation, and the wonderful thing is that GWI has become such a transformative community. The data is always good and helpful, but it’s the conversations in between that really tell you what’s going on in the world of spa and wellness. A world—the global wellness economy—that’s now valued at $5.6 trillion.
The global spa market is now valued at $104.5 billion, and the personal care and beauty market at $1,088.7 billion . . .
Here are seven things from the Global Wellness Summit that have stayed with me:
It’s Time to Pollinate the World with Beauty We need to “pollinate the world with beauty,” enthused Louie Schwartzberg, Founder, Moving Art, in his opening keynote, and called for creating transformational stories to shift behavior.
Fitness & Recovery Have a New Home The focus on sports as it relates to wellness and hospitality. I learned from speaker Patricia Ladis, Founder of WiseBody, that 175 million people travel for collegiate and recreational sports, equating to 69 million hotel stays. Which brings me to what Susie Ellis called an “emphasis on recovery,” which is new for the wellness world. Susie enthused that “fitness and recovery have a new home.”
Mental Health Remains Top of Mind Mental health is out of the closet for good and remains top of mind. Simone Biles spoke of the mind-body connection and encouraged the audience to “give yourself some grace. It’s okay to not be okay.”
GWI’s principal researchers, Ophelia Young, Tonia Callender, and Katherine Johnston with Susie Ellis
A New Take on Spa Music “I think I get the chills just making music,” confessed Timbaland in a captivating interview with Freddie Moross, Founder of Myndstream. The famed producer explained how sounds go with colors. “Sound is like color, for example, yellow is so bright, it makes your temper and stress levels come down,” shared Timbaland, who wants to “redecorate wellness spaces” by “painting” them with sound. “It’s cool to have me in clubs, but I have to be in your spas, too. I need to be in every spa . . .”
Listen to Your Crystals Speaking of music, can you imagine recording the energy of crystals so you don’t have to carry them—you can listen to them? Anna Bjurstam, Senior Strategic Advisor, Six Senses and Raison d’Etre, spoke to sensory integration and how it can unlock our emotional strength and awaken our physical vitality.
Disconnections Don’t Do Anybody Any Good But how can one feel their vitality when caught in “an endless race to go faster and keep wanting more so that we are starting to crash?” This is the question Victor Koo, Chairman and Co-Founder, Tianren Culture posed. “Disconnections are the root causes of the poly-crisis,” he shared, and spoke to a time of and a need for inner transformation.
Accessibility: Will We Ever Get There? Imagine if every country had a Future Generations Commissioner. That’s what happened in 2016, when Wales became the very first country in the world to appoint one. This Act put in place seven long-term wellbeing goals: a prosperous Wales; a resilient Wales; a more equal Wales; a healthier Wales; a Wales of cohesive communities; a Wales of vibrant culture and thriving Welsh language; and a globally responsible Wales. The brilliant Sophie Howe—the first Future Generations Commissioner for Wales—passionately spoke to community, equality, and government. “How do we create conditions where people can focus on their wellness—how to democratize and make this accessible?” That is a question that we in the industry have been asking for more than a decade. Isn’t it about time we figured it out?
Mary Bemis
Mary Bemis is Founder & Editorial Director of InsidersGuidetoSpas.com. An advocate for all things spa, Mary forged a vocabulary for spa reportage that is widely used by those who cover the issues today. Recently honored as a Top 30 Influential Voice Transforming Wellness by Medika Life, Mary is an inaugural honoree of Folio’s Top Women in Media Award. Her spa media roots run deep—in 1997, she launched American Spa magazine, in 2007, she co-founded Organic Spa magazine, and in between serving on the ISPA and NYSPA Board of Directors, she was on the launch teams of Luxury SpaFinder and New Beauty magazines. Named a "Wonder Woman of Wellness" by American Spa magazine, Mary was honored by the International Spa Association with the distinguished ISPA Dedicated Contributor Award. She is a special advisor to the non-profit Global Wellness Day.
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