An important figure in the European spa industry for the past 30 years, Paul Simons has retired from GSTE. Spa Business sat down with him to hear about his long and esteemed career
Simons has been a key figure in several spa associations in Europe / photo: Paul Simons
An architect by training, Paul Simons has been an influential figure in the preservation and promotion of European spa towns for the past 30 years. While he has retired this year from his day-to-day duties in his position as secretary general of the Great Spa Towns of Europe (GSTE), he will remain involved in an advisory role on many projects, including the recently restored Cleveland Pools in Bath, England – the UK’s oldest outdoor public swimming pool.
How did you first get involved in spas? I’m an architect who specialises in the conservation of historic buildings and I know that the solution to any historical building is to identify its use and its future use. I’ve been involved in bringing cultural life back into city centres and so I became involved in tourism. In 1994, I was named director of tourism in Bath, England. Nobody told me about the spa – it had closed down in the 1970s and we had a lot of empty buildings associated with the spa.
At around this time, the advent of budget airlines meant that our city break heritage business was instead going to Amsterdam and Barcelona for the weekend. So I said ‘let’s do a major project to have tourists not only visit our Roman baths and stare at the thermal waters in the historical site, but let’s let them bathe in them again.’ I was able to convince the local authority, Bath and North East Somerset Council (BANES), to give me money and then we raised money through a government fund to resurrect the thermal baths in a modern building in the centre of the town. That was Thermae Bath Spa, which I was the project director for. The operator says up to 280,000 people visit the property a year and estimates that they also spend an additional £13.5 million (US$16.4 million, €15.5 million) locally.
How did your career evolve after that? BANES sent me all over the world to look at spa towns – which is a pretty good job – and I suddenly became incredibly fascinated with the concept of spa and health and wellbeing and what it could be in the future. They are places dedicated to health, hospitality and welcoming and looking after people. In all the books on urban planning globally, nobody defined spa towns, but it is a very specific use. We realised we were sitting on a gold mine in many ways and it all goes back to hot springs, mineral waters and natural resources.
In the last 20-odd years since building Thermae Bath Spa, I’ve been involved in what was the British Spas Federation and the European Spas Association, as well as GSTE and the European Historic Thermal Towns Association (EHTTA). My focus has been the preservation of spa architecture, promoting the importance of thermalism and balneology and its significance for the future. And I’ve left a mark on the city of Bath that I’m very proud of.
Why are spa towns important? Spa towns created what we in the West call national health services (NHS). The rich and the famous visiting the these towns – who could afford to go to the opera when they weren’t bathing in the water or drinking it – also set up charities so that the ill and the elderly and the infirm could access the water for their health. And way back in the 18th century that created the concept for what would become the NHS in the UK and others in Europe. Spa towns were at the fundamental centre of the democratisation of health.
We’ve realised that significance now. Spa towns are significant architecturally, urban-planning-wise and in terms of landscape, but they’re also key to governmental responsibility towards people’s health and wellbeing and vital to the core of health across Europe.
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2023 issue 4
Sponsored: Highest French distinction for RKF's CEO
After receiving the highest civilian award for services to the French nation, Riadh Bouaziz, CEO of RKF Luxury Linen, reflects on his company’s many achievements and considers what lies ahead
Association focus: Thermal Heritage
Jane Kitchen finds out how two key associations – the European Historic Thermal Towns Association and the Great Spa Towns of Europe – are protecting and promoting the unique cultural relevances of Europe’s spa towns
Interview: Paul Simons
As he retires from the Great Spa Towns of Europe, the industry leader reflects on his long and esteemed career
Sponsored: New ways with water
Working globally with architects and interior designers allows Myrtha Wellness to embrace the latest trends in the international hospitality sector, as director Stefano Cattaneo explains
Sponsored: Cutting edge
Ara Patterson from Equinox Hotels talks about a partnership with
Gharieni that’s delivering ROI and innovative treatments for guests
Interview: Niamh O'Connell
What does Jumeirah’s first vice president of wellbeing have planned for the Middle East-based hospitality group?
Sponsored: Lasse Eriksen on contrast therapy
Contrast therapy is gaining attention for its healing effects. We ask aufguss and sauna expert Lasse Eriksen to share his views on the perfect experience
Nature spas: Tree of life
Lisa Starr discovers two retreats in Austria and Italy which base their wellbeing concepts on forests
Sponsored: Spirit of Excellence
Rupert Schmid and Pierre-Louis Delapalme, owners of Biologique Recherche, discuss the global rollout of its ‘Ambassade’ flagship spas
Sponsored: Outstanding performance
Bicester Hotel & Spa is working with Matrix Fitness to enable wellness guests to train like athletes with a unique offering
An important figure in the European spa industry for the past 30 years, Paul Simons has retired from GSTE. Spa Business sat down with him to hear about his long and esteemed career
Simons has been a key figure in several spa associations in Europe / photo: Paul Simons
An architect by training, Paul Simons has been an influential figure in the preservation and promotion of European spa towns for the past 30 years. While he has retired this year from his day-to-day duties in his position as secretary general of the Great Spa Towns of Europe (GSTE), he will remain involved in an advisory role on many projects, including the recently restored Cleveland Pools in Bath, England – the UK’s oldest outdoor public swimming pool.
How did you first get involved in spas? I’m an architect who specialises in the conservation of historic buildings and I know that the solution to any historical building is to identify its use and its future use. I’ve been involved in bringing cultural life back into city centres and so I became involved in tourism. In 1994, I was named director of tourism in Bath, England. Nobody told me about the spa – it had closed down in the 1970s and we had a lot of empty buildings associated with the spa.
At around this time, the advent of budget airlines meant that our city break heritage business was instead going to Amsterdam and Barcelona for the weekend. So I said ‘let’s do a major project to have tourists not only visit our Roman baths and stare at the thermal waters in the historical site, but let’s let them bathe in them again.’ I was able to convince the local authority, Bath and North East Somerset Council (BANES), to give me money and then we raised money through a government fund to resurrect the thermal baths in a modern building in the centre of the town. That was Thermae Bath Spa, which I was the project director for. The operator says up to 280,000 people visit the property a year and estimates that they also spend an additional £13.5 million (US$16.4 million, €15.5 million) locally.
How did your career evolve after that? BANES sent me all over the world to look at spa towns – which is a pretty good job – and I suddenly became incredibly fascinated with the concept of spa and health and wellbeing and what it could be in the future. They are places dedicated to health, hospitality and welcoming and looking after people. In all the books on urban planning globally, nobody defined spa towns, but it is a very specific use. We realised we were sitting on a gold mine in many ways and it all goes back to hot springs, mineral waters and natural resources.
In the last 20-odd years since building Thermae Bath Spa, I’ve been involved in what was the British Spas Federation and the European Spas Association, as well as GSTE and the European Historic Thermal Towns Association (EHTTA). My focus has been the preservation of spa architecture, promoting the importance of thermalism and balneology and its significance for the future. And I’ve left a mark on the city of Bath that I’m very proud of.
Why are spa towns important? Spa towns created what we in the West call national health services (NHS). The rich and the famous visiting the these towns – who could afford to go to the opera when they weren’t bathing in the water or drinking it – also set up charities so that the ill and the elderly and the infirm could access the water for their health. And way back in the 18th century that created the concept for what would become the NHS in the UK and others in Europe. Spa towns were at the fundamental centre of the democratisation of health.
We’ve realised that significance now. Spa towns are significant architecturally, urban-planning-wise and in terms of landscape, but they’re also key to governmental responsibility towards people’s health and wellbeing and vital to the core of health across Europe.
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2023 issue 4
Sponsored: Highest French distinction for RKF's CEO
After receiving the highest civilian award for services to the French nation, Riadh Bouaziz, CEO of RKF Luxury Linen, reflects on his company’s many achievements and considers what lies ahead
Association focus: Thermal Heritage
Jane Kitchen finds out how two key associations – the European Historic Thermal Towns Association and the Great Spa Towns of Europe – are protecting and promoting the unique cultural relevances of Europe’s spa towns
Interview: Paul Simons
As he retires from the Great Spa Towns of Europe, the industry leader reflects on his long and esteemed career
Sponsored: New ways with water
Working globally with architects and interior designers allows Myrtha Wellness to embrace the latest trends in the international hospitality sector, as director Stefano Cattaneo explains
Sponsored: Cutting edge
Ara Patterson from Equinox Hotels talks about a partnership with
Gharieni that’s delivering ROI and innovative treatments for guests
Interview: Niamh O'Connell
What does Jumeirah’s first vice president of wellbeing have planned for the Middle East-based hospitality group?
Sponsored: Lasse Eriksen on contrast therapy
Contrast therapy is gaining attention for its healing effects. We ask aufguss and sauna expert Lasse Eriksen to share his views on the perfect experience
Nature spas: Tree of life
Lisa Starr discovers two retreats in Austria and Italy which base their wellbeing concepts on forests
Sponsored: Spirit of Excellence
Rupert Schmid and Pierre-Louis Delapalme, owners of Biologique Recherche, discuss the global rollout of its ‘Ambassade’ flagship spas
Sponsored: Outstanding performance
Bicester Hotel & Spa is working with Matrix Fitness to enable wellness guests to train like athletes with a unique offering
A US$50 million (£44.2 million, €51.2 million) transformation of Chicago's historic McCormick
Mansion has created a new destination that combines live magic, immersive theatre, dining and
private membership under one roof.
The Montana Historical Society has officially celebrated the opening of its new Montana
Heritage
Center, a US$107 million (£79 million, €92 million) destination that combines immersive
storytelling with cutting-edge audiovisual technology to bring the sta
San Antonio Zoo has reported a US$283 million economic impact for 2025, following a decade-
long transformation programme that has seen almost US$200 million invested into the Texas
attraction.
Plans for the AU$180 million redevelopment of Reef HQ Aquarium in Townsville, Australia, are
progressing, with the project set to transform the attraction into a global centre for reef
education and conservation.
Abu Dhabi-based investment firm Mubadala Capital has made a binding, fully financed
€1 billion
offer to acquire Pierre and Vacances SA, the European holiday resort operator behind the
continental European Center Parcs business.
Disney has reaffirmed its commitment to investing US$30 billion in its US parks and cruise
business by 2033, using new America250 celebrations to underline the role its attractions play
in supporting jobs, tourism and economic growth.
Expo 2030 Riyadh is being planned as a permanent visitor destination, with organisers
confirming the six-million-square-metre site will become a Global Village after the event closes.
The owner of one of Australia's best-known waterparks has acquired a major competitor,
creating a new attractions business spanning two of the country's largest visitor destinations.
The Toverland theme park in the Netherlands has announced a €98m expansion programme
that will add a resort, new attractions and staff facilities as it pursues plans to become a multi-
day destination.
Hotel de France, located on the British Isle of Jersey, has created a wellness retreat package
that includes a hot yoga session that will take place in Jersey Zoo’s butterfly sanctuary.
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