Spafinder Wellness 365 has revealed the global panel of judges who will nominate candidates for the 2015 Wellness Travel Awards – the programme dedicated to honouring spas, hotels, resorts and retreats that offer the best experiences and packages to consumers seeking healthy vacations and travel.
The expanded 2015 panel includes 33 spa and wellness travel editors and experts from all over the world, including
Spa Business managing editor Katie Barnes.
A three-part approach will be used to select winners, which will then be announced in November at the World Travel Market in London. The first and second steps in the approach involve nominations and voting by the panelists, followed by voting by consumers who will help select the final winners.
Nominations begin in early May and consumer voting will start in July.
The 2015 Wellness Travel Awards Panel of Judges:(world regions in parentheses indicate where the headquarters of the publication or business is located)
Kris Abbey, publishing editor,
Spa Life Magazine (Australia)
Gustavo Albanesi, president, Brazilian Spa and Clinics Association (South America)
Katie Barnes, managing editor,
Spa Business magazine (Europe)
Mary Bemis, founder and editorial director,
Insider's Guide to Spas (North America)
Elena Bogacheva, president and founder, Spa & Wellness International Council; CEO, Spa Priori LLC (Europe)
Anitra Brown, spas expert,
About.com (North America)
Julie Keller Callaghan, editor-in-chief and publisher,
American Spa magazine (North America)
Sarah Camilleri, founding editor and publisher,
European Spa magazine (Europe)
Isabelle Charrier, founder and managing editor,
Emotion Spa magazine (Europe)
Sandhya Chipalkatti, editor and publisher,
Spa Mantra magazine (Asia)
Anne-Marie Cook, magazine writer and editor (Australia)
Susan d'Arcy, luxury travel and spa editor,
London Sunday Times (Europe)
Anne Dimon, founder and CEO,
Travel to Wellness (North America)
Suzanne Duckett, associate editor,
Tatler Spa Guide; founder,
The Antidote (Europe)
Nora Elias, editor,
Professional Spa & Wellness (Europe)
Catherine Feliciano-Chon, founder and managing director,
Catch On (Asia)
Jo Foley, editor, writer, author,
Vanity Fair, Harper’s Bazaar, Spears Wealth (Europe)
Gustavo F. Gaffrey, founder and CEO, Spas of Argentina; former president, Argentina Spa Association (South America)
Franka Hänig, editor-in-chief,
SPA inside (Europe)
Sara Jones, managing director and editor,
Spa Professional México (South America)
Fifi Kao, editor-in-chief,
SpaChina magazine (Asia)
Dr. Franz Linser, CEO, Linser Hospitality (Europe)
Maia Medonca, editor-in-chief,
Lindenberg, Bazaar Bride, Bem Mais magazines (South America)
Kate Phillips Melaragno, travel editor,
Spafinder Wellness 365® (North America)
Catharine Nicol, freelance writer, editor, photographer, blogger, www.spasandbeyond-blog.com,
South China Morning Post,
AsiaSpa (Asia)
Elaine Okeke-Martin, founder and editor,
Spa and Wellness Africa magazine; founder and president, Wellness Association of Africa (Africa)
Si Si Penaloza, luxury content manager,
JETSET magazine (North America)
Sheetal Rastogi, editorial director,
World Travel magazine (Asia)
Sarah Joan Ross, editor,
Modern Spa Magazine (Europe)
Chris Ryall, freelance writer and columnist (North America)
Gaurav Sinha, founder and CEO, Insignia Worldwide (Middle East)
Vivienne Tang, editor-in-chief,
AsiaSpa magazine (Asia)
Fiona Vlemmiks, editor,
Professional Beauty GCC (Middle East)
The 2014 winners were announced at the World Travel Market and you can
read about them here.
