Incredible spas resonate with guests at a deep level, filling their senses and engaging their emotions in a way that makes the experience powerful, profound and pleasurable. Yet given that the industry aspires to engage mind body and spirit, too many spas are just plain dreary.
In this year’s Spa Business Handbook, we present our annual trends – newly branded as Spa Foresight™ (see p114) – and suggest spas could make stronger bonds with guests if they were more mindful of the importance of emotional engagement.
There are many ways to engage the senses and prompt an emotional response – some low-tech, some hi-tech – and all are deserving of consideration. If spas are to achieve deeper emotional relationships with guests, they must work with them all – sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch – and also sense of time, hunger and thermoception (heat and cold) and – not forgetting, where appropriate – their sense of humour.
We come at this view from a unique perspective. Leisure Media – the organisation behind the Spa Business Handbook – also publishes Attractions Management magazine in the entertainment industry and we’re aware of many visual, aural, touch, 4D and sensory products with exciting potential for spas. Imagine a room with 360? screens in which guests can choose the setting – a place they long to visit, a sunset beach, a bluebell wood or the mountains in spring; or personalised environments created using augmented reality technology.
In terms of sound, the Motion Waves system (see p232) plays variations of a noise – such as the movement of wind, a playing harp, bird song or bells – at different pitches, tones and volumes according to a person’s movement that’s tracked by sensors.
The combined results can be profound: Charles Spence, an expert in sensory perception, says that if all sensory cues are pulling in the same direction, the overall impact is greater than that of the individual components. Considering the many different possibilities there are to engage the senses, the opportunities for spas to make a difference are endless.
An opportunity to reimagine one of the UK’s most recognisable towers has been formally
opened by Rivington Hark, as St Johns Beacon invites operators and partners to shape its
next phase. [more...]
Incredible spas resonate with guests at a deep level, filling their senses and engaging their emotions in a way that makes the experience powerful, profound and pleasurable. Yet given that the industry aspires to engage mind body and spirit, too many spas are just plain dreary.
In this year’s Spa Business Handbook, we present our annual trends – newly branded as Spa Foresight™ (see p114) – and suggest spas could make stronger bonds with guests if they were more mindful of the importance of emotional engagement.
There are many ways to engage the senses and prompt an emotional response – some low-tech, some hi-tech – and all are deserving of consideration. If spas are to achieve deeper emotional relationships with guests, they must work with them all – sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch – and also sense of time, hunger and thermoception (heat and cold) and – not forgetting, where appropriate – their sense of humour.
We come at this view from a unique perspective. Leisure Media – the organisation behind the Spa Business Handbook – also publishes Attractions Management magazine in the entertainment industry and we’re aware of many visual, aural, touch, 4D and sensory products with exciting potential for spas. Imagine a room with 360? screens in which guests can choose the setting – a place they long to visit, a sunset beach, a bluebell wood or the mountains in spring; or personalised environments created using augmented reality technology.
In terms of sound, the Motion Waves system (see p232) plays variations of a noise – such as the movement of wind, a playing harp, bird song or bells – at different pitches, tones and volumes according to a person’s movement that’s tracked by sensors.
The combined results can be profound: Charles Spence, an expert in sensory perception, says that if all sensory cues are pulling in the same direction, the overall impact is greater than that of the individual components. Considering the many different possibilities there are to engage the senses, the opportunities for spas to make a difference are endless.
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.
A new immersive attraction designed to transport visitors into the final hours of ancient Pompeii
is preparing to open near the world-famous archaeological site in southern Italy.
Experience design company, BRC Imagination Arts, has completed a transition that sees founder
Bob Rogers pass ownership of the business to four long-serving senior executives, while
remaining actively involved with the company.
Movie Park Germany has opened a new Paramount Pictures-themed attraction as part of its 30th
anniversary celebrations, using immersive storytelling and adaptive reuse to reinforce the park’s
longstanding “Hollywood in Germany” positioning.
Therme Manchester’s 28-acre development, which will include interconnected glass pavilions
that measure 65,000sq m, will be the largest bathing and wellbeing attraction in the world once
complete, according to prof David Russell, CEO of Therme UK.
Efteling has opened Hooghmoed, a new family drop tower designed to broaden the appeal of its
recently launched Sirene Island themed area and introduce younger visitors to thrill attractions.
A proposed Puy du Fou development near Bicester and Universal Destinations and Experiences’
planned resort in Bedford are emerging as part of a wider transformation of the Oxford–
Cambridge Growth Corridor into a major centre for UK leisure and tourism inv
Shedd Aquarium has opened the Immersion Theater developed in partnership with SimEx-
Iwerks, as part of a wider strategy to enhance the guest experience and create additional
revenue opportunities.
The UK government has announced a temporary reduction in VAT on visitor attractions and
children’s meals as part of a summer cost-of-living support package designed to stimulate the
visitor economy and encourage family days out.
As designer Yinka Ilori prepares for his first solo gallery show in London, he speaks exclusively
to CLADmag about his mission to spread joy, the power of play, and his bold approach to using
colour (including the colours you won’t see in his work).
The government of Thailand is exploring plans for a THB300bn (£6.3bn, US$8.3bn)
entertainment complex in the country’s Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), with officials
proposing a large-scale theme park and sports destination as part of a broader tourism and
economic development strategy.
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COMPANY PROFILES
RMA Ltd RMA Ltd is a one-stop global company
that can design, build and produce from a
greenfield site upw [more...]
Painting With Light By combining lighting, video, scenic and architectural elements, sound and special effects we tell s [more...]
An opportunity to reimagine one of the UK’s most recognisable towers has been formally
opened by Rivington Hark, as St Johns Beacon invites operators and partners to shape its
next phase. [more...]
