Spa Business issue 2 2012 - Leisure Opportunities

PROFILE
in California (established in 1958), which
was involved in a long legal battle with Australian
spa operator Golden Door Health
Retreats (established in 1993) over the unauthorised
use of its name.
Ellis admits it’s a complex issue. Copyright
law is generally territorial, and although
there are a number of international treaties
requiring member countries to acknowledge
the rights of each other’s nationals, these
are oft en diffi cult to enforce – especially in
the internet age, where there are no clear
borders and everyone is a writer. International
patent or trademark infringements are
no less of a legal minefi eld. However, Ellis
believes it as much an ethical challenge as a
legal one, and one that could be damaging
to the industry if not addressed.
Th e good news is that, based on SpaFinder’s
experience, Ellis believes the problem
has more to do with ignorance than wilful
wrongdoing. “I would say that in almost
every case, when we’ve sent out a letter
[about copyright infringement of our
trends], we’ve had an apology from whoever
made the mistake, and it has not been
repeated,” she says.
Innovation through imagination
Although at the time of writing, the fi nal
agenda for this year’s GSWS (taking place
this June in Aspen, Colorado) is still
under discussion, Ellis is hopeful that
the issue of plagiarism might get some
air time – if not directly, then under the
Last year’s summit (below)
saw the launch of spaevidence.
com (right) – a website to help
consumers and professionals
fi nd medical evidence for
specifi c spa therapies
54 Read Spa Business online spabusiness.com / digital
The GSWS was
launched by a group
of top spa fi gures –
including Pete and
Susie Ellis – to create
greater unity in the
global industry
“In more mature [spa] markets... a lack of innovation
could become a problem because if we’re not growing
in terms of development and revenue, we’re vulnerable”
banner of the summit’s overarching theme of
Innovation through Imagination.
The theme of innovation in general is
a topic close to Ellis’ heart, and one she
believes will be central to the growth of the
industry as it matures. “Because our industry
is young, we haven’t really needed to talk
about innovation before,” she says. “Th at’s
still the case in parts of the world where
there aren’t yet a lot of spas, such as China,
India and South America. But in more
mature markets such as the US and Europe…
a lack of innovation could become a problem,
because if we’re not growing in
terms of development and revenue,
we’re vulnerable.”
To achieve continued growth,
Ellis believes the industry needs
to look to beyond itself for inspiration.
With this in mind, many of
the speakers at this year’s GSWS
are drawn from outside the industry, from
John Kao, author of Innovation Nation, to
Peter Rummell, chair of Disney Imagineering.
“We’re also going to have one whole day
where we’re not going to talk about the spa
industry at all,” says Ellis. “Instead we’ll be
looking at other industries and how their
innovations have moved them along and
changed the world.”
Something else Ellis believes is crucial to
the future of the industry, and also on the
agenda at this year’s summit, is ‘spa evidence’
– the growing body of scientifi c research that
gives credence to the health and wellness
benefi ts of spa treatments. Last year’s summit
saw the launch of spaevidence.com, a
website designed to help both consumers
and professionals fi nd medical evidence
for specifi c therapies. However, Ellis admits
to being surprised that more spas haven’t
been quick to get on board. “Feedback from
people who have gone to the site has been
terrifi c, but we haven’t had as many companies
linking to it as we’d hoped,” she says.
“We’ve discussed tying it in a bit more with
social media and trying some other things…
but fundamentally we have to do a better job
encouraging the industry to engage with it,
so we have more people linking to it and
sharing the information with their clients.”
But whatever the future holds, this much
is certain: for Ellis, the success of the global
spa and wellness industry remains a very
personal goal. “What I enjoy most about
what I do is seeing the growth of the industry
and perhaps having some infl uence on
that, in a positive way, for both the industry
and the consumer,” she says. “Th at is really
very satisfying.” ●
SPA BUSINESS 2 2012 © Cybertrek 2012