Articles by Susie Ellis

“Innovation is the central job of every leader – business unit managers, functional leaders, and the CEO.” – A.G. Lafley, co-author, Game Changer Reading something like this would normally intimidate me. That was until I started studying innovation, imagination and creativity in preparation for the upcoming Global Spa and Wellness Summit in Aspen, CO this […]

In the Philippines, Medical tourism is likely to take a backseat to health and wellness programs.

“A world filled with innovation capability and innovators is a much more hopeful world.” – John Kao Many have said that the spa and wellness industry is seriously lacking in innovation and needs some spark. So, the Global Spa & Wellness Summit would like to bring you a new – and hopefully innovative way – […]

Q: I am interested in taking my 17-year-old daughter to a spa for a few days over spring break. Are there any that you would recommend? Is this something appropriate for a 17-year-old? She loves horses, yoga, exercise, massages and pampering. Read Susie’s response!

I got lucky. Then I got super-lucky.  I heard about the Clinton “Health Matters” Conference scheduled just prior to the Bob Hope  Classic Golf Tournament (now called the Humana Challenge Golf Tournament) that was going to be taking place in Indian Wells, CA just a week before it was actually going to happen. Then I found […]

Q: I’m looking for a spa that can deal with beginner yoga enthusiasts. I have only tried yoga once before. Read on for Susie’s response!

This entire piece was just an excerpt from a 336 page book.

It’s always a highlight for me to be able to post our SpaFinder Top 10 Spa Trends Forecast for the New Year.  The reason?  It’s a lengthy research process (I work on it all year) and a somewhat tedious writing project (fortunately I have some help) because we have to be very exact.  So finishing it always gives me a chance […]

Q: I am looking for a spa to lose weight. I would like to go for a month next year. Read on for Susie’s response!

Our 9th spa trend prediction for 2011 was about adapting to people’s busy schedules via express spa treatments. While we mentioned quick services, no appointments necessary, several services at once, expanded hours, mobile, etc. there  have been some new developments that we didn’t forsee just 12 months ago.  New to the scene are “Drybars” (U.S.) where its all about getting […]

This, the 8th trend we identified in our list of the Top 10 SpaFinder trends for 2011, was all about the lengths people will go to (especially women) for beauty.  Rereading what we wrote a year ago, I was struck by our prediction that the use of the term “stem cell” would become huge.  How right we were.  In fact […]

I was thinking the other day that the spa industry has done one thing exceedingly well – better than many other sectors such as hotels and restaurants for example.  Spas have from the very beginning – partially because of their nature – incorporated indigenous treatments, cuisine, and programming into their offerings. This has served the industry well and is likely […]

This, our sixth spa trend prediction, was realized with the May launch of www.spaevidence.com at the Global Spa Summit in Bali.  The Science of Spa now has an entire website dedicated to exactly what was needed – a way for people to find the medical evidence that supports (or, in some cases doesn’t support) spa […]

The 5th spa trend we forecast was “Deals Gone Wild” and 2011 was clearly the year of the deal.  You’ll notice in the write up that our prediction was totally lined up with what Barron’s said recently “consumers who are bombarded daily with coupon offers from Groupon and its rivals could be coming down with “deal fatigue.”  So […]

Our  4th SpaFinder Spa Trend prediction for 2011 was one we called The Spa Brandwagon.  I am going to give ourselves an A for that call as it truly played out that way all year.  It used to be that we would see mostly one-of-a-kind spas.  Now we are seeing multiple spas of the same brand.  As our […]

Salt Rooms and Salt Caves was the third trend we predicted for 2011.  I’m giving us a B grade for this one.  We are seeing more salt rooms being added to resort spas (which seems to be the most economically viable way to go) and since our prediction, the number of salt therapy spas in the country has […]

The second trend we forecast for 2011 was called “All Eyes on Asia.”  Boy -were we ever right-on with this one!  If anything, I think we underestimated how large this trend will become. So in my humble (and my sister would add accurate) opinion, this one deserves an A+. :)     Looking through my bi-weekly Spa Opportunities newsletters that highlight spa openings all over […]

It’s that time of year….we are almost ready to unveil our 2012 SpaFinder Spa Trend Forecast!  But before we do that, I like to review each of our last year’s spa trend predictions (2011) and grade us on how well we did on each of the trends.  After all – it has been an entire year now […]

Susie’s suggestions for a reader who is looking for it all at a spa getaway.

I had a big “ah ha!” recently.  It came after reviewing my notes and reflecting on what I heard and learned at the World Medical Tourism & Global Healthcare Congress I attended in Chicago a few weeks ago. It was the revelation that because of medical tourism – people traveling across borders eitherinternationally or domestically for […]