If you didn't know already, on Wednesday 21st March, the annual Spa, Tourism and Wellness Conference was held at the Devonshire Dome in Buxton.
When you hear the word conference you might think it will be a boring day listening to guest speakers all day (well in my case that's what I thought). But you will be surprisingly amazed that the day is SO engaging and informative.
The day was jam packed with different speakers, panels and lots of time to socialise with industry professionals.
The conference started in the morning around 9:30am with registration and refreshments and at 10am, the Opening Address by Isobel Stockdale and Duncan Marson started where they introduced the speakers and thanked everyone for attending.
Isobel introduced Jamie Edwards who was the key note speaker for the event and he gave a an inspirational talk on his personal development program. It lasted around an hour but he was really engaging and got the whole audience to take part and sing during his slot at the conference haha! The key things that we took away from Jamie Edwards' Personal Development talk was to always remember to show up and give everyone your best five minutes and everyday is an invisible interview - you never know who is watching. He also spoke about not giving your pin to your emotional bank account to people that do nothing but deposit negativity and that you should surround yourself with people who support and bring out the best in you. If you are interested to find out more about Jamie Edwards, here is the link to his Instagram account www.instragram.com/jamieedwards11
The next speaker was Pamela Griffin and her business partner. They talked about Sustainable Wellness and what they have done to find different ways to make wellness sustainable. They also let us in on their plans to build a spa in Scotland that the main aim is sustainable wellness and they are hoping to grow their spa and be in as many locations as they can!
After the two talks it was time for lunch (it was free which made it even better :D). We had a chance to talk to different industry professionals and find out what inspires them about the spa and wellness industry. There was also an exhibition on the Dome floor from Caudalie, Ishga, Comfort Zone, Uk Spa Association and European Spa Magazine. It was a great chance to talk to the companies and what they love about the industry also and what they look for in new employees (a great chance to network).
Before the end of the day we had the Spa, Tourism and Wellness Industry panel. This included the keynote speakers along with Tracey German, Alan Clarke, Leon Trayling and UK Spa Association. During this panel the audience had a chance to ask questions and learn more about the industry they are interested in.
To finish the conference we had a closing address from Alan Clarke and he talked about his experiences in the industry and what we should expect will happen to the industry in years to come. He also mentioned what the spa, tourism and wellness industry was like and what it will look like in the future.
Before everyone left for the day, we decided to ask a few of the industry professionals and students that attended the conference about what they thought of day and what they will take away from the conference. For the industry professionals we asked them what would the main piece of advise they would give someone starting in the industry. We have put together a short video below with clips from the day and the clips of the industry professionals and students, we hope you enjoy it! :D
If you are interested in the spa, tourism and wellness industry please don't hesitate to contact us through our email or social media accounts (they will be found on the home page of the blog).
Hannah,
The Spa and Wellness Blog