The SpaAsia Wellness Summit 2006 will unite spa operators, consumers, hoteliers, academics and wellness industry professionals on 23 - 25 August in Hua Hin, Thailand.

The Summit , which is themed: Enlivening the Spirit: Kindred Hearts to Healing Passions, SpaAsia, will focus on reviving the “spirit” of the industry.

According to SpaAsia: “Working towards providing the needed impetus and inspiration, we hope to engage the passions within each individual and bring to the fore the potential for that passion to be translated into a healing one.”

Among its reported “all-time high number of 50 speakers and panelists”, keynote Speakers include: Adria Lake, Vikas Malkani, Sonu Shivdasani of Six Senses Spas, Ruben Toral, Dr Michael Elstein and Master Mantak Chia of Tao Garden.

The programme follows:
DAY 1 will be an exploration of the Summit’s theme, about bringing the passion back to healing. It will be a day of truths - a day of questioning the state of wellness of the wellness industry and a day of “how tos” in bringing back the soul to wellness.
The Summit is also about participation and the numerous plenary sessions over the course of the three days provide an excellent platform for lively discussion.
DAY 2 is a practitioner-centric day - with the crowd puller being the plenary session on Day 2 entitled “Hoteliers Really Understand Spa…Don’t They?” With the top-notch international brands represented, this will inevitably be a session not to be missed. Catch Ingo Schweder of the Mandarin Oriental Group as he moderates the contributions of panelists Andrew Gibson of Raison D’Etre, Ian Brewis of CHI Spas, Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts, Harry Apostolides of Como Hotels & Resorts, Gordon Tareta of Hyatt Hotels Corp, Greg Payne of Intercontinental Hotels Group and Neil Jacobs of Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts.
For the first time ever, the SpaAsia Wellness Summit will also host a Spa Directors Forum. Moderated by veteran spa operator Daniella Russell of Wafi Hospitality LLC, this forum is a highly specialized session and a rare opportunity for spa directors and those of an equivalent level to discuss topics and issues specifically tailored to them.
DAY 3 turns its focus to Integrated Wellness and on this day, some of the most famous names in the Asian wellness industry will be in Hua Hin to speak, beginning with a Keynote by Dr Michael Elstein on the topic of “Integrating Holistic Modalities”. Speakers from famous brands that have weaved successful integrated programmes into their offerings such as Chiva-Som Health Resort to speak on this day, and academics on the topic such as Professor Marc Cohen from RMIT, Australia, his second foray into the Summit.

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