The Philippine Spa Association has won five awards at
the first ever Baccarat AsiaSpa Awards (BASA), a celebration of the innovations in Asia’s growing and increasingly successful spa industry.
The Philippine Tourism industry, which has been promoting the country as the “Island of Wellness”, won five awards out of 16 categories, including Spa Association of the Year: (Spa Association of the Philippines), Medi-Spa of the Year and Spa Retreat of the Year
(The Farm at San Benito), and for the top prize, Mandala Spa receives the much-deserved Destination Spa of the Year and the coveted Spa Treatment of the Year for Watsu.

“The recognition the BASA awards bring well-deserved recognition and thanks to spa
owners, trainers and designers, product manufacturers and spa associations, and
encourage them to keep aiming as high as possible in their quest to create the best
spa experiences,” says Adkom CEO and Publisher Olivier Burlot. “And after the
success of this year we are delighted to announce that 2005 is just the first of
many years of annual awards to come.”

Other award winners included the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group represented
by Director of Spa Ingo Schweder, who collected three trophies on their behalf
including that of Spa Personality of the Year, while Elizabeth DeMotte of the Island
Shangri-La Hong Kong was called up to the stage twice to collect awards for the
Shangri-La Group.
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