International SPA Association
2000 Annual Conference Keynote Speakers
by Julie Register, Your Guide to Spas

There were outstanding keynote speakers: 

Mel Zuckerman, founder of Canyon Ranch,  spoke about how he and his wife, Enid, started Canyon Ranch in Tucson after a life-changing event (the death of his father) and a healing visit to the Oaks at Ojai afterwards. Their goal was to create a spa experience that offered healthy lifestyle elements and a way to empower guests with responsibility for their health and well-being. "While spa goers may have different intentions for their visits - the intent of every spa should be to clearly define the wellness potential of a spa experience and motivate and inspire spa goers to think of new paradigms for healthier, more joyous living." 

Dr. Andrew Weil,  Director of the Program in Interactive Medicine of the College of Medicine at the University of Arizona and best-selling author. If you have seen Dr. Weil speak on TV or read any of his books, then you would be familiar with much of the material he covered in his speech. However, it was a pleasure hearing him in person. He discussed the vision of spas and medical treatment facilities eventual merging as well as insurance reimbursement for the spa experience (which he feels is possible).  He sees consumers driving the demand for integrative medicine. Today's medical community is too technical and removed from the whole person. Spas offer diet, exercise, and stress reducing solutions (something the medical community falls short on) and are particularly well suited to provide relief to those with chronic and degenerative diseases. He urged spas to interact with physicians in their planning processes. Dr. Weil is the author of Eating Well for Optimum Health, 8 Weeks to Optimum Health, Spontaneous Healing, Natural Health, Natural Medicine, and Breathing: The Master Key to Self-Healing.

David Wagner, Owner of Juut Salonspa, discussed the changes of his spa including the name change from Horst to Juut (from the Japanese Juuten which means to refill). As a company, they help to replenish those critical resources that are diminished by the demands of everyday life. He discussed the use of manadalas with crystals used in the spa entryways. He demonstrated bowls used at his spa for meditation and at the start of each treatment. Those performing the treatments put their intentions in the bowl, ring it, and send them to the universe. There are seven bowls that create seven notes. He said these have a profound effect on those receiving treatments. He also noted that in the waiting room of his salon there is a bistro where demonstrations on how to prepare healthy foods are held. 

Mark Plotkin, PhD, President, Amazon Conservation Team, a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting biological and cultural diversity of the tropical rain forest.  For much of the past 20 years, Dr. Mark J. Plotkin has worked with and learned from the ancient shamans of Central and South America. I found this entire presentation by the three Amazon Conservation Team members most moving. Dr. Plotkin ran through an abbreviated journey of the origins of many Western medicine miracle drugs (from plants and animals of the Amazon and other remote locations now threatened by development). He suggested that each spa adopt a shaman. Dr. Plotkin is the author of Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice: An Ethnobotanist Searches for New Medicines in the Amazon Rain Forest and Medicine Quest: In Search of Nature's Healing Secrets.

German Zuluaga, M.D., Colombian Physician and Amazon Conservation Team Colombia Program Director is an authority on the medicinal plants of Colombia. A tenured professor in the Anthropology Department of the Universidad Javeriana in Bogota and a member of the Colombian Association of Science, he has published seven books on ethnobotany and traditional medicine. He told the story of how as a young doctor, he went to the Amazon to teach the Indians about modern medicine but soon found himself the student of the native shamans and healers.

Sr. Luciano Mutumbajoy, Healer and a Shaman of the Ingano Tribe of the northwest Amazon. He has served as governor of the Ingano-Kamsa Indigenous Reserve. He played a key role in organizing the "Medicine Man Meeting," the first-ever gathering of the most ancient and powerful Shamans of the northwest Amazon which was held in June of 1999. He literally risked his life to travel to talk to us, traveling through dangerous areas of Columbia controlled by drug lords. He explained how the development of the rain forest was destroying the source of plants and animals used by natives to heal.

J’Amy Owens, President, Sales Director, Design Strategist and Retail Consultant of The Retail Group was a very entertaining speaker. She stressed the importance of gaining the customers' trust. Ask what the customer wants and listen to the answer. Allow the customer to touch retail items. Be theatrical, don't bore your customers. She broke down consumers by age group and discussed what appealed to each group.

Some details of the ISPA/Price Waterhouse Coopers - Spa Industry Study 2000 were presented by Price Waterhouse Coopers. However, it is not complete yet.

photos of keynote speakers courtesy of www.photozone.com 

To Roundtable Discussions

To Breakout Sessions

To the Silent Auction

To ISPA 2000 Overview

Exhibit Hall Displays









photos by Julie Register

Who is ISPA?

The International SPA Association is recognized worldwide as the professional association and voice of the spa industry, representing more than 1,300 health and wellness facilities and providers in 45 countries. Members encompass the entire arena of the spa experience, from club spas, cruise ship spas, day spas, destination spas, resort/hotel spas, medical spas and mineral springs spas to service providers such as physicians, wellness instructors, nutritionists, massage therapists and product suppliers -- fully representing the variety of wellness options in this exciting industry.

Founded in 1991, ISPA began as a grass roots movement to build a common network for member spas, their affiliates and the media. Since then, ISPA has grown dramatically in both membership and scope, representing a vast majority of domestic and international spas. The ISPA Annual Conference draws more and more participants from around the world each year. Geared toward education and business, the conference focuses on seminars by respected leaders in the medical, financial, and health fields, and exhibits of the latest products and services in the spa industry.

ISPA has created two strong international chapters to serve regional members better. Both the ISPA Europe and ISPA Asia chapters have grown exponentially since their inaugurations in 1997 and 1999. The ISPA Europe members blend Europe's rich wellness tradition - several spas are hundreds of years old - with American business techniques, while the ISPA Asian chapter in Singapore continues to further the East-West melding that has become the latest hallmark of the wellness experience.

ISPA is committed to forming and maintaining alliances that will educate, set standards, provide resources, influence policy and build coalitions for the industry. Professionals in the industry, consumers and the media look to ISPA to clarify and standardize the spa experience. ISPA promotes and defines the spa experience as "Your time to Relax, Reflect, Revitalize and Rejoice."

ISPA's mission is to raise awareness of the spa industry and educate the public and industry professionals about the lifelong benefits of the spa experience. In this way, ISPA helps to revitalize humanity through the promotion of spa wellness. As the voice of the spa industry, ISPA attracts and retains a diverse global membership, fulfilling the educational, informational, and networking needs of its many members worldwide. Using the tremendous potential within the spa industry, ISPA generates the financial, technological, and human resources necessary to serve and represent its members in the most comprehensive manner possible.