Here is a fun innovation Weekender for you to enjoy. It introduces you to four new “Spa of the Future” concepts: Defiant!, mente spa and studio, greenhouse and ModerNature.

This year’s Global Spa and Wellness Summit (GSWS) student competition, in which student teams from different universities were asked to create a profitable and innovative “Spa of the Future,” was a blockbuster! The students’ ideas were so creative that you simply must see for yourself.

First prize, and a standing ovation, went to the University of Denver’s Defiant!, a spa that rejects the typical “pampering-patronizing-pink-and-sparkly-manicure” teen spa model to tackle the emotional, physical and social needs of real girls. Cornell University’s mente spa & studio, which reimagines the loud, exclusively “body-focused” gym as a sanctuary of social and intellectual engagement, took second place. Penn State University’s greenhouse concept, marrying intense sustainability practices with “southern hospitality,” and the University of Houston’s ModerNature social spa, revolving around principles from the Slow Movement, tied for third.

Defiant! Spa
1st Place – University of Denver

You can have the total “Spa of the Future” experience via the GSWS website: videos of the competition, the students’ reports and PowerPoint presentations – as well as scribe notes that cover the presentations and Q&A are all available. And for those who are short on time, please read through the press release.

So, which concept do you see working the best in the near future and why?

The GSWS Team