Spa Life Ireland holds inaugural online conference

The fourth annual Spa Life Ireland conference took place on 29 September, with this year’s event moving online due to the Covid-19 restrictions.

The conference was originally due to take place over two days in May at the Galgorm Spa & Golf Resort near Belfast. However, the ongoing pandemic uncertainty led organisers to invest in a digital platform and move the event online. Using Remo, which is a live, virtual event and networking space, the conference featured real-time, face-to-face engagement, with live Q&A sessions and in-app chat.

With the theme of ‘Raising the bar in wellness’, author and HR leader Debra Corey began the day with a talk on ‘Revolutionising employee engagement’. This was followed by an interview with Galgorm Spa & Golf Resort’s managing director Colin Johnston, and head of spa operations Tara Moore. Johnston spoke about how surviving a previous recession has helped the business meet the more recent challenges of Covid-19. The next six months are crucial, he said, and he advised attendees to continue to invest in their marketing budgets, and ensure they have the right team, which is their best asset.

International spa consultant Heidi Grimwood joined the event from the Maldives. Speaking on the topic of ‘Revenue hacks to drive profits’, she highlighted the importance of managing turnaround or cleaning times in spas, as well as the different ways upselling can be achieved.

Speaking from Austria, spa management expert Judith Ertler focused on ‘Best practice strategies for recruitment success from across Europe’. This was followed by a discussion between award-winning former spa director Helena Grzesk and Jason Adams, managing director of Rockliffe Hall hotel, golf and spa resort in Durham in the UK,on the challenges of running a successful and profitable hotel spa. The pair talked about the issues that can arise between the spa manager and general manager when running a hotel spa.

Justin Caffrey addressed the audience on ‘Leadership 2020 – Eastern wisdom in the realm of better communication, influence and negotiation’. He placed huge emphasis on the value of authenticity, stressing that its power can never be underestimated, particularly within the spa industry. Nutritionist Lorraine Perretta completed the day’s line-up of speakers with her talk on ‘The rise of the 'skintellectual' consumer and its impact on your spa’. She spoke about how supplements can fit into the spa environment, and offer the opportunity for long-term engagement with clients.

The Spa Life conference attracted an international audience from countries such as South Africa, Canada and Cyprus, as well as Ireland and the UK, and delegates were able to network virtually in between sessions over the course of the day.