Spa_Executive_April_2024
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Can you please talk about your role at<br />
Iberostar and what it entails?<br />
My responsibilities include overseeing the<br />
operations of six spas across Mexico. My role<br />
entails the preparation of annual budgets<br />
for all spas, strategizing for sales growth,<br />
developing standards and protocols, ensuring<br />
their implementation in daily operations,<br />
creation of new services, and enhancing guest<br />
experiences. I am responsible for designing<br />
spa menus, selecting the finest products for<br />
our guests, and ensuring continuous training<br />
and welfare for our staff. I am also involved<br />
in the development and opening of new<br />
Iberostar properties, with upcoming projects<br />
in Aruba and the Dominican Republic.<br />
What makes the best guest experience?<br />
Creating the ultimate guest wellness<br />
experience in a hotel or resort, especially<br />
within an all-inclusive setting, demands<br />
exceptional offerings that stand out. I believe<br />
the key to exceeding guest expectations lies<br />
in providing unique, locally-inspired products<br />
and experiences. Continuously training<br />
staff, ensuring our services are inclusive and<br />
accessible to all guests, staying on top of<br />
industry developments, and incorporating<br />
them into our offerings allows us to deliver<br />
the best wellness experiences. We recently<br />
conducted a training for cancer care therapies<br />
and saw how, in just one treatment, we can<br />
positively impact a client’s daily life by relieving<br />
pain and improving range of movement and<br />
sleep quality.<br />
How does Iberostar integrate the<br />
principles of sustainability and<br />
environmental responsibility into its<br />
spa and wellness offerings?<br />
Iberostar seamlessly incorporates<br />
sustainability and environmental responsibility<br />
into its spa and wellness services. For example,<br />
for over three years, all our hotels and spas<br />
have been free of single-use plastics. And<br />
our Wave of Change initiative is a pioneering<br />
responsible tourism movement towards a<br />
circular economy to promote the responsible<br />
consumption of seafood, improving coastal<br />
health, and protecting our coral reefs.<br />
A critical part of that project is not using or<br />
selling any products containing micro plastic<br />
or oxybenzone.<br />
Our objectives are to achieve zero waste and<br />
100% responsible seafood consumption<br />
by 2025, and become carbon neutral by<br />
2030. Plus, we aim to have all ecosystems<br />
surrounding Iberostar properties improving in<br />
ecological health alongside profitable tourism<br />
by 2030. Our Wave of Change initiative is set<br />
to become a key factor for 60% of guests<br />
choosing Iberostar by 2025.<br />
For a deeper dive into our commitment<br />
and initiatives, visit our website at<br />
www.waveofchange.com.<br />
Do you find yourself using technology<br />
more at work in recent years?<br />
Yes we do, especially during and after the<br />
Covid. We are a paperless company, so we<br />
are using more digital options in our spa<br />
operations. This includes using the hotel app<br />
for spa reservations, online bookings and<br />
check in, and digital guest intake forms.<br />
Can you discuss any challenges<br />
Iberostar faces in the wellness tourism<br />
sector and how the company is<br />
addressing them?<br />
As a sustainable company our main challenge<br />
was offering the best possible service and<br />
guest experience in our all inclusive resorts<br />
and staying sustainable in that process. This<br />
hard work involves many departments in<br />
Mexico and across the border focused on<br />
achieving the same main goal.<br />
We analyze our consumption levels – have<br />
you ever thought about the origins of your<br />
products? Consider the vast amount of<br />
resources needed to produce the multitude<br />
of things we have in our lives. We’ve grown<br />
accustomed to a system that takes from the<br />
environment to produce goods with short<br />
lifespans, only to be ultimately thrown away<br />
when their use runs out. Those are some<br />
questions we ask ourselves as a company.<br />
We take, consume and waste more than our<br />
planet can support.<br />
One proposed solution is working towards a<br />
circular economy. Circular economies focus<br />
on the retention of value in the material cycle<br />
through reusing and recycling material such<br />
as plastic to prevent their release into the<br />
environment. Again you can read more about<br />
his here: www.waveofchange.com<br />
What are you most excited about for<br />
the spa, wellness, and hospitality<br />
industry this year?<br />
The training that we have planned for our staff<br />
for this year, to see our new spa uniforms<br />
coming out by mid of the year, our first spa<br />
meeting for Ibesostar America in May, to be<br />
able to meet my colleagues and share our<br />
experiences, and the opening of Iberostar in<br />
Aruba to see our new baby coming!<br />
18 | <strong>Spa</strong> <strong>Executive</strong>