Writing

Writing

Cannabis & Wellness: The Spa Connection

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Cannabis aka marijuana prohibition is entering its 78th year in the United States. But attitudes toward the plant are changing. Compared to 1968 when only 12% of the population supported legalizing marijuana, today the majority supports legalization.

Earlier this year I was very surprised to read that spa and wellness authority Spa Finder had listed “Cannabis: New spa and wellness connections” as their number two trend for 2015. Read More

Why Your CEO Needs to be Tweetin’

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As a spa trainer and consultant I do a lot of information gathering. Two of my sources are LinkedIn’s Pulse magazine and articles on Twitter. Twitter’s information is in real time, fast moving and can be customized to appeal to specific demographics. It makes me wonder why more C-Suite executives from the hospitality industry aren’t using Twitter to reach a broader audience.

According to Leslie Gaines-Ross of Weber Shandwick, a recent analysis in Harvard Business Review, found that 80% of the chief executive officers of the world’s largest 50 companies are engaged online and on social media.

None of those companies include hotel groups. Indeed when trying to find CEO’s from that sector who tweet, I was able to locate only three; Greg Marcus of Marcus Hotels, Mark Hoplamazian of Hyatt Hotels and of course Sir Richard Branson, Virgin Hotels.

Want to read more? Click here>>>http://huff.to/1IlBUU9

Five Hidden Gems on Pulse, to Sharpen Spa Performance

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 Spa and beauty industry people.  You know who you are. You’re always consumed with handling staff or customers or both. Rarely do you  have time to peruse the articles on LinkedIn’s Pulse for news that might  impact how you conduct business. But as an information junkie, I do.  So here in a roundup are excerpts from five articles that I’ve read in the past week which gave me pause.  They might do the same for you. Read More

How the Consumer-Led Economy is Disrupting the Hotel Industry

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The hotel and spa industries are being challenged by social media and their newest largest consumer group, Millennials. Here, marketing expert and social media influencer Norm Bond gives us his views on the current state of affairs; 
The hotel industry is being disrupted. Of course we know about Airbnb but they may actually be the least of the industry’s problems. The real challenge is changing the culture of a business sector that has experienced tremendous success. History shows it’s difficult and the result is that former household names may go the way of Borders Books. In today’s digital age we’ve seen this dynamic play out in publishing, music, and even the electronics retail industry as with the 94-year-old brand Radio Shack.
millennials w iphonesThe consumer is in the business driver’s seat like never before. Social media, mobile and digital devices have changed the rules of marketing and customer service. Many of the traditional practices of the hotel industry are liabilities when targeting the most rapidly growing consumer segment, read that as millennials.
Want to read more? Click here>>>http://bit.ly/1KzE1rp

The Social Solution for Shabby Service

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I’d never heard of GripeO. Then last week I received a direct message from @GripeO_Outreach on Twitter. They were following up on an article published on Huffington Post about my lousy spa experience. They wanted to know if I was interested in escalating my complaint to senior management. Because I constantly write about the impact of social media on the spa industry I wasn’t surprised. The fact that I had been tracked on Twitter by a consumer service company was prophetic and intriguing. I wanted to learn more about GripeO_Outreach so I spoke with the CEO, Mike Klanac.

Want to read more? Click Here>>>>http://linkd.in/1Nsss50

 

 

 

 

 

Five Spa Tips Every Twenty-Something Should Know

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My niece graduated from Howard University last year. She’s doing fairly well;  I recently received an e-mail from her informing me that she was thinking of having one or two spa treatments. She wanted to know which ones she should try and as an African-American which were safest for her skin. As a former esthetician and a very protective aunt, I was inclined to tell her that none of them were safe unless I performed them! I realized though  that I was being a bit “extra”, so I calmed down and provided recommendations on who, what and where she should go.

If you are among the other twenty-somethings around the globe also venturing into the world of spa goers, here are five things that you should know;

Want to read more click here>>>http://huff.to/1TQiT4h

 

The Culture of Spa Called and It’s Mad!

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As a spa professional I am often highly disappointed in the level of service delivered at Five-Star spas and resorts. I’m an American living in Bangkok, so I’m particularly sensitive to respecting the local culture.

However, it seems as though a trade-off has taken place which has allowed the universal “culture of spa” to be compromised. It seems to me that it’s been replaced by a lazy, non-caring apathy masquerading as customer service.

Read the rest of my article on Huffington Post>>http://huff.to/1S4gaTc

Ten Favorite 90’s Movies Every Fashion Girl Should Watch

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robin 2Harper’s Bazaar just released their list of THE ’90S FILMS THAT EVERY FASHION GIRL SHOULD WATCH.

Now, I’ll admit that I’m not a “fashion person” per se, most of my free time is devoted to creating on-line training workshops for the spa industry. But as a beauty professional I’ve been influenced for my entire life by the cinema . Also because American cinema is not as readily available to me in Asia, I find that I now  appreciate it more. Read More

Why Aren’t Spas on TripAdvisor?

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Update: I was contacted by TripAdvisor’s Senior Manager of Public Relations who informed me that they do have a section on their website under the category of Spa & Wellness. There you can post your reviews for day spas. They do not have a platform specifically for hotel or resort spas. Thank you to TripAdvisor for their responsiveness to their social media audience and willingness to discuss this issue further.     

 

I’m a huge fan of TripAdvisor. It would never cross my mind to make a reservation for a hotel or restaurant without first checking my favorite source of information. And I write reviews as well; I figure that’s the least I can do for my fellow travelers. I was informed by TripAdvisor that I’m in the top 4% of their reviewers with over 19,012 readers. That’s a lot of people.

n 2013 “global wellness tourism” generated 494 billion dollars and “spa” singularly generated 94 billion dollars in revenue. In the U.S. alone from 2008-2013, 124 million people visited a spa. It is one of the fastest growing and most profitable industries in the world. Why is the service paying public not being asked to weigh in on their collective experiences?….

This article was published on Huffington Post. Want to read more? Click here>>>