Sheila McCann and John Stewart among industry leaders awarded at GWS
The winners of the 2018 Global Wellness Awards were announced on the final day of the Global Wellness Summit (GWS), which took place at the Technogym Village in Cesena, Italy.
The annual awards, judged by the GWS advisory board, honour leading industry professionals who have made a significant contribution to the international spa and wellness sector.
The Leader in Innovation Award was won by Nerio Alessandri, founder and president of Technogym, for his vision and courage to use the word wellness to define his leading technology and fitness company in the early ‘90s before the term became popular.
Clodagh, head of New York-based interior design firm Clodagh Design, won The Leader in Sustainability Award for spear-heading wellness design and her belief that good design supports wellbeing.
The Leading Woman in Wellness Award was won by Sheila McCann, general manager of Lanserhof UK and prior general manager of Chiva-Som, for being a key figure in the global spa industry.
Denise Bober, vice president of human resources at The Breakers Palm Beach, won the Leader in Workplace Wellness Award for changing the culture of a renowned destination property into an example of workplace wellness.
Rupert Schmid and Pierre-Louis Delapalme, co-presidents of skincare and spa brand Biologique Recherche, were joint winners of the Leader in Social Impact Award for working to make it possible for more people to live healthier, happier lives.
John Stewart, one of the founding partners and key visionaries behind wellness resort, Kamalaya Koh Samui, won the Debra Simon Award for Leader in Furthering Mental Wellness for creating projects that make a measurable difference in people’s lives.
Each year the Shark Tank of Wellness competition challenges university students around the world to create bold new concepts in wellness. Fifteen of more than 150 submissions, from 39 countries, were presented to the Wellness Sharks who ultimately identified three finalists.
The finalists, along with their professors, were flown to Italy to present their ideas in front of a panel of real-world wellness experts and the live audience – and compete for $10,000 in prize money.
First prize ($5,000) went to Maria Mu of Cornell University for her sleep technology concept, Bellumo. The device is a glowing, hanging mobile that guides users through breathing exercises to help them fall into sleep. The form of the mobile was inspired by the bioluminescence of jellyfish and the glowing and dimming of the soft LED lights guides users to inhale and exhale for set amounts of time, helping them relax.
First runner-up ($2,500) was Ece Nur Temel from Istanbul Technical University for her concept Yoga Lounge, a personal yoga space designed for use throughout airports, and the Second runner-up ($2,500) was Niccolo Saltarelli from Les Roches Global Hospitality Education in Switzerland for his concept CampWell. This wellbeing-focused summer camp pairs young adults with experienced campers from older generations and is designed to attack the current epidemic of loneliness and unhappiness among young adults.
Image credit: Nerio Alessandri recieving the Leader in Innovation Award, Global Wellness Summit