World Spa & Wellness Awards finalists to be announced on November 23

The shortlist for the World Spa Awards 2013 will be announced on November 23.

Independent industry judges are currently reviewing the online entries for the awards. Between six and eight judges assess each entry and the top scorers in each category are then put through to the second round.

Each of the finalist spas will be visited by one official and one unofficial visitor. Both sets of visitors will experience treatments at the different spas, before reporting report back to the judges.

The official visitors will also inspect the spa facilities and interview staff and management, relaying this information to the panel of judges.

Awards are presented in the Destination Spa of the Year, Hotel Spa of the Year and Day Spa of the Year categories, each of which are divided into subcategories for Asia & Australasia, Europe, the Middle East & North Africa and North & South America.

The winners will be announced at a black-tie awards evening at the Hilton hotel on London’s Park Lane on February 24, 2013.

Spas honoured at the 2012 awards include Six Senses Zighy Bay in Oman, the Kamalaya Wellness Sanctuary and Holistic Spa in Koh Samui, Thailand and Lanserhof in Austria.

The finalists for the Professional Beauty Awards 2013, where categories include Beauty Salon of the Year, Nail Salon of the Year, Medical Aesthetics Clinic of the Year and Employer of the Year, will be announced on November 6.