The 12th annual Forum HOTel&SPA was held on 23 May at the Four Seasons George V Hotel in Paris, with a theme of ‘Multidiversity in Wellness’.

Organised by VK-Organisation and Vladi Kovanic, the Forum HOTel&SPA is a one-day conference for hotel, spa, thermal and thalasso industry specialists, designed to create a platform for networking and sharing of knowledge and best practices.

Participants from France, the US, Japan, Mauritius, the Maldives, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Morocco, Portugal, Russia, Luxembourg and Great Britain attended the event.

Speakers included architect Joseph Caspari; Roger Allen, CEO of Resources for Leisure Assets; Beata Aleksandrowicz, co-founder of Pure Massage Spa Training Method; architect Robert Henry; and VP of wellbeing for Accor Hotels Emlyn Brown, among others.

Hosted by Kovanic alongside Jean-Guy de Gabriac, founder of World Wellness Weekend, the goal of the 12th edition was professional exchange, discussion of common projects, and comparison of management methods. Breaks and a cocktail hour facilitated networking among participants.

The event also honours spa managers through the Black and Blue Diamond Awards, created by Forum HOTel&SPA to recognise the best spa manager and thalasso spa manager.

The Blue Diamond Award for thalassotherapy was awarded to Serge Raulic, director of the Thermes Marins de Saint Malo, France.

The Black Diamond Award – an award which designates the best spa manager of the year – included finalists from seven countries.

Top honours went to Anna Hencka-Zyser of Poland, while the second-place Yellow Diamond Award went to Diane Bernardin of France and Aishath Zulfishan of the Maldives, who tied for the award. The White Diamond Award for third place was given to Virginie Fliegans of Switzerland.

The 13th edition of the Forum HOTel&SPA will be held 4 June, 2020.